Blackrock
Directed by	Steven Vidler
Produced by	David Elfick Nick Enright Melanie Ritchie
Written by	Nick Enright
Starring	Laurence Breuls Linda Cropper Introducing: Heath Ledger
Music by	Steve Kilbey
Cinematography	Martin McGrath
Release date(s)	1 May 1997
Running time	90 / 103 minutes
Country	Australia
Language	English
Box office	$1,100,000[1]

Blackrock is a 1997 Australian film directed by Steven Vidler and written by Nick Enright. Internationally, it is best remembered as the first prominent role of actor Heath Ledger.

Origin[link]

Blackrock had its origin in 1992 as A Property of the Clan, a theatre-in-education piece written by Australian playwright Nick Enright (1950–2003). It was inspired by the real-life rape and murder of schoolgirl Leigh Leigh in Stockton near Newcastle, Australia on 3 November 1989. Enright subsequently developed it into another play, Blackrock (1995), directed by David Berthold for Sydney Theatre Company.

Plot[link]

Blackrock is set in a fictional Australian beachside working-class suburb called Blackrock (not to be confused with the Melbourne suburb of Black Rock), where surfing is popular among youths like Jared (Laurence Breuls). He has his first serious girlfriend, Rachel (Jessica Napier), who comes from a much wealthier part of the city. One day Ricko (Simon Lyndon), a local surfing legend, returns from an eleven-month odyssey and Jared gives him a 'welcome home' party at the local surf club. Unsupervised and with alcohol freely available. Jared climbs a big rock and sees Toby (Heath Ledger) having consensual sex with Tracey (Bojana Novakovic). He later witnesses three males raping Tracey, yet he does nothing. The rapists leave her crying - but alive, on the beach and Jared too flees the scene and heads home. Later that night Rachel, arriving at the party late and looking for Jared, finds Tracy beaten to death on the beach.

The incident - and the community - are soon being scrutinized by news bulletins across the nation. The locals react differently: The surfers continue their lives as if nothing has happened; Tracy's grieving best friend Cherie (Rebecca Smart) resorts to violent behaviour; Rachel has to face the news that her brother is one of the accused. Jared is torn between the need to reveal what he saw for the sake of justice, and the desire to protect Toby and the other rapists in the name of 'mateship'. His silence eventually leads to the breakdown of his relationships, not only with Rachel, but also with his mother Diane (Linda Cropper), who has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Eventually Ricko confesses to Jared that he killed Tracy, but claims it was an accident - that she hit her head on a rock when he attempted to have sex with her. He asks Jared to back up his story to the police that they were together when the murder happened, despite the fact that Jared has already told the police he was alone at the time. When he goes back to talk to the police, they show him the photos of Tracy's battered body and it's clear that her injuries were not accidental. Jared finds Ricko at the beach and confronts him, and Ricko finally admits the truth. He found Tracy on the beach after the rape and she sought comfort from him and asked him to take her home. He agreed, but wanted to have sex with her first. She tried to fight him off and bit him in the process, which enraged him enough to beat her to death.

As Ricko finishes his confession the police arrive and he realises that Jared has turned him in. He attempts to escape but the police give chase and corner him on a cliff. Rather than go to jail - and ignoring Jared's screams of protest, he jumps to his death. In the weeks that follow, Jared's life collapses - he leaves home (despite finally finding out about his mothers illness and her recent mastectomy), buys Ricko's panel van and takes up residence in a stack of concrete pipes on a vacant block. He eventually confesses his role in the events to his mother, and the film ends with him joining Diane and Cherie in cleaning graffiti from Tracy's grave.

Cast[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

• Australian Film Institute Awards
  • Best Achievement in Cinematography - Martin McGrath (Nominated)
  • Best Film - David Elfick (Nominated)^[1]
  • Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role - Simon Lyndon (Nominated)
  • Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role - Rebecca Smart (Nominated)
  • Best Screenplay Adapted from Another Source - Nick Enright (Nominated)

• Australian Writers' Guild
  • Feature Film - Adaptation (Nick Enright) Won

Controversies[link]

Blackrock had attracted considerable controversies when it was screened in 1997, partly because of its fictionalisation of a real-life rape and murder without the consent of the victim's family. Leigh's family were vehemently opposed to the film, saying the filmmakers were "feasting on an unfortunate situation".^[2] They also objected to naming Leigh's character Tracy, as 'Tracey' was the name of Leigh's cousin and best friend.^[2][3] The community of Stockton opposed filming in the area, citing that the memories of the events were still fresh and the details of the script were too close for comfort.^[2] Complaints about the film were exacerbated by the film makers denial that the film was specifically about Leigh, despite the choice of Stockton for filming.^[3]

I've never researched the Leigh Leigh story. I picked up the general outline of it and used its mythological shape as the starting point for the piece.^[2]

—Nick Enright

Many locals from the town where the actual murder occurred were also hostile to the film, believing it to have portrayed the community in a slanderous way.

Reception[link]

The film received a limited release in Australia at independent cinemas and drive-in theaters, where it was well received in Australia. It was less enthusiastically received overseas where people were unfamiliar with the Leigh Leigh murder. It debuted to unfavourable reception at the Sundance Film Festival. Variety said the film "should score with kids the protagonists' age, but its soap-opera-style plotting and overwritten dialogue will limit wider acceptance".^[4] Commenters noted that without prior knowledge of Leigh's tragedy, the film was judged as shallow and clichéd.^[2]

Box Office[link]

Blackrock grossed $1,136,983 at the box office in Australia.^[5]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Blackrock at the Internet Movie Database
• Blackrock at the National Film and Sound Archive

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