Race and Representation in the Film Jedda

The portrayal of Australia as a ancient, dramatic, and somewhat spiritual landscape, is not only shown in the exposition, but also in many landscapes to follow, one of these being the gorges encountered by Jedda and Marbuck towards the end of the film. This landscape was not only used as a representation of beauty, drama and the primeval nature of Australia, but also to create a sense of awe and wonder at the mysterious, almost supernatural qualities of this particular setting. To achieve this feeling of wonder, Chauvel has used extreme long shots to his advantage, placing Marbuck and Jedda against the towering background of high, rocky gorges, thus making them look, and creating a sense to the audience, that they are insignificant in this landscape. The use of soft European choral music also highlights the supernatural aspects of this landscape, representing the landscape as being one of high spiritual significance to the Aboriginal people. Although Chauvel has incorporated the music into this landscape to highlight its spiritual significance to the Aboriginal people, it could be said that this music is inappropriate for its intended purpose, as it is obviously European and not traditional Aboriginal decent. This landscape is like numerous others encountered throughout the duration of the film, represents Australia as a primeval, ‘wild’ place. Although much of the film is comprised of settings such as the ones mentioned earlier, there are also several settings that contrast this natural aspect of the film, showing the civilised influence of European settlers on the landscape.

The natural representation of the Australian landscape is contrasted with scenes and settings of Anglo-Australian culture and civilisation. The most important of these settings could be said to be the domestic setting of the inside of the McMahon station homestead. This setting not only represents Anglo-Australian culure and civilisation, but is the main setting in which we discover more about some of the main characters through the use of symbolism. One scene that shows Chauvel’s incorporation of clear symbolism is the juxtaposition of images of Jedda’s fingers moving over the piano keys with images of an Aboriginal shield mounted on the wall behind the piano, thus symbolising her internal cultural conflict. The music used in this scene, the drowning out of the piano piece by tribal shouting, also symbolises Jedda’s internal cultural conflict as well as her inability to deny her Aboriginal identity. Another, of the same importance, is one of the very first scenes in the homestead, showing Mrs McMahon talking on the radio; this scene represents Mrs McMahon’s isolation from the rest of civilisation. Through the use of camera angles and music, the audience is able to pick up vital information about certain situations and characters in this particular domestic landscape.

In conclusion, representations of the Australian landscape have been depicted to the audience particularly though filmic techniques such as camera angels and music. These representations of the landscape in the flim Jedda highlight Chauvel’s ideological views, and while the film not a realistic depiction of life, or a conflict between European and Aborigine (as it is often taken to be), or an entire mishmash of Hollywood images and romanticism transferred to Australia, it represents the ideological position of Chauvel.