ARNHEMLAND, NORTH AUSTRALIA 1919
High Ground - The Bounty Hunter
Who Scared the Wallaby?
My son,
You scare away the animals,
What shall we eat now?
First watch and learn,
One day your time will come
and you will be a hunter,
Alright my boy
Are you hungry?
Bush plums, Give you strength,
I want the spear here,
No this is mine,
I am the snake, Baywara,
I strike like lightning
My name is Baywara,
I am the snake,
And you,
your totem animal is the crocodile,
Your name is Gutjuk, that means falcon,
This is your dance,
All right,
Please help us,
Cattle breeders are after us,
It's okay, they're friends,
Why is Gutjuk in such a hurry to grow up?
He only ever wants to be with the men,
Gutjuk, come here,
The wallaby is ready,
Sit down with your mother,
He has to learn where his place is,
Gutjuk, come back,
Ranch owners called the police because we killed a cow,
You tell them we don't want any trouble, right?
I understand, You can stay,
But only one night,
I don't want my family in trouble,
What are we waiting for?
Nobody shoots except him, understand?
Yeah, I'm here, Eddy,
What are you going to do?
Take care of her, Eddy,
It is our country,
We should fight,
How far away are you?
I think we shook it off,
Baywara! Not!
Oh shit!
What are you saying
What are you telling me?
I'll be back,
This gives you air,
So it is good,
Stay down, I'll be back,
Did i catch her?
,,, and whoever lives there
and believes in me will never die,
Because I am the resurrection,,,
Look away,
…and the life,
Look away,
And whoever lives there and believes in me will never die,
Hey come on Come on, Hopp!
It's good, All right,
Don't worry, take it easy,
Take it easy, No fear,
What are you doing there? Put that damn thing away,
OK,
MISSION STATION EAST ALLIGATOR RIVER
Now everything is good,
Can you take it
It's okay, little one,
Everything will be fine, OK?
Do yo have him?
Where is his family?
What happened?
Travis, Are you all right?
Yes,
Everything will be fine, You come with me,
And what do we say Moran?
The three of us have to stick together,
Braddock,
You sit down,
I think we'll tell him what happened,
McGuiness,
Trumpeted all over the Territory that he
wanted to kill the Blackfellas who torched him,
The bastard was really eager to give you a bullet,
Came out of nowhere and just
shot at everything that moved,
It was planned as a peaceful expedition,
Man it was a mess,
Who shot first?
What role does that play?
It matters,
They are dead,
The only important thing is that we act as a unit,
I will not lie,
Does that mean you blame me?
Is it all my fault? Just mine
Is that what you mean
17 dead,
John?
They were kids,
Come along,
Claire,
My brother is dead, They were under your command,
Tell Moran what you want,
But you do that without me,
My children,
My family,
Who did this to my family?
Wak wak, wak wak! Wak wak!
My beautiful daughter,
My beloved daughter,
Baywara, my son, look at me,
You will be healthy again,
I will heal you
12 YEARS LATER
Yes, and out with him,
And high,
Okay, go, Jimmy,
We have a little one there,
Travis, Police are coming,
OK,
Moran, What does he want?
Okay, get down with you,
Come on, both of you, Down, OK then,
It is the responsibility of those who make history
record these too,
Stay like that,
OK,
Finished,
Well,
You're here for a reason, Why?
It started a few months ago,
A bunch of black bastards devastated everything,
The cattle killed, fires set everywhere,
Galbay, bring the water over here!
Are you waiting! Here!
They are called the wild gang,
They come from everywhere,
One man brought them all together,
Baywara,
A bunch of savages, fugitives, The bastards are everywhere,
The wild gang! You are here!
Go on, go on, go on!
Those black bastards will pay for it!
Go Go go! Go on, go on, go on!
Two weeks ago they went too far,
You killed a white woman,
Why?
There is always a “why”,
This Baywara is a survivor of your mess,
The same stone spear,
Ever since you let us down
we are watched very carefully from the south,
The Commissioner speaks of a large-scale punitive expedition,
to bring this gang to justice,
You can imagine what happens
when this Baywara gets a vote,
Maybe then the truth will come out,
Is such a thing with the truth, Once it's out, it's out,
And it raises questions,
For example:
How did your balls end up in two whites back then?
Fortunately, we were able to convince those up there
that there are other ways to handle this matter,
Eddy?
We'll both do it alone,
We track them down, approach quietly
and eliminate Baywara and his gang,
Don't tell me this isn't haunting you,
That you don't want it off your neck,
And all I have to do is shoot him?
I think I'd be better off shooting you both off,
I tell you, he sees it with a sense of humor,
That was not a joke,
Boy,
we survived the war because we stuck together,
Trusted us,
And we'll get through this too, Together,
You'll bleed for that!
Who are you?
What do you want?
Baywara, He is my uncle,
Come on, spear me,
Then you can tell my uncle that you killed his nephew,
Leave him alone!
Uncle?
Gutyuk?
Gutjuk,
Welcome,
Woe to those who take one house to another and move
one field to another until there is no more room
and you alone own the land,
We're talking about the murder of a white woman,
Tommy has nothing to do with this gang,
The ranch is new, He helped there, He is a good boy,
John, we need to talk to him, You know, why,
Thank you,
Who is the boy?
This is the boy you pulled out of the pond,
You wanted something from me, sir?
-Correct, Tommy, right? -Yes, sir,
You tell me now what you know about the fire and maybe
I'll let you keep breathing, Does that sound good to you?
Come on boy everyone knows something,
Eddy,
Hang on! You are part of the gang, right?
And you took your friends to the ranch, didn't you?
Eddy!
Damn tell me what you know!
Stop it Eddy!
Stop it!
Go down! Get off me!
What's wrong with you?
Damn shit, So much for not causing a stir,
Will you kill my uncle?
It all depends on you,
Do you know where he is
If I help you find him, what will you do?
Will you protect him?
I do my best,
That's all I can do,
Come here, take it easy,
He knows more than he lets on,
So he's on their side?
Yes,
And you let the little bastard trap you?
If he focuses on that, he may not realize what I'm up to,
And that would be?
I'll use it as bait,
I'm talking to Braddock
and his sister,
You know it was my idea to bring you in, right?
Yes I thought so,
Our mistake,
Is that how you see it? Our mistake?
Yes, that's how I see it,
Then why are you attacking me about this boy?
I won't make the same mistake twice,
It's an absurd idea,
Tommy is not a tracker,
And I doubt he has any idea where the gang is,
He says something else,
And do you believe him?
The mission station is of course compensated,
With that you can finally finish building this church,
Then more people will definitely come,
No,
You don't really have to decide,
You took a bite,
Go to Baywara,
Tell him I'll take the police to him,
Yes,
All right?
-All right? -Yes, I heard you,
I wanted to come to you right away,
I know it,
Take care of yourself,
It's their war, not yours,
Don't trust them,
If anything happens to him
I never want to see you here again
Take the saddle down,
Just the two of us
Where do you want to go?
You don't need me here,
Sure I need you,
What do you think he's going to do out there?
Travis has no sense of duty, no loyalty,
That's a problem,
Why just you and me?
Doesn't that worry you?
No,
What's your name?
Tommy, sir,
Tommy, huh? Nonsense,
Did your mother give you that name?
Not my mother,
Where do we go?
I thought you were the tracker,
What if we find him?
We persuade him to surrender,
How do we want to do that?
That's why you're there,
The tea is too thin,
There's another one coming,
What is he doing here?
How so? Do you have anything against Walter?
I can handle Travis on my own,
I don't need this dirty half-breed for that,
Eddy, that's not how you talk about a law enforcement officer, understand?
Give me a few days,
I can find half a dozen men
-that won't say a word,,, -Boy,
and I take care of it,
We tried your way,
Walter doesn't make mistakes,
Walter!
This is a bad guy,
An Aboriginal from the Queensland Police Department,
Kill his own people,
He's watching me,
Gutjuk,
That means falcon,
My name is Gutjuk,
Good to know,
What are we doing here?
From a higher position you can control everything,
Have a look,
What do you see?
Everything is coming towards me,
Exactly,
You know, if we, if we work together,
maybe you should learn how to shoot,
Yes, OK,
Do you understand? Lie down on your stomach,
Feet apart, Stable position, okay?
And now put the butt on your shoulder like this, Stay calm,
Push the plunger against your shoulder, Now recharge once,
OK then, Pick a destination,
And
shoot,
Crap!
That's loud,
Yes, Is not a toy,
This time
keep it calm, Charge once,
OK then,
Breathe very calmly,
Now pull the trigger slowly,
Sky!
That was pretty good,
And from a higher position you have the overview
when to attack,
I saw some of the gang back there,
I'll give you one chance to save your uncle's life, now
under my control, Do you understand?
Where is he?
As you wish,
Crap,
Do you think he knows we are here?
Are you worried?
I thought the Queensland guys were tough guys,
Met Travis by chance,
Just one time,
I worry because I am not stupid,
Our doubts are traitors, Walter,
Up on the hill
is that Eddy?
Does he want to kill my uncle?
No i think he
he's here for us,
He's your friend,
He was my observer in the war,
He chose the goals for me and I killed them,
So yeah I mean
Bush plums,
Good bush food,
Got used to this during the war,
I'll save it for later, Here,
I thought the war was over,
My uncle, Baywara,
he was my teacher,
If he had a chance
then he would have become a different man,
I don't know if anyone can choose what to become of them,
Away, get away!
Go away!
They can smell the food for miles,
How did you survive out here for so long?
Brains,
I think they got up again and move on,
And?
There's no point sitting here and waiting,
Because of your friend,
He is not my friend,
Then why are you so afraid that we might catch up with him?
Have you ever seen him shoot?
That's what I wanted to say,
Uh, I have to piss for a moment,
There are many ways of looking at a situation, Walter,
Yes?
One of them is your kind, that of the Blackfellas
which in my opinion is daring and without precision,
As an ex-military, I believe precision is key,
Sure, sometimes we can count on your Blackfella hocus-pocus,
But at the moment of attack, at the moment of contact
there is nothing like thorough military planning,
Travis,
Walter,
Where's tommy
Tommy, I know you're around here somewhere!
Come out or he's dead!
That doesn't scratch him, Eddy,
Tommy!
You cannot do that,
What the fuck up
Moran says none of them are coming back,
One step to the right,
Damn black bastard,
When you come back tell Moran the plan has changed,
From now on, I'll do things my way,
And how did you come up with this shitty idea?
You are not here to take my back,
I don't want to have to shoot you again, Walter, so
fuck off in Queensland again, Keep an eye on him,
Come,
Put it down, Eddy,
Lay on the floor, Eddy,
No,
Down with it,
Take his rifle,
Keep an eye on him,
I have him, He's not a problem,
He is old and slow,
Small and fat,
Has hair like a woman,
Are we going out there again?
We are waiting for more men,
For more men?
When are they here?
Hey, in the war, did you shoot people yourself?
Do you know what an observer does?
You're not just locating the target, You confirm the killing,
You watch the skull explode,
You see the mist of blood and the dead eyes,
There is one thing you must not forget, Walter:
Travis is the nice guy of the two of us,
Gutjuk, you did well,
The mission station is over, Your life begins now,
Yes, Is good,
Where do we go?
To your grandfather's land,
What are you going to do with him?
I think he's a good man,
Do not worry,
If I wanted to kill your friend, I
would have done it back there,
Is she your wife
It doesn't belong to anyone, Too wild, the little one,
Your son's gang is coming,
Is that Gutjuk, your grandson?
You have a white man with you,
Why did you bring him here?
We can use it as a deposit,
I don't want anything to do with it,
Father, you said you would help me when I had trouble,
Not when you do that,
Then we chop it into pieces,
No, This madness stops now,
Take me to him
Sounds like you're getting into trouble,
Shut your mouth,
You have a big nose,
I don't care, he should die,
My grandfather wants to know if you have power,
Is he your grandfather?
Yes,
What exactly does he want?
He says that only he can judge his son, Not her,
His son's gang killed a woman,
He won't turn his son over to you,
Then he puts his whole family in danger,
And if he comes with you, will his family be safe?
I dont know, I do not know that,
I do not think so,
He wants to talk to your boss,
OK, I can arrange that,
I would like to have my rifle back,
Give him back his rifle,
I do not like it,
You can't trust them, You know what they did,
You will take care of everything here in the camp,
We have to make peace,
It will be your fault to be killed,
Do you understand?
You are a mission boy pretending to be a man,
You don't know what you are doing, You are weak,
You are all weak,
Cowards,
Cowards who talk instead of fight,
Do you believe the words of a white man?
And a mission boy?
You do not speak for me,
I hear you have no prospects,
Well, they're all too scared to let
their men go when the gang is free,
Is there anything else I can do?
I trained as a sniper and was
out of Alice Springs for two months,
Sniper?
I tell you what you can do
Go in, grab a rifle, and ride about
a mile to the east, then you are our early warning,
Like an eagle,
All right,
Nephew,
Well, now everyone should look straight into the camera,
Dont move,
Look directly at the camera,
Keep still,
Now,
We'll do one more thing, just to be on the safe side,
Shit what did you do there?
I speak your language a little and can translate for you,
Are you the woman who raised my grandson?
Yes, together with my brother,
I thank you, But my grandson can speak for me,
Do you see the crown on the badge?
She represents the king,
The King of the British Empire,
And that is the law that I
am committed to upholding,
Do you see that shiny thing on his hat?
By doing this he thinks
he's the boss,
My grandpa
is here to negotiate my uncle,
Baywara,
I will not negotiate about anything,
Listen, your uncle broke the law,
He wants to know what law you are talking about,
What?
This is my law,
It comes from the ground, From mother earth,
They come here from over the sea,
My law is perfect, Uniformly, It unites us,
Baywara is his son, He's allowed to judge him, not you,
Makarrata, Restore the balance,
I understand the "balance",
-But here in this country,,, -My country!
I said here in this country
we all obey the same laws together,
I will do my best to ensure that your son,
Baywara, is treated decently, That is justice,
Do you stand for justice?
Absolutely yes,
Then give us justice,
For the men who killed my family,
It didn't start with my uncle,
It started with you,
Do you want us to respect your law?
Then give us our righteousness,
Look, I'm not a politician,
I'm nothing more than a lawman,
What you are asking of me is not my decision,
There are people I need to talk to, Which I have to convince,
Do you understand?
And that will be easier if I can present your son,
You just attacked Kurtz ‘Ranch, Two dead,
Your cursed son and his
gang just attacked a ranch,
Baywara just attacked a ranch,
We're done here, Jesus,
Holy shit,
We all have to go,
We have to take care of our people,
We have to find Baywara and warn him,
No, He is responsible for that himself,
Families, come, We go home now,
We have to protect our country, ourselves and our children,
There will be trouble,
If all goes well, you'll never see me again,
German?
This is the Mauser G-98,
Yes, they thought they were so much better than ours,
- Very easy,,, - Fuck off,
Moran lets you go
Yes, A head start, I would say,
You can't stick it to me if you hold me here, can you?
You know what they're up to,
And you just let it happen,
I won't make it easy for them,
I took the preacher's old weapon, Be careful,
Where are the others you bitch
Now shut up,
The stupid bitch doesn't want to play along,
Morley!
-Morley, for God's sake! -What?
Take it easy, my boy,
I know you,
You're one of the mission niggers,
Tommy, That's his name,
What's the point of pointing the gun at a white man, Tommy?
I can't even wipe my ass without you,,,
Don't look
Please do not…
I don't want their water,
Should i think you know what you're doing
From a higher position
can you see everything
You think like a white man,
They were good men,
Did you find her?
Yes,
Here they killed my family,
Baywara, we can't wait for you any longer,
We are waiting,
She belongs to us,
How many are coming?
Maybe four,
Let them come,
They send men and we send ghosts back to them,
No, If they are prepared for battle, we lose,
We have to escape and make a plan,
We have to be in control,
You don't tell me what to do
Listen to him,
What do you have to say
That man, Travis,
He was a soldier,
He told me that control is the most important thing,
OK,
And he taught me that,
What kind of crazy kid are you
What are you doing there?
I'm just explaining something to them,
You mean you know everything
Twelve years, and one thing I know for
sure about the men who killed my family,
They were soldiers,
Soldiers,
Understood?
Travis!
Hey
That's it for you, you ba,,,
Come here,
They were that,
You don't always make the best decisions, man,
I think that says it all,
People will look at the photo
and then think:
This is what a mad dog looks like once it's met,
Do you know how a civilization is built, boy?
With bad men,
With bad men doing bad things,
That clear the way for the others who will follow,
With bad men like you and me,
How did you get the idea that you could change who you are?
You're breaking my heart boy
Take a rest,
Regain your strength,
It wouldn't be very smart of us to want to hang a dead man,
Don't you agree?
Will you follow your uncle's path
This stone,
This stone is the
Spearhead,
He is right and law,
It cannot be undone,
The hardest stone
that there is,
I want the spear here,
No this is mine,
Baywara could have been our greatest teacher,
But he's lost all of that to his anger,
Do you understand?
We didn't help him,
Listen to the wind
Listen to Father Heaven,
Listen to mother earth,
Listen to what she's telling you,
Walk with soft steps,
Stay here, Take care of yourself,
You mustn't follow your uncle's path,
I worked on a ranch,
I made the food and wiped the floor,
Boss thought I was his,
I was a girl, just a little girl,
I told my family,
He killed them all,
He gave me to his men,
I know what it feels like to be hit,
What it's like to feel worthless,
That's why you have to stay angry
and keep fighting,
Your anger is all you have,
He's dead, right?
If he were dead they wouldn't be
trying to round up more men here,
Do not worry,
He won't wait for you to come to him,
Claire,
You want to hunt Tommy,
He's a murderer,
To finish what you started twelve years ago,
You can't share a country, Claire,
There are people over there,
You made a fire,
Do you see them?
It could be cops,
-Let's go to them, -Yes let's go,
Let's go down and see where the men are sitting,
Tomorrow,
Oh damn it,
What a crap,
Cartridges, - Throw them in the fire,
Come on! Come on!
Shit damn it!
God dammit!
You are here! You are here! The gang is here!
The supplies,
Kill them all!
Uncle Brett! Uncle Brett! Can I…
You go in there! You're guarding Travis! Where do you want to go?
I accompany her,
Not a good idea, john,
Make sure you catch every single bastard this time!
Keep eyes open!
Boy, you'll soon experience a little something,
That's not fair,
Calm, Calm,
No!
Bruce!
Don't move, old man,
Stop or I'll shoot him,
Drop weapons,
Come on, On the knee,
Tommy?
Where's travis?
Eddy!
You damn lunatic! Take cover!
Cursed!!
-Come here, -Tommy!
What are you doing here? Put the gun down,
Come on down,
You're making a huge mistake, boy,
You lied! You know who these men are!
Boy…
What they did to my family,
I am the second chief officer,
Keep one's mouth shut!
Please, Tommy,
My name is Gutjuk,
You killed my family, Say it!
You shouldn't do that, my friend,
Boy, you should calm down,
Hush old man!
Well finally!
Take it easy,
Chill out,
Say goodbye, you black ba,,,
You, Get lost,
Travis!
No, Eddy,
Stop!
Drop it, Eddy,
Give it up, Travis, If you shoot me, I'll shoot him,
How did you get it that I wouldn't kill you on the spot?
This can not be true! You care more about this lousy
piece of black dirt than you care about yourself!
God only knows why!
Gun down!
Not,
Shut up, On the knee,
Give it to me,
You should go away,
Gutjuk,
You have to go now,
WITH THE GREATEST RESERVATION IN MEMORY
TO DR,DJARRTJUNTJUN MANDAWUY YUNUPINGU,
LEAD SINGER OF YOTHU YINDI, AUSTRALIAN OF THE YEAR,
BOTH WAYS TEACHER, PROUD MAN OF THE YOLNGU,