Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

Lucky Miles (2007)

play May contain names, images or voices of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
clip ‘This will be our grave’ education content clip 1

Original classification rating: MA. This clip chosen to be PG

Clip description

The three Australian Army reservists have to winch their vehicle out of a waterhole, after Private Plank (Don Hany) forgot to apply the handbrake. Out in the desert, Youssif (Rodney Afif) loses his temper when he discovers that they are 2,000 kilometres from Perth and 300 kilometres from Broome. Arun (Kenneth Moraleda) and Ramelan (Srisacd Sacdpraseuth) sleep outside the hut, to avoid his anger. When the soldiers get their vehicle going, it is without a muffler.

Curator’s notes

There’s a subtle power shift between the Australians after Private Plank makes his big mistake. The other two are unimpressed, so he has to walk in front while they ride. The final shot of this scene gives us a parallel between Plank and Ramelan, being pushed ahead by the other two refugees earlier in the film. Two men may be equals, but three opens up the possibility of factions!