The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith

"The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith" (1978) is an Australian drama you can watch online on iFILM. Director Fred Schepisi adapted Thomas Keneally's 1972 novel — itself drawn from the true case of Jimmie Governor, a man of mixed Aboriginal and European heritage who became one of Australia's most wanted fugitives in 1900. Tom E. Lewis plays Jimmie in a debut performance that carries the entire film.

Jimmie grew up between two worlds and was claimed by neither. He worked hard, converted, married, did everything that was supposed to earn him acceptance. He was still cheated, talked over and looked straight through. Schepisi does not build Jimmie into a martyr or a symbol; he watches what happens when a man runs out of ways to fit in. Stream "The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith" (1978) on iFILM.