Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

Touch the Sun – Top Enders (1988)

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clip 'You're a little ripper, Alice!'

Original classification rating: G. This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

The kids are stuck in the bush. Mick’s (Donald Dale) dog saves him from a snake but is bitten and dies. Mick is devastated. Alice (Bennendine Woods) is looking after her injured father Jack (John Jarratt). She apologises for causing so much trouble and asks him about why he left them.

Curator’s notes

This is an interesting juxtaposition of deeply emotional scenes between Mick and his dog, and Alice and her father. As lonely Mick grieves for his dog, Alice mourns what might have been, and the parallel scenes encapsulate some key themes of the film – family relationships, friendship and the emotional and physical struggles for survival faced in different ways by both children.