Also showing: David Gulpilil
The role of Australia's foremost indigenous actor has over time been both a blessing and a curse for David Gulpilil.
Since he was 'discovered' dancing in his native Northern Territory by British director Nicolas Roeg and cast in 1971's critically acclaimed Walkabout, Gulpilil has drifted between the high life of a feted international movie star and the harsh realities of life on the fringes of modern Australian society.
Gulpilil has appeared in some of his country's most successful films, from the heart-rending coming-of-age drama Storm Boy (1976) to the international comic blockbuster Crocodile Dundee (1986) - still Australia's biggest grossing production - and festival favourites such as Philip Noyce's Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002) and Rolf de Heer's The Tracker (2002) and Ten Canoes (2006).
In between, he returned to life in and around the outback northern Australian town of Ramingining, where he's battled legal problems associated with alcohol and domestic violence.
Gulpilil has also worked at educating indigenous youths about their own culture and counselled them when they have encountered the sort of problems that he and, indeed, a disproportionate number of his people, have faced.
The remarkable thing then, considering his troubles - which have included jail time and that he hardly worked between 1991 and 2001 - is just what a commanding on-screen presence Gulpilil continues to be.
Audiences around the world have been reminded of this - or introduced to it, in many cases - thanks to his casting (below) in Baz Luhrmann's sprawling epic Australia.
It was there in Walkabout, when he was a young man, and even in Crocodile Dundee, where he played it for laughs (but not, he says, for very much money).
And in de Heer's wonderfully ramshackle comedy Ten Canoes - as the narrator - the spirit Gulpilil injects into the production lifts it from the excellent to the extraordinary.
First and foremost, however, there is just something about the man's stature that stays with you. And it's a presence few actors are able to achieve. This quality was recognised by the artist Craig Ruddy whose portrait of the actor in 2004 won the Archibald Prize, Australia's foremost award for art. And others have been touched by it as well.
'There is just something about David's face,' explained the Hong Kong-based Australian cinematographer Chris Doyle after he worked with Gulpilil on Rabbit-Proof Fence.
'He has the most amazing face I have ever worked with. When you watch it closely, and you watch him acting or just talking to people, it is like watching the sky changing colour.'
Australia opens today
