Australian
Screen

Clip description

On the way down to the valley, Ruby (Melita Jurisic) finds Mr Bennett (Martyn Sanderson), an old man from the valley where she grew up. He is suffering from exposure. He dies during the night and Ruby brings his body home. As this clip opens, the horse carrying Mr Bennett’s body stands unattended on the road outside a small church. Mrs Bennett (Nell Dobson) is collecting wood for the fire when she sees the horse. Ruby is asleep in a nearby paddock, having been separated from the horse in the night. She comes to Mr Bennett’s house to explain. Mrs Bennett tells her to take the horse – a sort of thank you.

Curator’s notes

This is a striking example of the way that the director, Roger Scholes, creates memorable scenes with very little dialogue. The long pan past the church to the horse gives us a haunting image that is almost out of time – this could be the 19th century, or even earlier. Covered in a red blanket, Ruby looks like a traveller from the Middle Ages; she speaks slowly and deliberately, as if unaccustomed to using her voice.

The real surprise of this scene is in the way that Mrs Bennett reacts to the trauma of losing her husband. The moment when she finds him roped to the horse is extremely moving, and beautifully handled. When Ruby speaks to Mrs Bennett, we see that Ruby is not the only woman in this valley traumatised by isolation and despair. It’s a memorable performance by Nell Dobson playing Mrs Bennett, in her only credited role on film.