♪♪
My grandfather, King George...
he take'em me walkabout,
teach me black fella way.
Grandfather teach'em me most important lesson of all.
Tell'em story.
That day I down the billabong.
King George... he teach me how to catch'em fish using magic song.
♪♪
See, I not black fella. I not white fella either.
Them white fellas call me mixed-blood,
half-caste- Yea!
Creamy.
Hyah! I belong no one.
That day I see'em them white fellas.
They were pushing them cheeky bulls across the river...
onto Carney land.
King George angry at them white fellas.
King George say them white fella bad spirit.
Must be taken from this land.
Shh.
Coppers.
Them coppers come take me away.
They want to put me on that Mission Island.
Make me into a white fella.
But they're not coppers.
Whoa there. Whoa. Whoa.
And that first time I saw her...
that Mrs. Boss.
The strangest woman I ever seen.
She's not from this land.
This land my people got many names for,
but white fellas call it...
Australia.
But this story not begin that day.
This story begin a little while ago in a land far, far away.
That land called England.
My husband must sell Faraway Downs.
But the offer from this "Cattle King," Mr. Carney,
is only one-sixth of what it was once worth.
We need the money, Ramsden.
But Maitland is just about to muster the fats.
What?
Get the-the big cows ready for market.
Ramsden, you and I both know...
there is only one reason my husband has spent so much time down under,
and it has absolutely nothing to do with cows.
At least not of the animal variety.
Lady Ashley, I-I do think that's a bit harsh.
Oh, Ramsden, drink your tea. Lady Ashley!
What do you intend to do?
I intend to travel to this cattle station,
sell it...
and bring Maitland home myself!
But, Lady Ashley, it's Australia.
Darling Sarah, I implore you, do not travel.
Outbreak of war imminent. Stop.
Maitland, your concern regarding war duly noted. Stop.
Have plan concerning cattle.
Sale to King Carney not necessary.
- Need more time. Stop. - Nonsense. Stop.
Expect contract for sale of station to be drawn by time of my arrival. Stop.
Cannot meet you. Stop. Am mustering. Stop.
Have sent trusted man. Stop. The Drover. Stop.
The Drover?
Drover, you boong lover.
Any of you other Carney boys want to have a go?
Come on, fellas. Don't let fear stand in your way.
I'll have ya.
Hey! No boongs in here!
He's not in the pub, Ivan.
Go on.
Run after your boong friend, 'cause as far as this town's concerned, you are a black.
You work with them, you eat with them,
and you sleep with them.
Oh, crikey.
When you see her, wave your hat.
What are you waiting for, an invitation?
I hate coming to town.
Lady Sarah Ashley.
A genuine aristocrat living right here in Darwin.
Administrator, we're at war.
Oh.
As the officer...
in charge of livestock purchases for the armed forces...
- She's quite a looker. - I fail to see...
what Lady Sarah Ashley...
has to do with Carney's stranglehold of the beef industry.
Her husband, Lord Ashley,
claims he's mustering fats at Faraway Downs.
Faraway Downs? Faraway Downs.
The only cattle station in the whole of the north...
not owned by Leslie "King" Carney.
Lord Maitland Ashley is mustering on Faraway Downs? Yeah, yeah.
Isn't quite what we had in mind, is it, Neil? No. Yeah.
And now his missus has arrived on the flying boat.
Doesn't look like they're gonna sell Faraway Downs to me, Neil.
Ah, she won't last.
A delicate English rose withers in the outback. Hmm.
You with me?
If you must know, I am to be met-
By my husband's trusted man, a Mr. Drover.
The bloody Drover?
Bring it. Yes.
Move it.
Look at my wife and daughter down there giving her the royal welcome.
My fiancé, Neil Fletcher, manages Faraway Downs.
Good day.
A bit pale.
Not a bad-looking sheila, but what's the story on the luggage?
Wants to settle down in the outback, does she?
If she stays and Lord Ashley manages to get his cattle down onto that wharf there,
then we've got a competitor for the army contract, Neil.
Carney's control of every cattle station in the north...
jeopardizes the supply of beef to our troops.
But it's a poor war that doesn't make a decent patriot rich, so...
I don't want a single beast from Faraway Downs...
to set a hoof on that wharf.
- You with me, Neil? - Yeah, yeah. Nature will take its course.
What about the missus?
No, I've arranged for someone special to give her the old scenic route.
Give her a taste of the outback.
No!
Who's taking her? The Drover.
The Drover?
Enjoy the ride, sweetheart.
I'm Sarah Ashley.
My husband, Lord Ashley,
has sent a trusted man to collect me.
A, uh-A Mr. Drover.
It seems as if he has been waylaid.
No women.
Ladies' lounge next door.
The hen parlor's that away, my dear.
No wonder your establishment is empty.
Good day.
Oh! Oh!
You can take him!
No!
Oh! No, no!
No, not my bags. Not my-
Oh, no, no!
Here.
Welcome to Australia.
Drover take Mrs. Boss to Faraway Downs...
in a great, big, fancy truck.
He even let her sit in his special seat.
She even drinks Drover's own water bottle.
That's it.
They get along like a burnin' house.
Now, Magarri-he sit'em up top.
And Magarri's cousin Goolajbaloong-
he come along for the ride.
- Oh! - They make'em friends right away.
Water.
Oh.
That's it. That's it. Stay, Jedda. Stay.
"Trusted man." Typical of my husband.
Actually, your husband's a pretty good bloke.
Yes, well, he certainly knows how to choose his employees.
- Employee? - Mmm. No wonder the place is bankrupt.
- Lady, I'm not an employee. - Really?
So you're just driving me all the way out to Faraway Downs...
as a personal favor to my husband, are you? No.
Him being such a good bloke and all, hmm?
I'm driving you out there because he promised me a drove of 1,500 head of cattle.
What, to buy? No, you goose. To drove.
I'm a drover, right? I move the cattle from "A" to "B."
All right? I work on commission. No man hires me, no man fires me.
Oh- Everything I own...
I can fit in my saddlebag, which is the way I like it.
Oh! Yes, well, it's all-all very "outback adventure," isn't it?
- I'm not saying it's for everyone. - No.
Definitely not for everyone.
Most people like to own things. You know, land, luggage, other people.
Makes them feel secure. But all that can be taken away.
And in the end, the only thing you really own is, uh-
is your story.
Just tryin' to live a good one.
Yes, yes. An adventure story. Mmm. You sound just like my husband.
Oh!
Oh, they're kangaroos!
- Big reds. - Oh! Lovely.
Beautiful. Oh, yeah, yeah. Beautiful.
I've never seen a kangaroo. Beautiful, jumping.
- Yeah, they're jumping. - Oh!
Oh, it's beautiful.
Uh- Oh! Look at them jumping!
Ah!
Mr. Drover.
Hey, Miss Boss.
Tucker, Mrs. Boss?
- Mr. Drover. - Yeah?
- There's only one tent. - That's right.
- For the four of us? - Well, you know, it gets pretty chilly here at night.
We, uh-We like to bunk up together, eh, Magarri? Goolaj, huh?
Nice and close, you know.
Oh!
Oh, come on, Lady Ashley.
We're just having a laugh.
Never really slept in a tent in our life. We just bunk around the fire, you see?
- See, we're not really used to, um- - A woman?
I suppose you think I should be back in Darwin at the church fete...
or the ladies', uh, whatever you call it.
Well, I will have you know that I am as capable as any man.
Guests. We're not used to guests. That's what I was about to say.
But now you mention it, I happen to quite like the women of the outback.
But they're mostly native women.
Aboriginal women.
They're very easy to, uh-
To get along with, if you try.
♪ Whoa, babe something is bothering me ♪
Go!
- Ho! - Him always punctual.
Get out of here!
- What's that? - Your accountant.
Hey, Drover! He's your bloody problem now!
See you, Drover!
Kippelly Flymm.
Kippelly Flynn. I'm sorry. What was your name again?
Lipelling Klymm, mi-mila-milady.
Kipling Flynn.
Thanks.
How long till we reach Faraway Downs?
Oh, we've been on it for the last two days.
- Drover! Hey, Drover! - Yeah, love. How you doing?
Good. Aren't you gonna stop and have a rest for a while?
Nah, gotta make a delivery. Put the kettle on.
I'll be round in a couple days. Give us a kiss. Okay.
See you soon.
She's easy to get on with. Ah, she's trouble, that one.
See you later! Bye!
You and my husband share an interest.
An interest? Really?
Come on. We all know the real reason that my husband is out here.
Oh. Right. You mean the breeding. Yeah.
Breeding? Yeah.
No, we're both dead keen on breeding.
I have this idea, which, uh-which he loves.
You might be quite excited about it too, actually.
Now, I'm a brumby man, but his fancy English filly, Capricornia,
has really caught my eye.
I got to admit. She is gorgeous. Really gorgeous.
Gorgeous creature.
I've always wanted to mate an English thoroughbred with a bush brumby.
I mean, it'd be magic, wouldn't it? Magic.
Imagine that combination. Don't. Don't you say another word.
I know what you're implying. You've thought about it, too, haven't you?
Capricornia-You- Poppycock!
- What are you talking about? - Poppycock!
Coppers.
- What are you talking about? - You-You want-
- You want to have it on with me. - What? What was that?
Oh, you know exactly what I'm saying.
Just like you have it on with that poor girl you're exploiting...
and-and-and God knows how many others.
What are you talking about?
- You got a filthy mind, lady. - You're an animal!
I wouldn't have it on with you if you were the only tart left in Australia.
Animal! You are a- Believe me, I wouldn't-
You-
Oh!
What was that?
Stay in the car. No, no.
Get your hands off me.
For once in your life, do as you're bloody told.
There she is.
Faraway Downs.
And that first time I saw her...
that Mrs. Boss. Oh! Oh!
Lady Ashley, wait! Don't go in there!
I'm so sorry.
My family has had the honor of serving...
the owners of Faraway Downs for three generations.
We know how hard this land can be.
But Lord Maitland Ashley-he...
he never gave up.
The only thing that could stop this decent and courageous man was a spear...
from a murderous black, the so-called King George.
And he will be brought to justice.
Let us now pray for Maitland Ashley...
that his soul may enter peacefully through the gates of heaven.
♪♪
Lady Ashley, we can leave for Darwin first thing in the morning.
Yes, yes. Certainly, Mr. Fletcher.
Watch the, um-
I can't understand what my husband would have seen out here.
Yeah, this land has a strange power.
♪♪
That first night, when the sun go to sleep,
King George tell me this land be healed.
He tell'em me that woman- that far, far away woman-
she be like the rain.
I've been thinking I'm gonna sing her to me.
Make the land sing.
♪♪
I let you see me now.
Who are you?
I Nullah.
How did you get in here?
I make myself invisible...
with gulapa magic!
♪♪
What do you want?
That balanda Fletcher been curse to this place.
But you like Rainbow Serpent.
You mien-muk.
You heal this land, so I sing you to me.
Like I sing a fish to me.
♪♪
I sing, too,
when Mama and Fletcher...
make wrong-side business.
Wrong-sided business?
You know.
Laying down and tickling.
- Oh, my goodness. - Me and you secret.
Oh, my goodness. Mr. Fletcher?
I got to sing to Mama to warn her...
that Lord Boss Ashley is coming down.
Maitland? I-I-
I mean, Lord Ashley?
Yeah. He plenty funny.
So that's why I took him down the billabong, shown him all the big, fat, cheeky bulls.
Come here. Look'em. Look.
Get pushed across that river...
over to Carney land.
The bulls.
"Billabong"?
That's where Maitland was killed.
But, Mrs. Boss, that spear was...
Please don't.
Don't make'em that policeman take away my boy.
Them coppers. That bad Fletcher.
He say you see me, you send me to the Mission Island.
To that lock-lock. Throw away bloody key.
Please, missus! Quick!
I make us invisible.
Mrs. Boss. Oh! Oh. It's you.
Last night, I show you-
Hyah!
Where-
Yeah. She's a beautiful day, isn't she?
How was your sleep? Restful?
I wouldn't say so, no.
Yeah, now, the boys are- the boys are just finishing up.
Gotta tell you, they're a pretty sorry mob of cattle. Seems hardly worth the effort.
Ready to go, Lady Ashley?
Billabong.
Mr. Fletcher,
tell me about the big, fat cows that cross the river...
down at the "billabalong," or whatever you call it.
Near the billabong? No, that's Carney property over there.
Our cattle don't cross the river.
- Apparently they do. - Yeah?
Who-Who says they do?
That little boy there.
Oh, you mean the little half-caste fella?
Hey. Hey, little fella. Come here.
Come and tell Mr. Fletcher what you told me last night.
Yeah, come on, Nullah.
- Yes. - They're funny ones.
Now,
did you see big, fat cattle crossing Marmont River?
Or were they just Carney cattle on the other side of the river having a drink?
Them just Carney cattle, Mr. Fletcher.
- I been lookin' myself. - Yeah?
Ah, you tell great, big, tall stories, don't ya, eh?
It's all right, Mr. Fletcher. I'm sure the boy just made a mistake.
All right. We best get going, Lady Ashley.
Sing Song. Take the little fella to the kitchen. Give him a big feed of that tucker he likes.
Forgive me, Mr. Fletcher. Look. I understand.
You barely slept.
Wait, wait. Let me go.
Yeah. Well, that old windmill hasn't turned in years.
He's a sweet little boy. I don't think he meant any harm.
Yeah, no, they're funny, little creamies. They're all a bit soft in the head, yeah.
That's why the, uh, government sends them to the mission.
They all tell bloody monstrous lies. Yeah. And the next one, quick.
Come on. We haven't got all day.
I no bloody liar!
He liar! He say this not work!
Fletcher liar!
- No! Leave him alone! - Nullah!
Fletcher! I curse you!
Leave him alone! Leave him alone!
Please! Run! Run! Run, Nullah! Run!
I curse you!
Leave him alone!
Mr. Fletcher!
- Leave him alone! - Mr. Fletcher!
Get off my property.
You no longer work for me.
If I go, my men go with me.
There won't be a single bloody beast in the stockyard to start the drove in the morning.
You heard what I said. Get off my property!
Yeah? Go!
Now!
You're the boss.
Flynn, get in the car.
I'll give you a new job somewhere else.
Bunch em up, grab the gear. Pack it up.
I'll see you in Desperation Creek in a few days.
Bloody old fool.
Carney's gonna get this property.
Been a pleasure working for ya. Real pleasure.
Yeah.
That strange woman-she fire'em that Fletcher.
He can't hurt Mama no more.
From that day on, we call her... Mrs. Boss.
Why would Fletcher block the water pump?
I don't know. All crazy.
- White fella, blackfella-all crazy. - Crazy.
- Mr. Flynn.
- Milady. - Don't get up.
The truth, Mr. Flynn.
This, uh, ledger,
which, um, Fletcher had me keep for the benefit of your husband,
is a tale of decline and ruin...
redolent of the great Gibbon.
There is, however, another,
kept for the benefit...
♪♪ Of Mr. Carney,
in which is recorded all the unbranded...
fat cattle...
siphoned off across the river and into his herd. ♪♪
And the boy.
He's Fletcher's son, isn't he?
As with all things Fletcher, it's impossible to prove anything.
Still, if Carney's good Christian wife...
ever comes to the same conclusion as yourself,
Fletcher's chances of marrying their daughter would be dashed.
I'm going to the authorities, and I will be telling them-
Carney is the authority here. Are you suggesting...
I let him steal my cattle and buy my property for a fraction of what it's worth?
I'm suggesting that you continue to do what your husband set out to do.
Drove.
Drove the cattle to Darwin.
♪♪ Would you mind?
I need a drink.
My lady, drove.
Drove the cattle to Darwin, sell them to the army,
and you'll break Carney's monopoly.
Use the profits to put Faraway Downs back on its feet.
You go back to London.
You're sitting pretty for the rest of your life.
That's what Maitland said he was doing.
And there's no reason why you can't do the same.
♪♪
There is just one small problem.
Having dismissed Fletcher, there's no one to muster the cattle.
Hyah! Hyah!
Flynn! Mrs. Boss!
It's the Drover!
Drover! Drover!
Hyah!
Yeah, Drover! Yeah!
Teach me how to break them brumbies!
See any boys in there? No.
Goolaj, go see if they're out in the top paddock.
Mr. Drover! Just get the bloody brumbies in there.
I'll find out what the hell's going on. Teach me to break them horses.
Fill the water trough, son. I need to speak to you!
Where the hell are all the bloody stockmen, eh?
- That's what I need to speak to you about. - Where's Fletcher?
- We disagreed, and I dismissed him. - Dismissed?
- Yes. - Wa-Hang on. What about the cattle?
Well, it beggars belief, but as he was leaving,
he deliberately let the cows out of the, uh-I don't know-whatever you call it,
and they ran off!
Damn! Do you realize, woman, what you've done?
Mr. Drover, do not take that tone with me. Thank you very much!
- Don't take that tone with you, huh? - No.
I'm asking you, woman, do you know what you've done?
I won't get another drove this late in the season. You've cost me my living.
- Can't you just round them up? - Round them up, huh? Oh, round them up. Yeah!
- Yes. You just go get them. - 1,500 head ofcattle-
- Oh! - Scattered over a million acres with just me and my two men.
That's a great idea. Stupid cow.
Mr. Drover, I was right to dismiss Mr. Fletcher...
on moral grounds.
Moral grounds?
You're at that again, are ya? Let me guess.
He wanted to, uh, exploit you, did he?
- Fancy you, did he? - What?
Stop it. L-Is there any man in this world who doesn't fancy you?
Please. Huh?
Mr. Fletcher is working for Mr. Carney.
They were pushing the best of the unbranded cattle...
across the river onto Mr. Carney's property.
They were stealing!
- There's no surprises there. - No, he's a bad man.
All right, all right. But look. You can't prove it, right?
Well- You can't.
And you can't win against Carney. So just take my advice, lady.
Grab King Carney's offer and go the hell back to England as quickly as possible.
That way you'd make everybody happy, especially me.
So you're just going to walk away?
I learned a long time ago not to fight other people's wars.
Wait! Wait! Wait! Mr. Drover, wait!
Please, please, please! Mr. Drover, please! Please! Wait!
Please. I-
Listen. You said that your dream was to breed a thoroughbred with a-
with a bush brumby.
If you agree to help me, I-
I will give you my Capricornia.
And how we gonna do a drove with just me and my two men, huh?
Oh, crikey.
Mum was a drover's boy for Fletcher.
Bandy was a drover's boy a long time ago.
Some white stockmen like to have an Aboriginal woman on the drove...
to keep 'em company at night.
They shave their heads, make 'em look like boys...
and work 'em like any other stockman during the day.
That's, uh- What do you call it?
- Exploiting them. - Exploiting, yes.
Anyway, we're still in trouble.
We gotta have seven good riders at least, and the most I can count is five.
What have we got? We've got me-You.
- Magarri. - Yeah, Magarri!
Goolaj- Great.
We got Daisy. Nice ride. And, uh, Bandy. Good work.
Oh. What about Mr. Sing Song? Mr. Sing Song, ride horse?
- Hey. Don't look at me. - Sing Song, me real good cooker.
Cook's wagon at best. We got five, right? It's not enough.
We need two more experienced riders.
I did that run once back in 1935...
with Magarri, Dingo Jones and the Drongo brothers-Drongo brothers.
True knights of the outback. Mr. Flynn. Can you ride?
- I can. - I won't carry a drunk.
But don't.
I ride'em real bloody good!
I drove those no-good cheeky bulls into the big, bloody metal ship.
All right. Five and a quarter. Six and a quarter.
What?
Lady, this ain't trotting in Kensington Gardens.
Mr. Drover, I could show you a thing or two about horses.
Pretty sure, when it comes to horses, there's nothing you can show me.
- Bring the horse. - You can't be serious.
Bring the horse.
Oh, this should be interesting.
Move along! Move along! Rah! Rah!
Move along!
Rah! Rah!
What are you doing? Shoo! Shoo!
Rah, rah! Rah. Rah! Move it!
Lady Ashley-Move it! Move it! They're going the wrong way.
Rah! Rah!
Oh! It's easy. Stubborn things. Silly cows.
Hey, hey, hey. What the bloody hell you doing? Come on.
You're scattering them all over the place. Get up the back there, up the tail.
Get up there. Go, go, go, go, go! Don't let 'em break away.
Go on.
Run, you cows! Move, you cows!
We're trying to get the cows up there.
Not too bad, Lady Ashley. I've got him! I've got him!
I think we're doing pretty well.
You crazy... take all this stuff.
Where you think you going? Shanghai?
A lady never knows what she might need.
Run, Nullah! Run! Run!
- Coppers! Coppers! - Tank! Run! Tank.
Tank, Nullah! Tank!
Bandy, coppers!
Hurry up!
Turn 'em loose. Go on. Get out. You two, check the east side.
Move, move! Hurry up!
Daisy's in the tank.
Shh!
Bandy, tea. Tea.
Where's the creamy?
Trackers.
Nullah.
Lady Ashley, Sergeant Callahan of the Northern Territory Police.
Grab the float.
I can't begin to tell you, Lady Ashley, how the...
tragedy which befell your late husband has...
wrung sympathy from the hearts of every civilized man and woman in the Northern Territory.
Let me assure you, Lady Ashley,
that the suspect, King George, will be brought to justice.
But surely a witch doctor could conceal his own tracks, Sergeant, could he not?
Makes no difference. It's only a matter of time.
Shh!
Oh, incidentally, I met up with your former manager, Neil Fletcher.
He informed me that there's a half-blood Aboriginal child out here somewhere.
I thought we might pick him up and put him in the good hands of the church.
I will be sure to look out for him.
Till we meet again, Lady Ashley.
Get 'em in the back, Constable. Let's go.
They're in the tank!
Drover!
Drover, help them! Quickly!
Mama!
Easy. That's it. I got you. I got you.
Come on, Daisy. Come on.
Daisy! Daisy!
Daisy! Daisy.
Daisy!
Daisy.
♪♪
When someone dies in the Aboriginal culture,
you're not supposed to say their name again.
He needs motherin'.
Mothering?
Yep.
You're a woman, so, go on, get down there.
I'm, uh- I'm not, uh, uh-
What?
Good with children.
Oh. Huh.
Nullah.
I wanted to extend my condolences.
Go away.
Would you, uh- Would you like to hear a story?
What story?
Uh, well, it's, uh- it's called-
- It's called The Wizard of Oz. - What's a wizard?
Well, a wizard is a sort of...
magic man.
Gulapa.
♪♪
Mama say I gulapa.
- I magic man. - Really?
I wizard man.
We can't say Mama's name no more.
No. Well-
Uh, anyway, there's a girl,
and there's a dog.
Ruff. Ruff, ruff, ruff! And there's a tornado-
- Well, no. It's a-In the film, it's a twister. - Who twister?
Oh, no, no. Twister's not a person. It's like a big-Whoosh!
Like a storm. Like the wet?
Like the wet.
Anyway, the story takes place in a, um-
well, a faraway land...
called Oz.
This good story. Oh, well-
Got song? Yes, yes. Lots of songs.
I like song.
You sing'em me, I learn'em song.
No, no, no. No.
No.
Well, I-Uh, some.
- I'll sing a little. - Good.
♪ Somewhere over the, uh- the rainbow ♪
Rainbow Serpent? Yes.
That bloody good. Keep going. You funny singer, but good song.
Oh. ♪ Somewhere ♪
♪♪
♪ There's some birds and they... ♪
Uh-Oh- Keep going. Come on.
♪ Someday I'll wish upon a-a star ♪
♪ And ♪
Come on. Sing more. Uh-Yes.
♪ Wake up where the clouds are far behind ♪
♪ Dreams really do come ♪
♪ True ♪♪
♪♪
Oh!
Dreaming song.
Mrs. Boss,
we gotta get those no-good, cheeky bulls into the big, bloody, metal ship.
That's right.
That's what dreaming songs tell us, Mrs. Boss.
We've got to get those no-good, big, bloody bulls...
into that metal ship.
I'm sorry. I thought he could- I thought he could do it.
Yeah, well, people don't change, Miss Ashley.
Twister. Twister!
- No desert comes drier than Kipling Flynn, milady! - Well done!
Well done, Kipling!
Hey!
Flynn Kipling! Yea!
Hey, hey!
- Welcome! Welcome! - Hey, Nullah!
All right.
Well, Mr. Drover, I believe we have the appropriate number.
- The appropriate number, huh? - Yes.
Well, listen up. I'm only gonna say this once.
I run the show. Everybody does exactly...
as she's told.
- Understood? - Understood.
- No matter your experience or your age, you pull your weight. - Yes, boss.
And above all, the Drover's law: No grog.
Now,
if there's a rush and the cattle are stampeding towards you,
it's not much good prancing and dancing about on your show pony.
There's only one thing cattle fear more than a man on a horse...
and that's a man standing on his own two feet,
staring 'em right between the eyes.
Now, you sure you mob are still up for it?
Mm-hmm.
You can count on us.
Oh, crikey.
Well, we're what we are.
Gotta get to Darwin before the ship sails.
Let's get cracking.
The rest of you jokers follow me.
Hyah! Hyah!
I'll get the gate. Stay back. Don't let 'em scatter.
There, mate. Push 'em over. Don't let 'em go down there.
That's it. Get 'em up!
Whoo! Hyah!
Get up there!
So we start cracking them whips...
and driving them cheeky bulls all the way across the land...
to that place they call'em Darwin.
All right. We'll push 'em straight across here.
Ho!
Very good. Keep 'em movin'. Nice and steady.
Go on!
Hyah!
Keep 'em moving.
Giddy up! Giddap!
♪♪
While the war rages on in Europe, the Japanese are on the march.
There are reports of an alliance between the warmongers...
of Germany, Italy and Japan,
which threatens to expand World War II to the shores of Australia.
This is a war of the air, but on the ground...
the War Office will announce who has won the army's contract...
to supply good Aussie beef to the troops.
Couple of days won't make any difference, Captain.
Might as well sign the contract now, eh?
I wouldn't be too sure of that, Mr. Carney.
Air force chaps just spotted a big mob of cattle, 1,500 head, crossing the Marmont River.
Marmont River? That's Faraway Downs.
Are you, uh, running cattle out of Faraway Downs, Mr. Fletcher?
Uh, no, no. I don't work there anymore.
Well, I suppose Lady Ashley's droving the cattle herself.
Someone must be helping her.
That's right, Neil. Someone must be helping her.
When Mrs. Boss first come to this land,
she look but she not see.
Now she got her eyes open for the first time.
Some places got spirits.
White fellas don't know.
Some places no good to go.
You gonna sing'em them cattle tonight?
No, Nullah. Not me. I'm the orchestra.
That's why I always carry this...
the famous J. Albert & Son boomerang harmonica.
Can you play that rainbow song?
Well, I've got the latest 100 songs of the hit parade here.
♪♪
I like that rainbow song.
It's all about the dreaming.
Gulapa not teach me that yet.
Who's gulapa?
He's my grandfather, King George.
King George... is your grandfather?
He teach me sing a fish song.
He teach me sing down fear.
Fear, evil spirit, wild beast.
Gulapa teach me plenty songs.
Gulapa teach me that day down the billabong.
- Mr. Drover, what is that chanting?
Goolaj and Magarri singing the cattle.
Just keeps them calm at night.
We do it in shifts. Those boys will finish up in a couple hours. So, Bandy-
Yeah? You show Mrs. Boss...
how it's done, all right? Right.
Sing Song, you and me are gonna serenade 'em till 3:00, and, uh,
the safest shift is predawn, so that's the boy soprano and his orchestra.
All right? You're on till the sun comes up. Yes, boss.
All right. Everybody get some shut-eye.
Uh, Mr. Drover,
I really don't think it's appropriate to work a child of Nullah's age like that.
Now, I am more than willing to take his shift.
But, Mrs. Boss, I plenty old enough. No.
- I'm talking now, hmm? Manners. - Oi, oi, oi. Steady on.
I'm talking. Look. Just relax, will ya?
The boy's gotta pull his weight like everyone else.
When I was his age, I was manning outstations.
Not everybody's you, Mr. Drover. That's right.
Not everyone's me. I'm the boss.
You're on the 3:00 shift. All right?
Yes, boss.
Night, boss. 3:00 A.M?
- Relax, lady. He'll be fine. Good night. - Night, Mrs. Boss.
Oh. Good night.
Good night, Sing Song.
You're on the 12:00 shift. I suggest you get some sleep. - Night, Bandy.
Night, Nullah. Good night, Flynn.
Night, Nullah.
Night-night, Jedda.
♪♪
Lord Ashley was killed by a glass-tipped spear.
Are you sure?
You and me secret.
Rush! Rush!
They're heading towards the cliffface!
A stampede! Where's Nullah?
Get on your horse and stay with Goolaj.
Come on. Split up and circle the herd before they go over the edge!
Sing Song, pack the camp. Get the hell out of there!
Head them off!
Don't let them split!
Get in the front!
Hyah! Hyah!
Good boy! Come on! Pull them round! Pull them round!
Nullah! You're too close to the edge!
Courage, my boy! Courage!
Well done, my boy!
Nullah! We have to turn the herd!
Hyah!
Hey, hey!
Never fear, Flynn is here!
- Yeah, Flynn! - Hyah!
Flynn!
Nullah, run!
Nullah!
♪♪
Nullah!
Oh! Oh.
Oh.
It's all right. You're safe.
I've got you.
You're safe.
You're safe with me.
I'll stay with you.
Hey.
How's the little fella?
Oh, he's fine. He's fine. Yeah.
I have a feeling I might not be able to complete the next lesson.
Right, old mate. I'm gonna get you some water, huh?
Water's the last thing I want at this moment in my life.
Under the wagon- a bottle of Poor Fella.
I'm sorry, Drover. Just in case.
Of course, mate. Of course.
If you'd all share a drop.
It would be a terrible shame to waste it.
The spear- Nullah told me.
A glass-tipped spear.
Tell milady I'm sorry.
I was a coward.
We lost just about everything, except for a few swags and tins of beef.
And this.
I can't believe I was so insistent upon bringing these...
silly things.
It was Fletcher who did this, wasn't it?
The last thing Flynn told me before he died was that-
that your husband was killed by a-
by a glass-tipped spear...
like the ornamental ones in the homestead.
Glass-tipped is a Kimberley spear.
King George is from Arnhem.
Fletcher was trying to make it look like King George.
- Fletcher. - It can't be proved.
Sorry.
Maitland-
♪♪
We can't let them win.
We won't.
Get 'em up!
Hyah! Hyah! Hyah!
They pushed on during the night.
- Maybe that little creamy has got the black fella magic. - Shut up, Bull!
They're gonna need more than magic to get 'em to Darwin.
Hey, Nullah.
Nullah, after you're done, I need you to help hobble these horses. All right?
Yes, boss.
I never thought I'd see this day.
We're gonna break the Drover's law. I plenty old enough too!
Yes, you are, and that is why you are gonna keep an eye on the rest of us.
All right?
All right, everyone. Let's be upstanding. Good girl, Jedda. Here.
To the memory of the gentleman.
To the gentleman. To Flynn!
I'd say one more before dinner.
♪♪
Let's dance. No.
Come on! No. No.
Come on. Please?
No. I don't know how. It's easy. I'll show you.
You put your hands on my shoulders.
And you step back.
Back. No, no. Oh, back. Sorry.
I'm a bad teacher. Stop!
You don't drink much, do you?
No.
I'll give it a go. Come on. I can do it. I can do it. All right?
Now you do wrong-side business?
♪♪ Uh-
No, mate. No. We're just having a dance here.
- Ceremonial dance? - Uh, yes. It's called the fox-trot.
Fox dance? You gonna teach me that dance?
- Uh, you're a bit too young for her, mate. - Nullah!
Get down from that tree now! Got bad spirits up there.
You're in big trouble.
- Come on, Nullah. Time to go to bed now.
You know better than to go up in the tree.
Have you ever fallen into wrong-side business?
Uh, yeah.
Oh. Yeah. I was married once.
Really? Mmm. To a lovely girl.
That was before I went off to war.
And what happened?
Well, I marched off for Mother England,
and by the time I came back, she was sick...
with T.B.
But back then, the hospitals wouldn't treat, um, blacks.
Oh, right. I see. Yeah.
Do you have children?
No. Well, that's a shame.
I think you would have made a great father.
- You? - No.
I can't.
Oh.
That's too bad.
You would have made a great mother.
Well, good night.
Good night. Yeah.
- Water no good, boss. - No.
Might be Carney boys already been here, eh?
There has to be water some other place.
Next bore is five days. There has to be water.
You can be sure Fletcher will have been there as well.
Hey, boss. What?
There's water three days' ride away.
We'd have to cross the Kuraman.
The Kuraman? That's Never-Never Land. No.
We've got to try. We can't.
We've got to try. No one has drove the Never-Never.
There's nothing to guide you. You don't know where you are.
You get caught out there, you're gonna lose more than your cattle.
I'm sorry.
Boss!
Look!
He a wizard. He gonna sing for us.
Sing?
He can find his way anywhere.
The ancestors created songs for everything.
For every rock and tree.
They're all linked, so when gulapa, the magic man,
sings them in order, he'll sing us to water. -
Even across the Never-Never.
And we went on for three days.
Every day drier-hotter.
All that dead land.
Then come that big dust storm.
Keep driving into the wind!
Nullah, stay close to me!
Them cattle stop moving. Magarri and Goolaj stop moving.
We all stop moving.
I'm gulapa.
I magic man. I wizard man.
Dead. All of them. That's what he said.
The pilot swooped down to get a closer look.
Dead as doorposts they were.
It's a real tragedy. How terrible!
And on the eve of the ball too.
What were they doing in the Kuraman?
Nothing personal, Captain,
but I got a business to run, and you got an army to feed.
So let's not muck about.
I suppose it's not a real war unless someone's making a profit.
- You got 'em ready to load, Neil? - Yeah, we're right to go.
'Cause I got a feeling the captain's gonna put pen to paper.
All hail the king. Yeah.
Where'd he come from?
Oh, look.
Hello, little sweetie.
What the bloody hell is that?
Gentlemen!
I'm Sarah Ashley, owner of Faraway Downs.
We are making delivery of 1,500 head of prime F.D. Branded shorthorns.
We will require a holding yard.
- We're full. - Says who?
- The owner. - You must be Mr. Carney.
Too right, love.
Lady Ashley, I'm Emmett Dutton.
I'm the officer in charge of livestock purchases.
We will accept 20% less than what the Carney Cattle Company is asking.
No can do, love. You're late. The contract's signed.
This contract is not binding until the cattle are loaded.
- Load the bloody cattle now! - We've got to load the cattle on the ship before Carney.
- Get off your backsides! - You drive 'em straight down the wharf.
I'll try and keep Carney's cattle in the yard.
Load the bloody cattle now!
- Drover! - Hyah!
Load!
You blokes, load!
Hyah!
Hey, Bull! Open the bloody crush!
Come on! Close that flamin' gate!
You missed the boat, sunshine.
Yeah. Good luck, Drover, you Drongo!
Over here, Drover.
Hyah!
Drover!
Push 'em straight down the wharf!
Hah!
Hyah!
There are cattle being driven down the wharf.
My husband must have a problem with the loading.
They're not Carney cattle.
Mmm? It's Lady Ashley.
Get out of the way!
Looks like, uh, we've got a bit of competition...
back in the meat business.
Now that's it!
Hyah! Ho!
Ho! Push them up!
- Hyah! - Cheeky bulls down the wharf!
Cheeky bulls down the wharf, Mrs. Boss!
Hyah! Get him down the wharf. That's it, Nullah.
Get him up, Nullah.
I got the last big, bloody, cheeky bull in the big, bloody metal ship.
All right!
Yea! Yea!
♪♪
Lady coming through. There's a lady coming through.
Two Poor Fella rums, Ivan.
Shut up!
No women. Ladies' lounge next door.
She's no lady, Ivan. She just drove a mob of cattle across the Never-Never.
She deserves a drink like any man.
Too bloody right.
I never drink Poor Fella alone.
Crikey!
One, two, three!
♪ Where's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag ♪
♪ You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me ♪♪
I didn't want to see a single beast from Faraway Downs...
set a hoof on that wharf, Neil.
But that's what happens when you send a boy to do a man's job.
Now, find out if she's going to the ball tomorrow night.
I'll take care of it myself.
So everybody get what they want.
Everybody happy.
Mrs. Boss is gonna sell Faraway Downs...
and go back to England.
Shh.
That's it. Good girl.
Drover, he get'em that horse, Capricornia.
That's it. Good girl.
Everybody happy, except for me.
'Cause I not white fella.
I not black fella either.
Me half-caste.
Creamy.
Me belong no one.
Good girl.
Back, back, back. Back. Good.
Easy, easy. Good, good. That's it.
That's a good girl. That's it. Shh, shh, shh, shh.
You really do have a gift with horses.
Up. Up.
You look different.
I've agreed to be patroness at the ball at Government House tomorrow night.
Yeah? And?
Drover, I-
I'm going to finish what Maitland set out to do,
and I am going to bring Faraway Downs back to life.
I don't follow you.
Well, this is perfect. I'm going to need a manager.
Well, I thought that...
it would be a good job for you.
Anyway, I almost forgot something. I got a suit for you.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop. Don't do that. Do what?
The thing you do when you get a head full of ideas.
Like crossing the Kuraman? Come on, mate.
You don't know what you're talking about. Running a station? Manager?
I'm a drover. All right? No man hires me, no man fires me.
- So you don't want to go to the ball? - Ball?
Sarah.
I'm as good as black to that mob up there.
I mix with dingoes, not-not duchesses.
They keep out of my way, and I keep out of theirs.
That's the way it is.
Just because it is doesn't mean it should be.
But that's the way it is.
Cheer up, little fella.
You and that Chinaman gonna take me out on a big night at the pictures.
How?
You can't take half-caste to picture show.
- Coppers take him! - He won't be half-caste.
He got every right to be there.
We use magic.
You got every right to be there.
'Cause you're a special boy.
He's a special boy.
Nobody gonna stop you from going. Nobody.
♪ Somewhere ♪
♪ Over the rainbow ♪
♪ Way up high ♪
♪ There's a land that I heard of ♪
♪ Once in a lullaby ♪
♪ Somewhere over the rainbow ♪
♪ Skies are blue ♪
♪ And the dreams ♪
♪ That you dare to dream ♪
♪ Really do come true ♪♪
♪♪
How good of you, Lady Ashley,
to take an interest in Dr. Barker's work on the mission.
Well, actually, Administrator, my interest is of a more personal nature.
I must say, Lady Ashley...
Smashing. Would you excuse me?
Amongst the leading lights of Darwin.
I was wondering if you could introduce me to Dr. Barker.
Sarah? Ah, Captain Dutton.
Lady Ashley, I'll leave you in the capable hands of the captain.
I'm sure he would be happy to introduce you to Dr. Barker.
I want to talk to you. Her husband barely in the grave,
and there she is cavorting with the captain.
His mother has passed away. And that dress.
Yes. Bidding should go through the roof.
He is a little boy. He needs someone to look after him.
Sarah-I'm desperate to speak to Dr. Barker.
I'm going to adopt him. It's only a matter of time before they take him away.
Adopting an Aboriginal child is much more complicated than you realize.
Neil! Come on. I want to talk with Lady Ashley.
Yeah. No. We will later, love.
I don't mind if you bid for her in the auction tonight. I won't be jealous.
She's an inspiration. Yeah, she's full of surprises.
But surely, Doctor, life on the station with people who care for these children...
is far better than life on a government institution.
Oh. The auction.
Our gracious patroness, Lady Ashley!
Bravo!
Now, for the auction of the first dance-
The mixed-race children must be dislocated from the primitive, full-blood Aborigine.
- Do I hear a first bid? Please. - Five pounds here.
Five pounds! - How else are we to breed the black out of them?
I bid more than that for a dance with Mrs. Allsop! Remember, it's for the mission.
Has anyone asked their mothers how they feel about this?
- Lady Ashley, please. - For the war effort, do I hear 20 pounds?
It's a fact of science that the Aboriginal mother soon forgets her offspring.
Fifty pounds! Fifty pounds!
Seventy pounds! Ninety-five!
No mother forgets her child, Dr. Barker.
Lady Ashley! This is most inappropriate.
100!
- That is a new record. - We can't very well ask their fathers, can we?
- How dare you? - Going once!
- Or perhaps we should. - Going twice!
After all, they're right here in this room. That's a lie!
500 quid!
500 pounds!
Well, indeed.
If it isn't the man who-
Almost single-handedly...
made the Australian beef industry...
what it is today.
Mr. King Carney of the Carney Cattle Company.
For the benefit of the missions.
Well, there's nothing more to say...
but let the king take his prize.
♪♪
Can I get a picture, please? Smile. Ah.
♪♪
Let me say, Lady Ashley, just how sorry I was...
to hear of your husband's death...
at the hands of that wild savage.
A savage, yes, Mr. Carney,
but you and I both know that my husband was not killed by an Aborigine.
No, I did not know that.
Perhaps you should ask Mr. Fletcher.
Are you making an accusation? Not one I can prove.
In business, I've been fortunate.
In family, a little less so.
I'm prepared to go to 75,000 pounds.
This is not about the money, Mr. Carney. There is a little boy.
There is a-
There are people who are living- living on the station...
for whom I am responsible.
And who will take care of them?
A cattle station is like a country.
And you have no one to look after it.
Now, I can offer protection...
to every man, woman and child.
And child?
You will do that?
How can I keep you at your word?
I'll put it in the contract.
King Carney and Lady Ashley. That was a marvelous treat.
No one can close a deal more quickly than King Carney.
Now, the raffle for the war effort.
The last flying boat...
leaves tomorrow because of the war.
Will I tell my lawyer to draw up a contract?
But the true blue Australian man like King Carney is...
Inform your lawyer-
Uh-
Inform your lawyer that Faraway Downs is no longer for sale.
Fox-trot!
♪♪
Here you are.
Well, you didn't think I was gonna waste my dance lesson, did you?
Let's really give the bastards something to talk about, huh?
Oh, crikey.
She's invited that man.
Hey, Doris. Get you a drink, Drover?
Beer would be good. Hello, love. Nice dress.
All right. Fox dance?
Fox dance. Mm-hmm.
Back. Back. Step.
Sorry.
Let's clear out of here.
There it is. First storm of the wet. Ahh.
What's it like?
It's beautiful.
There's millions of birds.
Creeks turn into rivers, dry plains into lakes.
Faraway Downs will be reborn as an island-
green and flowering and fat with life.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Quick, quick, quick!
We'll be cut off from the rest of the world!
Sarah. Mm-hmm?
In the dry- I'll be gone, droving.
But right now it's raining.
Can you help me? Can you help me?
You don't need to be helped any longer.
You've always had the power to go back to Kansas. I have?
But why didn't you tell her before?
Because she wouldn't have believed me.
My darling Cath!
Daddy!
Hey, Drover.
Maitland Ashley met his death...
at the hands of a wild savage, did he?
You're not part of any plan concerning this family.
Nothing's in your name,
and if anything should happen to my darling Cath, you lose everything.
There's no place like home.
Just like Drover say, that rain make everything come alive.
That land, it grow green and fat,
and we all go back to Faraway Downs.
Mrs. Boss happy. Drover happy.
Even that copper Callahan happy.
Mrs. Boss say he likes her tea so much,
it gives him a blind eye...
make me invisible, keep me safe.
I hear for the first time...
that thing called...
Christmas.
Then the rain, it stops.
And that Drover, he go droving.
That Mrs. Boss, she always misses Drover.
But I know he's gonna come back.
Whoo! Yeah!
King George tell me you gotta be looking out.
'Cause that croc, he always watching, he always waiting.
Hah! Get up!
That Fletcher, he the new king now.
Emmett, why didn't you radio? I'm so glad you're here.
Would you get some tea, Bandy?
Geez, you done the place up nice.
I hope you don't mind. Bandy let me in.
My father would have been proud.
It's bloody beautiful.
Geez, I bet you got all the mod cons.
What do you want?
What I've always wanted- Faraway Downs.
Bandy, call the men.
Bunch'em up, Mr. Fletcher needs to be escorted off the property...
Callahan won't be having any more cups of tea.
I will though. Cup of tea.
Thanks, Bandy. You know how I like it. Yeah.
It's all right, Bandy.
You know, these days, I can pull a few strings.
I can probably bring your creamy in, if you like.
Or... I can talk to Dr. Barker and get you guardianship.
I will never sell you my land. Your land?
My family worked this property for three generations.
My father died making people like you rich.
Faraway Downs belongs to me.
Just like... you believe the little creamy belongs to you.
I'll pay you what it's worth.
Can use the money, go south, get the little one an education.
I'll go to the highest levels of government, to the High Court.
Beyond this country, if I have to.
An unmarried woman, living with the likes of the Drover?
I will tell your wife he is your son!
That would be a mistake.
Kimberley spear.
Glass-tipped.
Real collector's items.
Oh! You're missing one.
Anyway, I was just out here, checking on all the properties.
Might do a little buffalo hunting later. Yeah.
Oh.
Did you hear about the king?
Terrible accident. Yeah.
Very dangerous place out here, even for locals...
like the Drover and the little creamy.
You with me?
Anyway,
you ought to think about it, Lady Ashley.
After all, pride's not power.
The Drover mustn't know.
Hyah! Hyah!
Drover! It's the Drover!
Hey! Yah!
Come on, you two! Wake up!
Come on!
Come on. Wake up! We got brumbies to break. All right, all right.
Yeah, break him. Ride that brumby! Ride him! Ride him!
Yea, Drover! Ride him! Yeah, Drover! Drover!
- You a man, Drover? - Yeah, I try to be.
Sometimes man got to get away from woman.
Maybe.
That's why you go droving. I go droving 'cause that's my job.
If you don't go droving, you not a man.
All right, boys. That'll do.
Bring 'em down to the back paddock, will you?
King George tell me I gotta go walkabout.
If I a man, I gotta go walkabout. Learn'em be a man.
Yeah.
Listen, it's up to Mrs. Boss what you do, all right?
Come on inside, boys. It's time for dinner.
I'm coming. Jedda, come on!
Come on, Jedda.
One day, Captain Dutton came and visit us.
He tell Drover about the big army drove.
♪♪ And we need the best stockmen possible.
- It may take six months or so. - Overland.
Absolutely not. You just got back.
What's wrong?
I'm just not used to people making decisions for me. That's all.
I was just expressing an opinion.
Captain Dutton was telling me about this wonderful School of the Air.
It's conducted all across the country.
He wants to go walkabout with King George.
That's ridiculous. He's a little boy. It's not safe.
He'd be safer in Arnhem Land than he would be hanging around here.
I thought you said-You can't change him, Sarah.
I thought you said it had nothing to do with you.
It doesn't.
It's just sooner or later, you're gonna have to let that boy go.
I don't know what you're talking about.
If he doesn't go through ceremony, he'll have no country.
He'll have no story, no dreaming.
And he'll be all alone.
This big army drove...
Let's have dinner, shall we? I'm gonna take it.
Time to go walkabout, Mrs. Boss.
You belong here. No, Mrs. Boss.
Sarah, I gotta go.
Sarah!
Drover!
He's not down at the billabong!
- Then he's gone walkabout. - He wouldn't have just left without saying good-bye.
Get the pack horse ready. We're going up to Punctuation Point.
Sing Song? Yes?
- Tin food. We're going after him. - You're not listening.
What? Sarah, he's gone on walkabout!
Oh, come on, Drover. He is a child.
Well, he's not our child! He's an Aboriginal child! He's gone walkabout!
Bandy! The next time you see him...
will be when he wants to see you.
He'll be halfway to Arnhem Land by now. You'll never find him.
You could find him. You know that land better than anyone.
You and Magarri can find him. And do what, huh?
Bring him back here and lock him up? You could start your own mission.
Oh! You're just trying to be clever because you don't want to be responsible.
He's not my son!
What did you say?
I better go. Don't leave! Drover, don't.
I understood when you said you had to be free.
I understood that, but that was between you and me.
But it's different now.
We've got Nullah.
- I gotta go. - I need you to stay.
- I'll be back in six months. - I need you to stay with me!
And if you can't do that, then I-
I would prefer it if you didn't return.
All right.
You're the boss.
Drover.
I can feel them bad spirits coming,
so I chase after that King George.
But that Callahan, he been stopped drinking Mrs. Boss's tea.
He lose his blind eye, and I not invisible anymore.
Jedda!
Fletcher, we've apprehended that young'un.
And in the course of our duties, we arrested the suspected murderer of Lord Ashley.
King George.
No!
You finally lifted the game, Callahan. Good on you.
Things are looking up. The militarization of Darwin.
Their cattle yards are alive with military activity,
and the Carney Cattle office, once that proud icon of Darwin,
is now military headquarters.
At 6:15 a.m. Local time,
the United States Pacific Fleet was attacked at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii,
by the empire of Japan.
The United States has joined the war.
As the Japanese horde pours southward,
the final evacuation of Darwin is under way.
Get those boxes cleared on the double!
Come on. This way, boys.
Quickly. Quickly.
♪♪
Hey, creamy! Creamy!
Doesn't your mommy want you?
- You filthy creamy! - Come on.
Come, my child. Come on! Come on, my child.
Creamy! Hey, creamy!
Excuse me. Nullah!
Lady Ashley. It's Lady Ashley.
Father Benedict, you deal with this. Nullah!
- Mrs. Boss! Mrs. Boss! - No! This is madness!
Mrs. Boss, don't let them take me away! I don't want to go!
Was she hugging a pickaninny?
People do the most extraordinary things.
Go on. I don't want to go! Mrs. Boss!
- It'll be all right. - These poor unfortunates will be safe in God's hands.
These are not unfortunates! These are children!
These are no different than the children you are taking south to protect!
- Don't let them take me away! No! - Nullah! Nullah!
She's humiliating herself. Please help me!
- We've got to help her. - Lady Ashley!
Help me! That's my child. I understand what you're saying.
Please! Nullah! You don't have an essential job. You must evacuate.
- Mrs. Boss, don't let them take me away. - The church has a plan for them.
To leave those children behind while we send ours to safety?
Control yourself, Catherine. How can you all be so heartless?
You be a brave boy for me. You be brave.
Neil, I want you to do something about this. I want you to help Lady Ashley.
Yeah, now, look, I could probably sort it out.
Show the ladies their cabins, and I'll see what I can do.
Come on, ladies. To the upper decks.
I will come find you, whatever happens.
Whatever it takes, we'll be together again. I promise.
I believe you, Mrs. Boss. Come along, child. Quickly. Quickly.
Mrs. Boss.
- I sing you to me. - You be brave.
Nullah. Come, boy. Come quickly.
Nullah! It'll be all right!
I will find you! I will!
Nullah! Nullah!
I sing you to me, Mrs. Boss!
And I will hear you, my darling!
There's a radio tower on Mission Island...
directly in the path of the oncoming Japanese.
Be the first place the Japs hit.
You're monstrous.
I'll have the original contract with the original offer drawn up and ready.
You can get yourself a room at Ivan's, and I'll get you a job with Cath at H.Q.
I'll give you a call. You will do this, Lady Ashley.
After all, pride's not power.
Yeah, pride's not power.
Mission Island to H.Q.
Visibility good.
All clear. Over and out.
♪ Ave Maria ♪
I was on Mission Island lock-lock for two whole months.
Mrs. Boss promised she'd come for me,
so I play my magic song.
♪♪
But that Drover...
him been gone far, far away...
on that big army drove.
Him been gone so long, so far away,
maybe he not hear me. ♪♪
♪♪ Leave it off.
What? No whistling?
Just not that tune.
♪♪
Not that one either.
No music?
You must be properly hurtin' for Mrs. Boss.
Shut your damper hole, will ya?
I can see why Mrs. Boss gave you the boot.
- You wanna know why she gave me the boot? - Yeah.
'Cause I wouldn't stop Nullah from going walkabout.
He went walkabout?
Yeah. I tried to explain to her what that means, but...
See him go? Nah.
So he's gone.
- Yeah. I told you. He went walkabout. - You don't know?
Eh?
That little fella, he could have walked into a big hole or got eaten by a croc.
- What if the cops have got him? - Don't you bloody start. He's an Aboriginal boy!
Wait. You're just hiding behind that black fella business so you don't get hurt.
This isn't about walkabout, is it?
Is it? You're running.
- I'm not running, mate. - Yes, you are, brother.
You're scared of getting your heart hurt like before, when my sister died.
But knowing you, you probably never told Mrs. Boss that you loved her, eh?
You got no love in your heart,
you got nothing.
No dreaming, no story.
Nothing.
Hey. Big mob of army fellas.
Must be diggers, eh?
They're not diggers, mate. They're Yanks.
What the bloody hell are they doing here?
Once you've signed the contract,
I'll get one of the brothers to take you out to the mission on the sloop.
You can be happily reunited with your little creamy.
No loss of pride, Lady Ashley.
Good morning, Ivan!
You look happy. I am. I get my little boy today.
Oh, and, Ivan, we're leaving the territory tomorrow.
Good! I need the room.
I'll miss you too, Ivan!
Cath, sorry I'm late. Quick changeover, girls.
Did you speak to Neil? Yes.
I'm seeing him about Nullah after my shift.
- Look. I was just thinking- - What?
About Nullah.
What?
I'm getting a signal from Mission Island.
Large air formation bearing down. Suspect visibility.
- If you can't understand the ordnance,
how can you understand the order?
What's happening?
We're under attack! We're under attack!
Hurry up!
Let them free!
Drover! Hey! Drover! Magarri!
Goolaj, where's Mrs. Boss?
She at that army H.Q. old Carney place!
Okay. Come on!
Drover, I'll see you at Faraway Downs!
You can't go in there, mate!
- Drover! - Callahan?
Is she in there? Sarah Ashley.
- It's too late. - She's in there!
Hold it, mate!
Let me in there! Sarah! Sarah!
Let me in there!
I'll handle this. You get your man out of here right now!
She's a part of dreaming now. Get out of my way!
Go on! Hit me! Get out of my...
Go on! Hit me! It's not gonna bring her back.
She's in there! Sarah!
Clear the corridor! Come on!
Nobody past this point unless they're at death's door or already through it.
You got a name?
Ashley. Sarah Ashley.
What did he say?
But right now it's raining.
It's different now. We've got Nullah.
Here you are.
She deserves a drink like any man.
- Too bloody right. - Crikey!
Hey, no boongs in here.
You didn't say that, did you?
That's how it is.
Just because it is...
doesn't-doesn't mean it should be.
Serve him a fuckin' drink!
Ah, what does it matter?
I'm a total bloody ruin.
I'm evacuating south, like everybody else.
You're short one glass.
One... more... glass.
I leave this place for the looters and the Japs.
Why not the boongs?
♪♪
I saw her this morning...
before she went to the work.
She was so happy.
She was gonna get that...
little boy and go south.
What about the children on Mission Island?
The creamies? They are left out there.
- They left them out there? - Safe in the hands of God.
They left them-
They say the island was hit first.
They say no one would have survived.
They say a lot of things.
There's been some mistake.
That's Cath Fletcher.
Oh, God. Cath.
Oh, God! Sort her out.
Sarah. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Oh, God!
Nullah. I've got to get to Nullah.
Sarah, the Japs hit the mission first. No!
- No! I don't believe you! I don't believe it! - Sarah, look at me.
No one can get out there.
No one.
I need help to get to the island.
Half the Jap navy's out there, you stupid bastard. I have the Lord on my side.
I don't give a damn who's on your side!
God works in mysterious ways, Brother. Go, go, go!
Magarri, secure the boat.
Thank you, Lord. Thank you. Thank you, Bull.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Sarah, we leave at first light.
Ivan.
Check the second dormitory. Okay.
Nullah.
Oh.
Come on. It's all right.
- Shh. - Where are the other... Are there other boys?
- I don't know. - Are there any other boys?
- I don't know. - Okay.
Drover?
- Nullah. - Drover!
Drover!
I knew you'd come. I sing you to me.
Oh.
- Magarri! - Hey, little fella.
Mrs. Boss come too?
Where's Mrs. Boss?
We, uh-
We can't say her name anymore, little mate.
All right?
Hey. Now you listen to me. I need your help.
I'm gonna get these fellas off the island.
You're gonna have to be strong. Can you do that?
Mm-hmm. Good boy.
All right. Go and get your little mates down there.
Come over here. Let's go. Come with me. It's okay.
- Come on. - We're gonna get you all off this island, all right?
All right. Boys, we're gonna have to swim.
We have to be quiet, like a turtle. Okay?
Now, I'm gonna take you home on a ship. It's over there. You see it?
Let's go, boys! Let's go!
Quick, quick, quick!
Ivan.
Ivan. Swim the big boys down to the sloop. Right.
Use the current and drift it down to the end of the wharf. Go.
Come on, boys. Quick.
Run! Run!
Quick, quick!
Let's go.
Ah, crikey.
Hey.
- I take this mob walkabout. - You'll never make it.
Well, you gotta make it!
You got family now.
You gotta drove this mob home, Drover.
Good luck, brother.
Go, go. That's it. Good boy.
Magarri.
Up the ladder, boys. Quick. Hurry now.
Come on.
Drove 'em home, Drover.
Sergeant, get the men on the trucks.
We're evacuating within 15 minutes.
We rendezvous with the main convoy at 0800 hours at Adelaide.
Start the truck, Sergeant Lapin.
If anyone is lagging, use whatever force is necessary.
Every single man, Lapin. And don't take no for an answer.
- You won't have to wait for us, Captain. - Move! Come on! Move!
Thanks for coming down, Mr. Fletcher.
It's my awful duty to inform you...
that your wife, Catherine...
My wife is dead?
It's a funny old world, isn't it?
Generous to a fault.
Did you know that Lady Ashley insisted...
that my wife work her shift...
so that she could see some... half-caste kid on the mission?
Now my wife's dead.
Now I've lost everything.
We have to go, Sarah.
Come on! Come on, boys!
They'll be flying in here and blowing us up any minute!
Get on the bloody trucks!
Sarah, please. We have to go now.
My magic not good.
All the smoke.
But then he speak to me.
Grandfather.
♪♪
Come on, love. Don't muck about.
♪♪
Can you hear that?
Music. Can you hear it?
Come on, boys.
♪♪
Sing.
♪♪
Sarah, please. Can't you hear it?
♪♪
It's children singing.
♪♪
- Sarah! What's going on? - Just give her another minute.
♪♪
Mrs. Boss! Mrs. Boss!
Mrs. Boss!
Mrs. Boss! Mrs. Boss!
Nullah!
Mrs. Boss! Ah!
I can say your name! Oh!
Mrs. Boss. I sing you to me like the first night I see you.
Them Japs nearly got us. We had to swim'em.
Some of them little fellas from the desert can't swim'em.
But the Drover take 'em on his back like a turtle.
What did you say? What?
Drover.
You're alive! Oh, God!
Sarah, what's going on? I can't hold the sergeant any longer!
Come on, boys!
Oh, my God. It's the children from the mission.
- The last convoy leaves Darwin in a matter of minutes. - Come on!
In the truck! Come on, boys!
To the truck. Follow Brother Frank. Truck's waiting. Let's go.
Follow Brother Frank. Follow Brother Frank.
That's it. That's it. Come on, boys. Come on, boys.
- Let's go. - Come on, boys.
Quick as you can to the end of the wharf, and then straight on the truck.
Sarah. Ivan!
Thank you!
Thank you.
I shall prepare your bill.
Where'd you come from?
The good Lord has delivered us, but we could do with a ride, Sergeant.
I'm not Jesus Christ, but I'll give it my best shot.
Come on, kids. Come on. On the trucks.
I want a third in the front, a third at the back.
Come on. Leg 'em up. They're little fellas. Come on.
Bring those little fellas up to the front.
You cursed me, you little creamy.
Oh. Oh.
When I said that no one could get out there,
I'd forgotten about you, Drover.
That no matter. We gonna go back Faraway Downs.
Yes, he's right. With the water up, it's the safest place in the north.
These are, after all-
Extraordinary circumstances.
Thank you, Emmett.
I'll see you mob in Faraway Downs.
Here, fellas, make some room for the kids, will ya?
Can you help me, please? In you go.
Right-o! That's it. They're all on.
Let's get out of here. Come on. Let's go.
All right, kids, hold on.
Mr. Fletcher!
Mr. Fletcher.
Neil.
We gotta go.
Go and tell Callahan there's looters everywhere.
Go and tell Callahan!
I've got the keys to the car upstairs. Right-o.
Come on, Mrs. Boss. Hurry up.
Nullah!
I got gulapa magic. No one can hurt me.
- Nullah! No! - No!
No! No!
Nullah!
Nullah, you all right, little man? Nullah, please. Come on. Please.
Come on.
There. That's it.
No bullet. Me gulapa.
King George teach me...
the rain will fall, the grass grow green...
and life, it begin again.
Let's go home.
There's no place like it.
One thing I know.
Why we tell story is the most important of all.
That's how you keep them people belong you...
always.
Oh.
Mrs. Boss, I sing you to me.
Here.
And I will hear you.
♪♪
♪ Sing and I will hear you ♪
♪ No matter where you are ♪
♪ A song to light the darkest night ♪
♪ And guide me from afar ♪
♪ And I will never ♪
♪ Be afraid ♪
♪ Now I know you're somewhere ♪
♪ You're everywhere to me ♪
♪ The warming of the sun ♪
♪ Upon the earth beneath my feet ♪
♪ And when the rain falls down ♪
♪ You tell the story ♪
♪ And I will hear you ♪
♪ Always near you ♪
♪ By the Boab tree ♪♪
♪ From the sunburnt plains of far-off north Australia ♪
♪ Came a fella born to ride the wide, brown land ♪
♪ Oh, he grew up running wild ♪
♪ But soon by all was styled ♪
♪ As the country's greatest ever-drovin' man ♪
♪ Though his legend rode the winds from Broome to Darwin ♪
♪ They loved and loathed him right from end to end ♪
♪ For when the Drover gave his heart ♪
♪ To a girl whose skin was dark ♪
♪ From that day on he was no white man's friend ♪
♪ So goes the Drover's story ♪
♪ You will hear it near and far ♪
♪ And in the end it's all he'll ever own ♪
♪ It says the outcast is a free man ♪
♪ If he sleeps under the stars ♪
♪ Makes the blanket of the southern skies his home ♪
♪ But the Drover is a man of constant shadows ♪
♪ Haunted by his pain his past and name ♪
♪ For every mile he rides ♪
♪ What he cannot hide ♪
♪ Is the longing in his heart ♪
♪ To love again ♪
♪ So goes the Drover's story ♪
♪ You'll hear it near and far ♪
♪ And in the end it's all he'll ever own ♪
♪ It says the outcast is a free man ♪
♪ If he sleeps under the stars ♪
♪ Makes the blanket of the southern skies his home ♪
♪ And makes the blanket of the southern skies his home ♪
♪ His home ♪♪
♪♪