Samson & Delilah

If you're looking for Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr, this is the wrong Samson and Delilah. Set in the Australian Outback, the film follows Aboriginal teenagers Samson and Delilah, who live in a crummy shantytown. Samson doesn't appear to have a family or any means of support, while Delilah lives with an elderly grandmother who creates Aboriginal folk art that is sold for great sums in metropolitan galleries—although the dishonest white men that represent her work in galleries only turn over a miniscule percent of sales. A convoluted set of circumstances results in the teens leaving their isolated poverty and moving into the shabby fringes of mainstream Australian society, where they shoplift food from convenience stores and seek shelter under a bridge—the ersatz home to a verbose alcoholic nutcase who becomes their new neighbor. While Samson & Delilah clearly aims to address serious issues regarding the continued disenfranchisement of the Aborigines, the script of this too-leisurely film is extremely predictable. Aggravating matters is the fact that nonprofessionals Rowan McNamara and Marissa Gibson bring very little sparkle to their title roles. But writer-director-cinematographer Warwick Thornton did win the Cannes Camera d'Or for this film, although one might assume that the award was based mostly on his wonderful camerawork, which beautifully captures the glories and miseries of the Australian environment. A strong optional purchase. (P. Hall)