The Fringe Dwellers

Clip 3: Rain makes me sad

2 min 59 sec

Taken from the feature The Fringe Dwellers (1986)

Original title classification PG – this clip chosen to be PG

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Availability of the complete title

Please be aware that this clip may contain the names, images and voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who may now be deceased.

Curator’s clip description

Rain falls on the fringe camp where the family are sheltered in their humble home, having been evicted from the housing commission house. The attempt to move up in the world has proven to be unsuccessful. Old Eva (Kath Walker) tells Trilby (Kristina Nehm) how to abort her baby, but Trilby eventually delivers in the hospital.

Curator’s notes

The rain represents a rather bleak return to their former home. The rain symbolises the sadness and futility of the Aboriginal family’s attempt to join the wider society and the unsuccessful attempt to assimilate. Trilby fetches water from the water drum, walking through mud, her pregnancy clearly visible. The rain emphasises the conditions of the fringe camp, and the distance between the living conditions of this place and the warmth of civilized comfort represented by the housing commission place. The poverty that must be overcome in order for the family to move up in the world presents as overwhelming, and a near impossible obstacle.

Romaine Moreton, curator

australian screen