Episode 362 - David Gulpilil

David Gulpilil, born in Arnhem Land in 1953, was more than just an actor—he was a cultural bridge, storyteller, and proud Yolŋu man who changed the face of Australian cinema. From his breakout role in Walkabout (1971) to his haunting final performance in My Name is Gulpilil (2021), his work brought Australian First Nations voices and perspectives to screens around the world.

Off-screen, Gulpilil lived a life as complex as any of his characters—balancing fame with tradition, navigating hardship, and ultimately becoming a national icon whose legacy continues to shape the arts and Indigenous representation in Australia.

Join Holly & Matthew as they explore the extraordinary life and enduring influence of David Gulpilil.

***

All voice clips used come from the My Name is Gulpilil biographical film.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/weird-crap-in-australia--2968350/support.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
A strange, spiraling white light was spotted in the early
morning sky over Sydney, with even skeptical witnesses wondering if
it was a UFO.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
They were last seen on the beach with the tall
man and that's the best description police have ever had
of it. More than seventeen years after Harold Holt disappeared
into raging surf at Chevy A Beach, his widow has
finally revealed his last romantic words.

Speaker 3 (00:22):
Docky, terrifying, mesmerizing. That's the way a number of Australians
have described the alleged encounter with the YOWI.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
It's time the Weird Crap In Australia podcast. Welcome to
the week Crap in Australia Podcast. I'm your host, Matthew
sol joining me. Of course he is Holy Salt, hey
and this is episode three hundred and sixty two. Before

(00:53):
you get into it, we do have to acknowledge Australia
has a new federal leader in Anthony Abernezi, which is
our old federal leader.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
I was going to say, where you go, I guess.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
I mean, at the end of the day, you still
they are still technically new because you dissolve a parliament
and then you start a new parliament, you see. But yes,
the Labor Party did declare its victory as of this
recording a few days ago, but by the time you
get this recording probably about a week. So yes, the
Labor Government did win in a vast majority, which surprised everyone,

(01:27):
including myself, and the Liberal Party was defeated, with their leader,
mister Dunnan losing his own seat. So I just want
to say to our Australian listeners who on the majority
my slightly voted for the Labor Party, good on you.
I think we've all made a sensible decision in unreasonable times.
And while there are always things that we want that

(01:49):
we're never going to get regardless of who we vote for,
I think we have collectively made the right decision and
hopefully that means that we will have sty over the
next three years at least. Though, what's very interesting if
you have listened to this podcast in the past, you
know we've talked about, you know, the Whitlam government the
Menzies government in context of the historical periods, and in

(02:14):
this case, the you know, there were a lot of
similarities to when Menzies first started the LMP considering that
they are now back to nineteen forty seat numbers. Holy,
I think we talked about that when we were talking
about the Whitlam government or it was either a Whitlam
government episode or we were talking about the role of

(02:35):
Menzies during World War Two.

Speaker 3 (02:38):
I think it was probably Whitlam.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
Yeah, he's definitely come up a couple of times, and
no doubt we probably should just do an episode on Menzies.
Considering he started his own political party, I think that's
definitely worth worth taking a crack app But yeah, they
had roughly I think it was forty seats in nineteen
forty three coming out of World War Two, and then
slowly rose to power and then eventually became the coalition

(03:02):
with the National Party. Right now the Liberal Party is
back to, you know, nineteen forty seat numbers, which historically
is pretty crazy. It's definitely worth it. It's an event
worth talking about. I'm sure if we were to continue
this podcast, we'd be talking about this election week, you know,
in twenty fifty five when we finally got back around

(03:24):
to it and it became history. But yeah, no, it's
a very interesting result to say an incumbent party in
this country come back into not only a victory, but
an overwhelming victory with a super majority.

Speaker 3 (03:39):
So quick correction.

Speaker 1 (03:41):
Yeah, yeah, go for it.

Speaker 3 (03:42):
It's twenty years gap on this podcast, thank you, sot
to be twenty forty five, not fifty five.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
Course twenty forty five. Will talk about what happened last week.

Speaker 3 (03:49):
Yeah, about five years after we talk about COVID.

Speaker 1 (03:53):
Yeah yeah, so yeah, that's one of the Australians who
did vote for labor. Mister Albanezi, you have a manned
You better do a fucking good job.

Speaker 3 (04:04):
I mean, honestly, most of the votes are like, he's
just not a potato.

Speaker 1 (04:08):
I mean a lot of people are now going to
be looking at the election results over the next couple
of weeks and they're going to be making determinations. I
think it was a lot of factors. I think depending
on which side of politics you fall on, that is
your deciding factor. I think if you're very staunchly pro labor,
anti liberal, your opinion is going to be well done
and was an unlikable leader. I think if you're sitting

(04:31):
on the right side of the media, you're going to
be blaming Trump, which seems to be what they want
to do or the media outlets around the world are
blaming trump Ism for not only our election result, but
also blaming Canada's election result on Trump and I think
it is more applicable to Canada than Australia. I think,

(04:54):
if you're a reasonable person, I think there are lots
of factors that contributed for me personally. I think you
know Dutton's personality and this is unfortunate, but this is
a factor. I think Dutton's appearance is a small contributing factor,
rightly or wrongly, and in my opinion, wrongly. We should
be judged not esthetically, but judged on who we are

(05:15):
as people. I think Dutton's political career from start to
finish is one of the factors that affected him getting reelected,
the fact he's.

Speaker 3 (05:24):
An ex cop and at the moment there's a lot
of Andicopp said to mentality thanks to America as.

Speaker 1 (05:28):
Well, potentially. I think that when you walk into an
election with no policy other than a half baked nuclear
plant policy that they never costed properly, that they never promoted,
you know, they sort of put it out there and
then abandoned it rather quickly, and then you know you've
got the constant flip flopping. There's nothing bad policy is

(05:50):
bad policy, but bad policy that's not supported by the
party pushing it, and you know you end up in
this flip flopping position. It erodes your credibility. Trump is
a factor. Trumpian politics is a factor, a smaller factor
than it was in Canada. And the outright hostility of
the media towards the Labor government and to the point

(06:14):
where they didn't even report much on the Labor government. Honestly,
the factor that you don't know sometimes makes it more
palatable than the one you do. And the media is
constant us licking of the Liberal Party over the last
fuck twenty odd years means that they get more coverage,
and they get more coverage when they screw up as well,

(06:36):
whereas you know, did the Labor Party screw up? We
don't know because we don't really hear about them.

Speaker 3 (06:40):
Sometimes the Labor Party no news is good news.

Speaker 1 (06:43):
Yeah, And I think that's definitely a factor as well.
So I think depending on which side of politics you
come down on in your own personal feelings, you're going
to determine what factor is the most responsible. But if
you know, as someone who has enjoyed politics as a
as a spectator sport, I would turn around and say, no,
there are a lot of factors. I would nearly argue

(07:03):
that every way you could run a campaign in the
wrong direction. I think the Liberal Party did take those
That's what they accomplished. That's what they did. They ran
at the wrong way in every single way.

Speaker 3 (07:15):
They chose the wrong choice every single time.

Speaker 1 (07:17):
Yeah, wrong leader, wrong policies, uh, wrong influence, incorrect language,
wrong timing, wrong timing. I mean putting Dutton out there
and only Dutte out there was a mistake. You know,
we didn't hear from any of the other members of
their party. It was just him, you know, and an
entire campaign on the back of someone who has a

(07:40):
terrible political track record, a dead fish charisma of a
dead fish, unappealing to voters, constantly trying to introduce both
culture issues into one of the worst cost of living
crisises that we've seen in a long long time. Trump
he ism. I mean again, everything you could do wrong,

(08:00):
they did wrong. And it is very heartwarming to see
that the Australian public recognize that. Anyway, we're going to
move on but a little bridge here. We're going to
be talking about one of Australia's most famous indigenous actors.
And ironically, today the Trump administration announced that there would
be one hundred percent tariff on any American production made overseas. Now,

(08:24):
obviously that is going to affect the Australian film industry
for the negative. But with the legislation that has been
put in place concerning streaming services like Netflix and stand
and Amazon Prime etc. Etc. In order for them to
operate in our country, they still have to maintain a
certain amount of Australian original content. So that means that

(08:47):
if they want to continue to play in our backyard,
they still have to support US tariffs or not. But
that brings us to today's subject. So take it away, Holly,
who are we talking about?

Speaker 3 (08:57):
There is one man who is arguably a cornerstone of
Australian cinema, involved within it for almost fifty years. But
who was the man whom most people were recognized by face,
if not by name. David Galpeleil was a living bridge
between two worlds, one foot rooted in the rich ancient
heritage of Yulongu people and the other reluctantly stepping into

(09:18):
the glittering, chaotic stage of International Cinema.

Speaker 1 (09:21):
So I've already I've always pronounced it galapillarli. But that's
not right, is it.

Speaker 3 (09:26):
It's galpilel. I listened to him say it over and
over again until I could get it right.

Speaker 1 (09:31):
Good. I'm glad that we're going to correct that.

Speaker 3 (09:33):
Born Gampolil Rigie mari Lil dala natgu in Arnam Land,
he would later be known by a more pronounceable name
for the English people, David Galpolil. That English name, however,
came later and not one hundred percent his own choice.
His date of birth, July first, nineteen fifty three, was
only an estimation, as it's unknown when he was actually

(09:54):
specifically born. His birthday was recorded by mission workers and
only through a lot of guest work.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
So for a little bit of historical context here we're
talking around the Stolen Generation era.

Speaker 3 (10:05):
It was during the technically, yes, Gobeleel belonged to the
Magalpingu people of the Yelongu people and was raised traditionally,
learning to hunt, dance, and speak multiple Aboriginal languages before
he had ever heard a word of English. His birthdate
itself was a guest for the first eight years of
his life. He lived entirely within his community's cultural and

(10:26):
geographical boundaries. He never saw a white person until he
was eight years old, when he was brought to the
mission school at Meningrida in northeastern Arnam Land. It was
there that he received the English name David, a name
that would soon become famous across continents.

Speaker 4 (10:42):
So when I was growing up, I went to mission school.

Speaker 5 (10:48):
They asked me what was my name? And I said
my name was Gobole when I've come from bog And
suddenly they said, all right, we'll give it a name.
He's looking for it to bundaway name. What you've got
to be bond name? And I don't know, well you

(11:09):
got a name the first time was my name is
Jong Joel Jannah, not Joel Nah. And had a picture
of David in a bible. I want to go David.

Speaker 4 (11:21):
Suddenly they said all right.

Speaker 5 (11:23):
We'll give you David. Show their name me David.

Speaker 2 (11:26):
Oh good.

Speaker 5 (11:27):
And that was in Melingimby Mission. So I ended up
going called out.

Speaker 1 (11:33):
Melinggimby and that was a quote from My name is Goldpilil.

Speaker 3 (11:38):
Golpilil's life changed forever in nineteen sixty nine, when he
was just fourteen. British director Nicholas Rogue noticed him while
scouting for talent for a new film set in the
Australian Outback. Golpilil was living in a welfare settlement northeast
of Darwin. Rogue was looking for someone genuine, someone with
charisma and an authentic connection to the land. You found

(11:59):
that and more in Colpoil.

Speaker 5 (12:02):
Juege nineteen sixty nine.

Speaker 4 (12:04):
They came down and find me in a workplace settlement
called man and Great, northeast of Barwin.

Speaker 5 (12:10):
When I went to the mission school, Nicholas Rose, the
director from England and London. He came to nam Land
to look for a reginal boy who can throw a spear,
who can hunt, who can dance, And everyone's pointed at me,

(12:34):
and I said him, David curbril Rock and so they
picked me up the first time, full blood me Aboriginal.
I won't work on that film. It is walk About
nineteen sixty nine.

Speaker 1 (12:54):
Quite from my name is scalp Oil.

Speaker 3 (12:57):
Broadcasting on What We Become walk About nineteen seventy one,
his first solo directed film. In it, Galpel played an
Aboriginal boy undergoing his rite of passage who helps two
white children survive in the harsh Australian interior after their
father dies by suicide.

Speaker 1 (13:14):
Jesus Christ, that's a rough film.

Speaker 3 (13:16):
We haven't actually watched that, and I'm actually quite surprised
considering our collection.

Speaker 1 (13:19):
No, and this is also something that we want to
bring back. Like David Galpalel is obviously a very prominent
Australian figure in Australian cinema. Now we've given you some
background on Australian cinema. We've done our Mad Max series,
We've done our series on osploitation, you know, so we've

(13:40):
done this background on odsplitation, and we've also talked a
lot about one of David Galipel's first roles, well most
prominent roles, one that's remembered often was mad Doug Morgan.
So it all sort of fits together. And if you
want a little bit more backstory on the way that
Australian cinema was produced, go back and listen to that

(14:03):
series and then come back and listen to this.

Speaker 3 (14:05):
The film, Haunting and Beautifully Shot, was critically praised but
struggled at the box office, especially in Australia, but audiences
at the time were not ready to see an Aboriginal
actor portrayed with such complexity and dignity. At that point
in time, First Nations people were depicted as savages.

Speaker 1 (14:22):
I mean also too, to be fair, that the Australian
os plitation market at that point to get people to
the cinema was tits and ass a lot of it,
A lot of it, like a lot, a lot of it.
So you know, were people ready for I would make
this argument now, was nineteen seventies Australia or racist place.

(14:42):
Absolutely it was. Let's not pretend it wasn't right. Was
Australian cinema goers ready for art house tasteful films?

Speaker 3 (14:50):
Not really?

Speaker 1 (14:52):
You know that That's where I've been versions, you know,
because it was even like you do think there's a
lot of interesting things happening the nineteen seventies. You know,
you've got this new wave of filmmakers coming in. You know,
people like Scorsese, Steven Spielberg was creating he was off,
you know, working out how the blockbuster was going to work.

(15:12):
But you know, you did have people like Martin Scorsese,
and you had the French, and you had the Europeans
and they were producing these little films, these little sort
of avant got films like Taxi Driver that were sort
of going to make their way into the mainstream. But
you know, cinema wasn't doing that yet, you know, it
was it was really starting to kick off the age
of like the you know, we were getting closer to

(15:34):
the end of the Western and the start of the
nineteen actually nineteen eighties action hero And.

Speaker 3 (15:39):
Remember Naked Bunyat was nineteen seventy question mark.

Speaker 1 (15:43):
Yeah, and that was very close. And what was Naked
Bunyit full of It's an ass, It's an ass, you know.
So I think that in the end of the day,
you know, were people ready for that sort of complexity. No,
were they ready for any complexity whatsoever? No, absolutely not.
And were they racist? Yeah? Sure, absolutely definitely by today's standards.

Speaker 3 (16:05):
And we have a quote here.

Speaker 1 (16:07):
Walk About, a new Australian film, received high praise today
from Life magazine, which calls it an inexpressibly beautiful and
savage purogative movie. I think that's yeah, that's an interesting word.
I think it means provocative movie quite possibly. The film
describes the initiation of a young Aborigine in the Australian
Outback and the Company of Two White Children was directed

(16:30):
by Nicholas Rogue with a script by Edward Bond. It
also praised the three splendid young actors Jenny at Gutter,
radiantly beautiful in the tasteful and necessary nude scenes. Say
different Time, Different Time, Lucia John and David Gumpily and amoriginal.

Speaker 3 (16:48):
Unfortunately they didn't spell his name right.

Speaker 1 (16:50):
Yes, that's why I pronounced it gumpily instead of Goldpillarl.
The Camera Times, Thursday, thirteenth of June nineteen seventy one,
page thirty one praise for Australian film.

Speaker 3 (17:00):
Walk about Mad goalpolel an instant sensation. He was magnetic
on screen, life, mysterious, powerful, and entirely different from any
indigenous portrayal of strained audiences had seen to that point.
But he also found himself thrust unprepared into a world
when nothing felt familiar. At the time of filming, Goalpolol

(17:20):
spoke barely any English and had to learn lines phonetically.
He was fluent in several long languages, but until that
point English had no role in his life.

Speaker 5 (17:31):
I'm filming now and I'm facing the camera. It is
my story, Oh my story. It's about me.

Speaker 1 (17:47):
I like it this and the camera.

Speaker 5 (17:56):
I like to make a film into history. I like

(18:18):
it because he won't rub it out, his belonging to stay,
and a film will remember. It's a generation to.

Speaker 1 (18:29):
Generation quote from My name is Goldpillil.

Speaker 3 (18:34):
His rapid rise to international fame was both exhilarating and disorienting.
He had never been on a plane before, walk about,
and now he found himself crossing oceans, walking red carpets
in London, and shaking hands with the Queen of England.
He recounted these experiences with a kind of amused attachment,
amused by the confusion of people who had never seen

(18:55):
an Aboriginal man before, who asked whether or not he
had a tail?

Speaker 1 (19:00):
Was that Prince Andrew?

Speaker 3 (19:01):
No, it wasn't. Well, well he didn't say who it was,
but Prince Andrew would have been Prince and Prince Andrew
would have been about ten then, so.

Speaker 1 (19:10):
If he met a Queen of England, Yeah, Prince Andrew ten.

Speaker 3 (19:14):
In nineteen seventy one, Prince Andrew was not ten. I'm
pretty sure it was shit.

Speaker 1 (19:20):
Sorry, who need to Prince Philip?

Speaker 3 (19:23):
Okay, that would probably be more realistic.

Speaker 1 (19:25):
Yeah, no, wonder I was fucking confused. You were confused? Yeah, sorry,
I was talking about the son. I was talking about the.

Speaker 3 (19:31):
Father quite possibly, but he did never identify who actually asked,
so it could have been anyone who Philip.

Speaker 1 (19:38):
He did not have a good track record with those
sort of shitty comments.

Speaker 2 (19:45):
Young Aboriginally actor seventeen years old David Goldolo, accompanied by
his friend did we do play? A big Bandalo arrives
in London by Conda Sanru to the Cam's Film Festival,
in which his film walk About is an official British entry.
The boys are on a world tour on behalf of
walka Art, which was made in Australia last year.

Speaker 5 (20:07):
We were a young kodlicking boys. There is no city
where you came from. It was just a bush. I
followed the film walk About to London and must bea
went there too. I want walk in the red carpet.

(20:32):
I walked with the Queen of England. People that said
is that Aboriginal and he said, yes, it's a tile,
It's a good of tile and he said no, no, no,
that's one you're thinking about. Kangaroo. There is a man
and then the Queen said, or don't be shin.

Speaker 1 (20:53):
Now you want to come here? He said, you call here?
Are you combed?

Speaker 5 (20:58):
You com com here? I met them and they have
met me the first time. Full blood me Abriginal.

Speaker 1 (21:12):
Quote from my name is Galpilil.

Speaker 3 (21:15):
Galpilel's more traditional portrayal of a First Nation's man in
walk About helped to bring the spotlight to the world
of First Nation's art. The Whitlam government ended up granting
the Aboriginal Arts Board a sum of money to direct
specifically into First Nation's art, including Gulpilil on his writing debut.

Speaker 1 (21:32):
The Prime Minister, Mister Whitlam, has approved grants totaling two
hundred and fifty six thousand dollars for Aboriginal arts projects
and activities. Adjusted for inflation, that's two point three million
dollars in twenty twenty two. The grants were recommended by
the Aboriginal Arts Board of the Australian Council for the Arts,
Films and Video, three hundred and fifty for photographic materials

(21:53):
and film stock for a film workshop at Mellon Gimbi.
Two three hundred and fifty five dollars for production costs
for Dayord Golpililp's film Minindra and research costs for a
second film, eight hundred and thirty nine for mister Andrew
Jacchinos to attend New York University Film School, two thy
five hundred for a Torres Strait Islander trainee in video
technique to be liaison officer in Brisbane's Public Access Video Center.

(22:17):
Three hundred and fifty dollars for equipment to train Aboriginal
children in movie making. Quote from The Camera Times, Saturday,
the eleventh of May nineteen seventy four, page three PM's
approval two hundred and fifty six thousand in grants to
Aboriginal arts. The Whitlam government was extraordinarily friendly to the
arts scene. They felt that part of the establishment of

(22:38):
the Australian cultural identity should be through film and art.
So the Whitlam government was very, very, very generous to
the arts. We also talked about how that also ended
up contributing downfall, contributing to the US flitation era because
he introduced the A one tax break, which was.

Speaker 3 (23:00):
One hundred and fifty per tax rate.

Speaker 1 (23:02):
Yeah, it was crazy. So as a business you could
basically take your entire profits, dump them into a skin
flick and then the skin flick director would easily get
you not only your money back, but a huge profit,
and none of it was taxed. It led to a
lot of terrible movies which I own and enjoy and
watch frequently.

Speaker 3 (23:19):
It is most of the osplitations genre.

Speaker 1 (23:22):
Thank you, Umbrella Entertainment.

Speaker 3 (23:26):
Galpilil became an unofficial spokesman for First Nations in film
and art and took his role to heart. He stood
in front of anyone who would listen and extolled the
virtues of diversity in both the cast and crew of
films and in the stories that were being told.

Speaker 1 (23:42):
More films should be made in Australia about the Aboriginal
dream time and way of life, Aboriginal actor David Golpilil
said on his return from tram this week. Such films
were important for his people, he said. David starred in
the Australian film The Last Wave, which won the Golden
winged Ibex the Grand Prix at the sixth Tehran International
Film Festival. Quote from The Canberra Times, Thursday, December nineteen

(24:05):
seventy seven, page nineteen. Importance of Aboriginal themes actor.

Speaker 3 (24:11):
But for all his conviction and cultural clarity, Goalpelil was
not immune to the pressures and contradictions of the life
he had stepped into the film industry, particularly in the
nineteen seventies and eighties, was not a forgiving place for
a First Nations man, even one as magnetic as he was.
He was often the only Indigenous person on a set,
celebrated on screen, but patronized or sidelined behind the scenes.

Speaker 1 (24:34):
I mean, this was part of the problem. And I
think why we think of him so prominently as an
Australia's Indigenous actor because it was just him for a
very long time. For a very very long time, They're like, well,
you know, we need someone to fill this role. What
do audiences recognize, Well, they recognize this man, and so

(24:55):
he's the only one that can you know, h Tokenism
is the wrong word to use.

Speaker 3 (25:02):
But I would say tokenism.

Speaker 1 (25:07):
Is the wrong word to use. Let's call it laziness.

Speaker 3 (25:10):
Yes, I will agree with that.

Speaker 1 (25:11):
Let's call it laziness. There was a definitely a lazy
pension on the behalf of directors making films here when
they're like, well, okay, you know, we need to include
Indigenous Australians. Let's just get that one guy who always
does it, you know, instead of opening it up to
more Indigenous actors being able to take a crack. And

(25:33):
I think when it comes to my watching of Australian
exploitation film, and as I said, I have a lot,
I've watched quite a lot of it. Most of the
I think it's what is a book five? Has there
osplitation stuff in it? Is that volume five?

Speaker 3 (25:49):
I think?

Speaker 5 (25:49):
So?

Speaker 1 (25:49):
Yeah, I wrote most of that. A lot of a
lot of the odds plitation stuff came from me because
obviously I like fucking film. It was natural that the
pop culture nerd was going to do a lot of
work on the pop culture stuff. And yeah, it's just because,
like you know, a director would come across, like you know,
they were going to make Mad Dog Morgan and'd be like, oh, well,

(26:10):
we've seen this guy in a bunch of other films,
so let's put him there. And it wasn't until you
start to get to things like Crocodile Dundee where they
actually for the very first time. I think in Australian
film history, it's Paul Hogan that opens the door to
Australian pop culture examining the treatment of Indigenous peoples and

(26:33):
expanding it so that there's more than one, and then
you know, followed on from that, you also have films
like Priscilla, Couina The Desert.

Speaker 3 (26:41):
Well, I was going to mention that in the director's
commentary there was a statement by the director who said
that the kids, the Aboriginal, the first nation kids that
are in that movie during the fireside scene, they were
really excited to do that scene because they weren't being
forced to dress in grass and warm paint. Yeah, they

(27:01):
were like normal, casual who they are people.

Speaker 1 (27:04):
Well, it's like when in Crocodile Dundee when mc dundee's
mate rocks up and he's wearing jeans. Yeah, blue jeans.
You know, it's there is definitely that cultural shift, and
it doesn't happen until the late eighties and early nineties.
So yeah, no, I can understand exactly the point of
view that he had been the only man on set.

Speaker 3 (27:24):
Often, directors would praise Goalpelil's authenticity well simultaneously misrepresenting his
people's stories. Agents and producers too often treated him as
a novelty rather than as a professional, and payments were
inconsistent if they came at all. Because exploitation is a thing.

Speaker 1 (27:43):
I remember watching a documentary on him years and years
ago that the ABC did and they're like, you know,
don't expect this like acting superstar to be living in
a mansion. He's actually living here. And it's like, well,
you know, do you think he was paid appropriately from
working on exploitation film? No one was.

Speaker 3 (28:02):
Look, he had a couple of addictions later on in life.
I'm not going to deny that, but that still doesn't
account for the lack of money that he had.

Speaker 1 (28:09):
Yeah, absolutely, Like when especially when you think about how.

Speaker 3 (28:14):
How much money Rubbitproofence and that made.

Speaker 1 (28:16):
Yeah, exactly, and how much acclaim it got, and then
even going back through his career, like you look at
something like Mad Dog Morgan, I think Dennis Hopper was
the only one who got paid and the directors definitely
got paid, but you know, how much did they actually
pay the rest of the cast? You know, I think
a lot of I think honestly a lot of Australian

(28:36):
film and television stars would tell you that a lot
of them had to fight for proper pay in the
Australian film and television industry. And that's why it hasn't
become you know, as large as it it should be
in my opinion at this point, you know, just because
of you know how much streaming services want content and
how we have this sort of really diverse landscape. You know,

(28:58):
you can go to Mount Ksiosco and that can sort
of you know, that could be the Colorado Mountains, and
you can go to the forests in Queensland and you've
got the outback locations and then you've got the great
beach locations. I think a lot of Australians working within
the film industry would say that, you know, more often
than not, there is a lot of exploitations still to

(29:18):
this day. I mean a lot of productions here are
produced by Warner Brothers, who were notorious for not paying
people properly. So it doesn't surprise me whatsoever that he
didn't get paid accordingly, considering how prolific his film biography is,
and it is huge.

Speaker 3 (29:33):
Again, he was in cinema for more than fifty years.
Though Golpolel had danced for royalty and performed in Paris,
he was still subject to everyday racism and exclusion at home.
This bit of contrast between reverence and rejection slowly chipped
away at the strong foundation of tradition he'd been raised on.
On September seventh, nineteen seventy eight, Golbelel was arrested for

(29:56):
using a motor vehicle illegally, drinking under the influence, having
it a dangerous speed, and using undue care and speeding.
He was charged to appear before Port Adelaide Court on
October four, nineteen seventy eight, but he elected instead to
head home to arnham Land to spend time with his
dying father.

Speaker 1 (30:13):
Representing mister Galpilil, Mister Neil Sansbury, an Aboriginal legal rights officer,
said mister Galpilel failed to appear at the time because
he had just received news that his father was dying.
He had brought a one way ticket to arnam Land,
he did not have the money for a return journey.
His father has since died. Mister Galpelel's work has taken
him overseas. The police prosecutor mister G. Huffer, in opposing bail,

(30:37):
that he understood the pressures of mister Galpilel's workloads for
the incident had occurred some time ago and he had
time to contact authorities. Vote from The Canberra Times Saturday,
the second of February nineteen eighty, page ten. Death of
father prevented court appearance.

Speaker 3 (30:53):
At the same time as all this was going on,
the attention that came with fame brought him into the
orbit of other famous outsiders and rebels, people like Dennis
Hopper from Mad Dog Morgan, Bob Marley, and Muhammad Ali.
These meetings dazzled him but also ushered in a different
kind of initiation. With them came new rituals, Champagne instead
of ceremony, cannabis instead of corrobbery.

Speaker 1 (31:16):
I mean, look, if you're hanging out with Dennis Hopper,
you're perpetually Marley drunk. Bob Marley, yeah, especially so. And
then Muhammad ad Lee is probably on the straight and narrow,
though a certain extent.

Speaker 3 (31:27):
In interviews, he spoke with a mix of pride and
rue about teaching Bob Marley to play the digeridoo and
Marley teaching him how to smoke weed. It was all
part of what he later called tiptoeing in caviat and champagne.
But while he was learning these new things, he was
also working.

Speaker 1 (31:43):
An enthralling a mystical account of some rituals and tribal
superstitions of Aborigines can be seen in Saturday Nights movie
on Channel nine, The Last Wave nineteen seventy eight. The
plot surrounds an Australian lawyer who is defending six Aborigines,
which begins a whole run of strange occurrences and events.
Starring David goldpilll Richard Chamberlain and Olivia Hannett. The film

(32:05):
is much engrossing as it is terrifying, but from Times Friday,
the twenty third of January nineteen eighty seven, page eleven,
aboriginal mystical movie.

Speaker 3 (32:15):
For a man who had spent his early years never
even seeing a white person, this new world came fast
and hit hard. He was still young, still learning English,
and already being asked to carry the burden of two cultures,
each with their own demands on him, and somewhere in
between them, something cracked. Because of the world he now
found himself in. Golpel found himself caught in the same

(32:37):
traps of his spiritual uncles, aunts and cousins of the
century before alcohol, drugs, tobacco and abuse. Basically, his life
became a speed run of colonialism two hundred years in ten.

Speaker 1 (32:49):
I mean it's really fair to say that. I think
anyone moving into the entertainment industry is going to struggle
with those four things. I would say that the cold
damage that is done to First Nations people is going
to be exacerbated when you know, introduced into that culture.
So you know, it's ramped up. Remember ramped up.

Speaker 3 (33:12):
Remember he was introduced when he was fourteen.

Speaker 1 (33:14):
Yeah, and he's been part of that. You know, when
you're surrounded by that sort of shit centure, essentially you're
a child actor. Fourteen is a child so you're essentially
a child actor. We look at the downfall of all
child actors. I mean, is his story that dissimilar from
Lindsay Lohan or Corey Feldman or Corey Haim or Justin

(33:37):
Bieber or you know, Britney Spears. You know, how many
more do? How many more kids have to be fed
into the fucking brinder? I mean Millie Bobby Brown, she
was hanging out with or dating what men in their
late twenties while she was seventeen, I believe, And you

(33:58):
know that's been pretty tumultuous for that poor girl. So
you know, you find themselves put into that situation like
it's sort of inevitable. It's really sad.

Speaker 3 (34:07):
And then you add a disconnect from culture because of
having to go to film sets every day, it becomes worse.

Speaker 1 (34:13):
Yeah. Absolutely.

Speaker 3 (34:14):
In two thousand and seven, Goalpolil had a run in
with authorities when he picked up a knife while staying
at his friend's house during filming.

Speaker 1 (34:21):
David Galpoleil could not attend to hurt his mates when
he produced a machete during a heated standoff. Holly called
it a knife. But a machete is not a knife.

Speaker 3 (34:30):
It is a knife. It's a type of knife.

Speaker 1 (34:32):
It's a big knife, his lawyer has told a Northern
Territory court. The fifty four year old actor was staying
at a friend's Darwan home after three and a half
weeks of filming in Kakadu National Park and an argument
started over his drinking. I got the machete out of
the bag after mister Williams told me to go out
of the house and his other partner was standing there
with a stick, said the two thousand and five Australian

(34:55):
of the Year. I was scared from the two people
with weapons. I grabbed the machete in fear lapel Sydney
Morning Herald, January ninth, two thousand and seven.

Speaker 3 (35:04):
This was an incident that you actually raised with me,
and I didn't actually remember anything to do with this.
You said it happened on a set, so even with you,
some of the details got a bit mudged.

Speaker 1 (35:15):
Did I say it happened?

Speaker 3 (35:16):
I don't think you did.

Speaker 1 (35:17):
I might have done it, yeah, like I think this
is yeah two thousand and seven, right, yeap, So two
thousand and seven is when I actively start reading news.
So it just happened to stick in the back of
my head. And I think it did because he played
the tracker in rabbit Proof Friends, right, And see, I

(35:37):
had been like rabbit Proof Fence was one of our
subjects in school, and if you've ever done a movie
in school, you know that you will watch it. You'll
have watched it about fifty times, and then you'll have
written two essays on it, which is.

Speaker 3 (35:49):
Even worse when it's for three subjects the same semester,
like of have been.

Speaker 1 (35:53):
So his name stuck out to me, which is why
I would have read that article, and that's why it's
stuck in my brain.

Speaker 3 (35:59):
So I didn't remember it at all. Galpeleil sparrowed into addiction,
often seen drinking heavily on sets and getting into legal
trouble off screen. He was arrested four times for drink
driving jailed for them more than once.

Speaker 1 (36:14):
Aboriginal actor David Galpelel was jailed yesterday for drink driving offenses.
In the Darwin Magistrates' Court. Mister McPherson sm sent to
mister Galpallel thirty five to jail for five months after
convicting him of his third and fourth drink driving offenses
in the Northern Territory. He ordered that mister Galpelel be
released after serving one month on a five hundred dollars

(36:34):
good behavior bond of two years. Mister Galpelel was also
fined four hundred dollars for driving an uninsured vehicle, seventy
five for driving an unregistered vehicle, and he was convicted
without penalty on a charge of driving through a red light.
His driving license was suspended for a total of three years.
Mister Galpelel originally faced four charges, including drink driving after

(36:56):
being apprehended by police in Darwin on June thirteenth, but
he faced a second drink driving offense, which occurred on
August fourteen, while he was on bail on the other charges.
Melbourne forensic psychologist mister Ian Joblin said mister Galpelel, in
his opinion, was not an alcoholic, but he's getting close
to it, particularly if he continues drinking as he does

(37:17):
in Darwin, for example. In a written submission to mister mcpherston,
mister Galpelel's council Mister Perugitt second said we must be
careful in dealing with David Galpallel. He is an actor
of fame, well liked, respected and adored. If he goes
to prison, the Aboriginal community will associate prison with fame.
You may get an increase in the Aboriginal prison intake.

(37:40):
At all cost, this has to be avoided. Wooh, that's
a long road to walk for a defense attorney, isn't it. Yeah,
well it's not the It's not the craziest defense argument
I have ever heard. I feel it's very offensive though
it really does, doesn't it. It doesn't sit with me.

Speaker 3 (37:58):
They're all so dumb, but that they would just follow
him into jail, so you don't want to do this?
How offensive is that.

Speaker 1 (38:04):
It feels wrong. It feels very wrong to suggest that
in sentencing mister Galpelil, mister McPherson said paid tribute to
his work as chairman of the Bruyou out station in
Arnham Land and to his role as a performer, but
he said that while mister Galpileil was not particularly sophisticated,

(38:24):
huff was not a simple minded bush and original Holy.

Speaker 3 (38:28):
Shit, nineteen eighty seven racism for the win.

Speaker 1 (38:32):
I guess this was two thousand and seven.

Speaker 3 (38:34):
This is nineteen eighty seven.

Speaker 1 (38:35):
Sorry, nineteen eighty seven. Oh Jesus fucking Christ. Yeah. The
Camera Times, Friday, fourth of September nineteen eighty seven, page eight,
actor David Galpilel jailed for drink driving offences. Fucking hell, so.

Speaker 3 (38:50):
He struggled a little bit with alcohol, will put it mildly,
But that defense sure, that defense guy.

Speaker 1 (38:56):
Was just fucked yeah, fucking hell. Especially like if I
think about other actors that rose around the same time,
Like you look at Mel Gibson and what he has
done and said under the influence of alcohol is you know, look,
alcoholism and Australians go hand in hand. It's obviously it
affects the indigenous community. It also affects the you know,

(39:20):
the lower white socioeconomic community as well, just as badly
in a lot of ways. Like I grew up in
areas that were you know, there were parts of growing
up in a small town that really nice and lovely.
There are also parts of a small town that are
run down and you know, this sort of behavior. I
think it's interesting when we do this podcast, because I

(39:41):
read these things. I'm like, oh, yeah, that's tumid on
a Friday night, and everyone else seems very shocked.

Speaker 3 (39:47):
And then you realize how oh that's not normal.

Speaker 1 (39:49):
And then you're like, oh, okay, maybe ramp and alcoholism
in rural Australia is a problem. It is a problem.

Speaker 3 (39:56):
Absolutely. In a darker turn, Golpelil was in in prison
for assaulting his wife, Miriam Ashley, during a drunken incident
in twenty eleven. This incident led to a turnaround in
Galbolel's life. He's finally sought help and treatment for his
alcoholism after being released from jail.

Speaker 1 (40:13):
Original actor David Galpallel says he will go into alcohol
rehab and rebuild his film career after serving a five
month jail term for breaking his wife's arm in a
violent attack. Oh yeah, there's really no coming back from
that one. As a he's actually lucky. It was a
five months jail term to be fair, because that's a
grievous bodily harm.

Speaker 3 (40:34):
At that point, I think it's just basic assault.

Speaker 1 (40:37):
Really. I thought ones used sounded breaking bones that it upgraded.

Speaker 3 (40:40):
I honestly don't know. I'm not allowed.

Speaker 1 (40:42):
Galpallel fifty eight, had pleaded guilty to aggravate a assault
after throwing a broom at his wife, Miriam Ashley, infracturing
her arm. Assaulted Miss Ashley because she refused to join
him while he was drinking at a Darwin home, the
court heard. Mister Schofield said. Miss Ashley, who cried outside
court after the sentence, today since reconciled with her husband
and regretted reporting the incident to police. David Galpalil jailed

(41:06):
for assaulting wife September twenty two, twenty eleven, Sydney Morning Herald.
I'm sorry that she felt bad, but he committed the crime.
Therefore he does the time as silly as that slogan.
I love my wife very much. I think after seven
years you guys have probably picked up on that. Maybee

(41:27):
maybe yeah, we don't.

Speaker 3 (41:28):
Really, we do get a lot of we still get
occasional comments as well, I love the chemistry.

Speaker 1 (41:32):
Yeah I suppose so, but we never really do any
of the lovey dovey stuff on this ad. I don't
know if I've ever said I love my wife on
the podcast, which is very strange as you've seen across
for me, but I do, and hurting you in that
way would make me look honestly, I'd walk away and
go into treatment and never marry anyone ever again, because
obviously I'm not fit to be with someone with that

(41:56):
level of violence. But you know, it's just sad around you.
You know, abuse victims will fall into that cyclical nature
of you know, I'm sorry, I hurt you, I still
love you, I'll never do it again, and then it
happens again, and you know, back and forth, back and forth.
But if someone fractures your arm, yeah you have to.
That person needs to serve some time for that. That

(42:18):
is a serious offense. And you know, this country has
a terrible track record of looking after abuse victims, absolutely
shocking to this very day. So that's just a very
sad situational round.

Speaker 3 (42:32):
Unlike most domestic violence abusers, this jail term actually serve to.

Speaker 1 (42:37):
Help sometimes it can be. There's a rehabilitation program for
domestic violence perpetrators. I believe there's one at least in
New South Wales. There's one in Queensland, and their job
is to try and stop people from becoming recidivous, and
there is potential for reconciliation and rehabilitation. That the person

(42:59):
has to be willing to go through those programs and
actually change. When it comes to domestic abusers, it's rare,
and unfortunately most of them just continue being recidivous. I
definitely look, even in my own life, I have known
people who were abusive in younger years who have not

(43:23):
been abusive in later years. I'm not going to say
it is outside the realm of possibility. I think that
everyone can change. I think everyone has the potential for
learning and growth and a roadback. Obviously, in the case
that we're about to talk about right now, that is
the case that there was a roadback. But for yeah,
for a lot of abusers, there isn't the desire to change,

(43:45):
and no prison sentence is going to change that person's attitude.
If they're a partner beater, they are always going to
be unless they want to change. It's very, very very
difficult to give them to that point, there has to
be a lot of shame and a lot of self reflection, Holly,
in order to get to that point.

Speaker 3 (44:04):
Is a little bit of narcissism with not wanting to
change or is it just aurseholes? And that's as much
as it is.

Speaker 1 (44:12):
I mean, my current study in counseling, and that is
really about focusing on the individual as opposed to know
all of those other factors, like you know, counseling where
counseling is different from psychology. Psychology is about being able
to diagnose and understand. Counseling is about using psychology in

(44:34):
order to provide you know, therapeutic solutions for the present
the prominent problem. If that makes sense. Now, I'm going
to say for myself that what I am studying doesn't
really give me a point of position on that. I
will say just from the work that we've done. You know,

(44:55):
writing about true crime abuse isn't the same as psychopathy.
You know, psychopathy narcissism sort of fall hand in hand.
People who abuse others A lot of the time it
comes down to problems with emotional regulation. You know, it
could be argued that there are abusers who are narcissists

(45:17):
and they will never change. That is very difficult to
get those people to change. There's also people who are
abusers through learn behavior, which is something that I work
with more than you know. You're never going to see
me in front of a narcissistic psychopath, you know. That's
more for a psychologist writing a paper or a psychiatrist

(45:38):
writing a paper. But I would definitely there is potential
that I would see someone in front of me in
the future once I get my license. Who would turn
around and say to me, you know, Matt, I was
raised in an environment of abuse. Therefore it's normal to
me and it's destroyed relationships. How would I fix that
problem and in which those people can be helped. But

(46:01):
once again, it goes back to what I just said
about self reflection. If there's no desire to change, the
abuser will not change, and they also have to admit
that they have a problem as well. That is also
a difficult road, you know. So yeah, does that that
answer your question? Yes? No, probably, maybe all of the above,
all of the above.

Speaker 3 (46:22):
As a result of this incident and his ongoing downward spiral,
Goalpoleil found himself distanced from his people, something he acknowledged
with painful clarity in his biopic I.

Speaker 4 (46:32):
Live in a two worlds and a Western worlds and
the tribal Hi coops are okay, And you know I
mean I'm there. I'm there with the Western.

Speaker 1 (46:46):
World that comes from My name is Galpalel.

Speaker 3 (46:50):
Despite his attempts to return to cultural roots, substance abuse
continued to shadow him throughout his life, contributing to periods
of homelessness and isolation, and ultimately complicating his legacy and
leading to his eventual death. Despite this troubled part to
his legacy, bel Pleil's contribution to Australian cinema were immense
over a career spanning nearly five decades. From nineteen seventy

(47:14):
one to twenty nineteen, he appeared in thirteen television shows
and twenty seven films, as well as appearing as himself
in programs around the world. He was one of the
few actors in Australia to repires a character across different films.
One notable example was King George, a role he played
in both Bas Lehman's Australia in two thousand and eight
and again in Faraway Downs a re edited series version

(47:37):
of the same story. But it was not just the
volume of his work that mattered. It was its meaning.

Speaker 1 (47:43):
I helped my film come to life everything right from
my culture. I made it true. Quote from my name
is Galpalel bel.

Speaker 3 (47:52):
Palil's performances often carried a cultural weight that went beyond
the script. He wasn't just portraying Aboriginal characters, embodying them,
inhabiting them with the truth that could only come from
lived experience. His most notable films read like the greatest
hits of Australian cinema. Robert Proof Fence in two thousand
and two, Crocodile Dundee in nineteen eighty six, Mad Dog

(48:13):
Morgan in nineteen seventy six, and both versions of Stormboy
in nineteen seventy six, where he played fingerbone Bill, and
in the twenty nineteen remake for he returned to play
the father of Fingerbone Bill, completing a generational arc on
both screen and off.

Speaker 1 (48:28):
And I mean talking about the cultural impact there. I
have seen Crocodile Dundee, I've seen Robert proof Fence, I've
seen Mad Dog Morgan and I've seen Stormboy. Stormboy was
one of those films that they would often put on
for us in school. You know, sir, the old one, sorry,
said the old one, the original. Yeah, I didn't bother
to go see the remake. I'm not. I'm not particularly
I don't think anyone did. I don't think. I think

(48:50):
that the Australian Film Finance Commissions the answer to, you know,
how do we get more films out there into the market,
and their answer to that was, let's just remake it.
Bunch of stuff from the eighties was a mistake that
the American film industry fell into, and I don't think
it had nearly the success that they expected it to,
And I think it would have been better to cut up.

(49:11):
And not to say that the director or the actors
of the remake of Stormboy, they probably did a wonderful job.
It was probably a fantastic film. I'm not trying to
shit on anyone's performance or the directing or writing. What
I would say is that it probably would have been
better to take that sort of budget and take that contribution,

(49:32):
split it up into smaller allotments, and then hand it
out to different filmmakers. You know, the thing that we've
seen from movies recently like talk to me is the
fact that you can take two million dollars and you
can make a really good film that's going to then
turn around and make money at the box office. The
lesson that it should have been learned from you know,

(49:54):
Lee Winnell and James One, Thank you Holly. The lesson
that should being learned from both of those boys was
that you can make a low budget Australian film and
make a serious amount of income if it is a
good film. Now, horror is a bit of a beast.
It does that, and it's harder to pull that off

(50:14):
with a drama or something like that. But in this
day and age, you know, you can turn around. You
can make a film for two three million dollars, you
can sell it to Netflix at a festival for thirty
million dollars. You've made your money back and then you
can go out and you can do it again and
again and again. You know, if I ever had like
you know, people often talk, oh, what would you do
if you won the lottery? Well, if I won the lottery,

(50:35):
I go to film school. I would meet you know,
some up and coming filmmakers and writers and actors and
I would be like, well, look you know, I've won
fifty million dollars. Here's a two million dollar budget, go
off and make a film and then you sell it
for thirty You know that that's where the Australian film
industry needs to have its head at. And I think that, yeah,

(50:58):
remaking films like Stormboy is not the best place to
be putting Australian dollars. And all the people who worked
on that film would disagree with me. Of course, I
would have paid for you know, gaffers and carpenters and
lighting people and production assistants and all sorts of things.
You know, a lot of people would have benefited from
that production. I just happened to think we don't need

(51:19):
to be doing remakes of old films. We should just
be handing out, you know, two million dollar packages stup
and coming filmmakers. That's my opinion anyway.

Speaker 3 (51:28):
Goalpolil was also a renowned dancer and did you Redoo
player Kalnsler were not merely hobbies but core expressions of
Yolongu identity. He choreographed the traditional first People's dancing crocodile dundee,
ensuring the depiction was respectful and accurate. His art extended
to painting as well, though it never really earned him much.
In fact, despite his fame, his earnings were never substantial.

(51:52):
Face of racism from the agents, film crews, and the
industry at large, his fame did not protect him from
poverty times. Who was homeless, sleeping in parks or residing
in a corrugated iron hunt in the community of Remaining
with no electricity or running water.

Speaker 1 (52:07):
Weeks before the movie was released, journalists visited him in
the small indigenous community of Reminging on his crocodile infested
tropical tribal land, who was living in a hut with
his then partner, indigenous painter Robin jean Ingy, without power
or running water. They cook kangaroo meat and fish over
an open fire beneath a scrap iron roof. Hunting spears

(52:30):
was slung from a rafter galpilel kept a wooden indigenous
fighting club known as a Nulla nulla for protection. I
was brought up in a tin shad. I wandered all
over the world Paris, New York. Now I'm back in
a tin shad quote from David Galpallel, Indigenous actor known
from Crocodile, Dundee and Australia rolls eyes quote from Los
Angeles Times, Robert McGirk, November twenty nine, twenty twenty one.

(52:54):
And it's really interesting too. You know a lot of
people would turn around and say, oh, well, you know,
his his wheelings and dealings with illicit drugs and alcohol,
and that led to you know, a poverty stricken life.
I would argue, if I would drink us not that much.
But if that was the case, why did Mel Gibson
manage to maintain his life style?

Speaker 3 (53:18):
Yeah, because there's a descript.

Speaker 1 (53:20):
Because both of them prey, you know, had very similar Obviously,
David Galpalil, as far as I know, was not racist,
and you know, it's fair to say that we can
note the controversy surrounding Mel Gibson, so that aside, you know,
both of them, you know, were self described alcoholics at
a certain point in life, and both of them had

(53:41):
you know, a couple of like personal disasters you know,
where they like, you know, Gibson really blew up his life.
But Gibson never ended up in poverty, you know, And
I think that's it's worth noting that one ends up
in poverty, one doesn't not to say that a lot
of actors and actresses don't end up in poverty due
to who you know abused. It's just when you want

(54:03):
to make a couple of comparisons, I think Mel Gibson's
probably the easiest one, as both of them sort of
came up close together.

Speaker 3 (54:09):
This is what was mad Max's early eighties.

Speaker 1 (54:11):
Early eighties. Yeah, so Galpalel starts sixty sixty nine was
but at fourteen, so he would have been what eighteen
around the late seventies.

Speaker 3 (54:24):
Fifty three, So what's that late seventies would be your
twenties early twenties.

Speaker 1 (54:29):
So I think it's fair to make that comparison between
the two, and as an Australian acting icon, it sort
of speaks to how the industry also abandoned him because
usually people within that industry they have friends and family
that are like, oh, you know, come live with us,
we'll get you back on your feet. I suppose in
modern day you could look at Yahoo sirious. Yeah, it's

(54:51):
sort of fallen on those times as well. So maybe
we are very quick to abandon you know, our icons.
I suppose, yeah, once you're out, you're out. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (55:01):
Even in his tin shed, Golpelil continued to make history.
One of his most important collaborations was with director Rolf
to Hear. They worked together on multiple projects. The most
groundbreaking was Ten Canoes. In two thousand and six.

Speaker 1 (55:14):
We attended a wedding on Saturday night and that movie
was brought up by one of Matty's uncles, So there
you go.

Speaker 3 (55:20):
This was the first film scripted entirely in the Ulongu language.
Golpolol narrated the film, which was based on an ancient
story from his people and shot with local actors in
Arnam Land. The film won a special jury prize at
the can Cans Cans.

Speaker 1 (55:36):
Yes, it's a French film festival, one of the most
famous in the world. Also full of shit most of
the time. Whenever you hear that dot dot dot got
a standing ovation at Cannes, they all get a stand
and it's Khan Can. I think it's Khan. The khn't sell.

Speaker 3 (55:52):
French, so you don't say the last letter, so I guess.

Speaker 1 (55:54):
Khan khnt And at the can Film Festival there's always
a standing ovation for fucking every don't mean shit all. Yeah,
you made a movie work pretty much. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (56:06):
The film became a symbol of indigenous storytelling, he claiming
its voice in global cinema. It's perhaps no coincidence that
his son, Jamie Gobelil, also worked on that film, continuing
the legacy in the very language of their ancestors. The
personal and the political were always intertwined in Gobelel's story.
His life became a battleground for Australia's cultural identity, whether

(56:28):
he wanted it to be or not. Celebrity brought attention
to Indigenous issues, but it also exacted a heavy toll.
He often seemed to exist in limbo who Indigenous for
the white world, who Westernized for home. He walked this
line until the end of his life and a little
bit after.

Speaker 1 (56:46):
He presented himself as a victim of his own celebrity,
in his own people's misunderstanding of his position in the
wider world. People say to me, you're a big name,
you have money. Why don't you buy yourself a house?
Get out of Reminging, He said, this is my country,
I belong here, and I'm broke. Added exactly why he
was broke was not clear. He was vague about how

(57:07):
much he earned over the years, and wealth in Australian
Indigenous society is communal and needing to permeate through relatives
and friends. Back then, Galipilll liked to drink beer, smoke
weed and take carver plant that acts as a sedative,
but because all three were banned in remaninging, he avoided
some of the temptations of city life Excesses wrote from

(57:27):
David Galpelel, Indigenous actor known from Crocodile, Dundee and Australia
Roles Dies, Ess Angeles Times, Rod McGirk November twenty nine
and twenty twenty one.

Speaker 3 (57:36):
Overhear his career, David Galplel was widely recognized for his
extraordinary contributions to Australian cinema and Indigenous storytelling. He was
appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in nineteen
eighty seven for his services to the arts, a rare
honor for an Aboriginal performer at the time. He won
Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival for his role
in The Tracker in two thousand and two during the

(57:58):
award with his collaborators, and received the Best Actor Award
from the Australian Film Institute for the same role. It
was also awarded an AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor
for Charlie's Country in twenty thirteen, the film he co wrote,
which was based in part on his own experiences with
homelessness and cultural alienation. In twenty nineteen, the National Aboriginal

(58:20):
and Islander Day Observance Community ADOC awarded him a Lifetime
Achievement Award, recognizing his decades of trailblazing work in film,
music and dance. His accolades, though significant, only partly reflected
the deeper cultural impact of his work as both an
artist and a vessel of your Longbu tradition.

Speaker 1 (58:38):
Perhaps the best renowned traditional dancer in his country, he
has organized troops of dances and musicians and has performed
at festivals throughout Australia, including the prestigious Darwin Australia Day
Estford Dance Competition Stedford, oh As, Stedford. Right. I didn't
realize that Galpalil is also an acclaimed story He has

(59:00):
written the tanks for two volumes of children's stories based
on Yulongu beliefs. These books also feature photographs and drawings
by Australian artists and conveyed Galpelel's reverence for the landscape
people and traditional culture of his homeland at from who
is David Galpelel.

Speaker 3 (59:17):
But by then his health had begun to decline. He
had been diagnosed with lung cancer diagnosis his face with
characteristic grace and bluntness. In his final years, he gave
several candid interviews and appeared in documentaries that served as
both a farewell and a reckoning. He died on November nineteen,
twenty twenty one, in the home he shared with his
living carer in murray Bridge, South Australia, for the age

(59:39):
of sixty eight. At his family's request, he was referred
to for a few days as David Dalethingu, in accordance
with Yolongu customs that avoided naming the deceased. This passing
marked the end of a profound chapter in Australia's cultural history,
not the erasure of his influence. David Galpolel was not
simply a performer. Was a conduit between dream time and

(01:00:01):
dream factory, between arm and land and Hollywood. Here was
a witness to both magnificence and decay. And through it
all he kept dancing, dancing, through the contradictions, the heart breaks,
the victories and the failures. For every red carpet he walked,
there was red dust between his toes. He live large
and you live broken, and he lived brilliantly. In the end,
Gobbelo remains one of the few who would claim to

(01:00:22):
have changed how a Nason saw itself, not with speeches
or laws, but with art, through film, through movement, through language.
He offered a glimpse of something older than history and
more real than myth. With that, above all else is
the market left behind on the world and on austral
In cinematic culture.

Speaker 1 (01:00:38):
Absolutely agree with you there, Holly, and unfortunately that ladies
and gentlemen's where we're going to leave it. If you
are going to rush off to the comments and our
email address saying hey, you missed out on this story,
this story, this story, this story. Yes, we could have
done fifteen episodes. We did eight episodes on Gangland history.
We do not want to get stuck into big multi

(01:00:58):
part episodes four a little.

Speaker 3 (01:01:00):
While turned out a little bit on that.

Speaker 1 (01:01:02):
Yeah, we need to chill out a little bit on
those those big ones, just because it does take a
lot of work. So yes, we realize, yep, we'll definitely
have missed stories Hopefully we managed to give a nice overview.

Speaker 3 (01:01:15):
And encourage you to go watch some films.

Speaker 1 (01:01:17):
Yes, yes, please go and check out his back catalog.
There are some fantastic movies in there if you want
one of his best performances. I actually think it's rabbit
Proof Fence. I think there is some beautiful acting in
there if you want something your fun osplitation films, Crocodile
Dundee and Mad Dog Morgan are both to to go
and check out. Highly recommend it. And though while I

(01:01:39):
have not seen Ten Canoes, I have, did you enjoy it?

Speaker 3 (01:01:43):
I was in Year ten Legal Studies class. I have
no idea if I enjoyed it or not, but I've
seen it.

Speaker 1 (01:01:47):
It's worth going back and rewatching at a later date. Yeah,
but from what I was told, Ten Canows is absolutely
fantastic as well, So I can highly encourage you to
go and check out his back catalog. You often get
asked Australian culture and how to get more of it,
especially from our overseas listeners, and I would say go
on to his IMDBA, check it out and go through

(01:02:08):
some of those films for yourself. Well, if you'd like
to get in touch with us. Maybe you have a
story about Australian film or David Galpalil or any other
aspect of this episode that we've talked about. We crap
in Australia at gmail dot com. You can also find
us on social media just typing we crap in Australia
into the search engine of your social media of choice.

(01:02:29):
There's a couple of ways you can also support us
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Speaker 3 (01:02:53):
Really yeah, seve dollars a month.

Speaker 1 (01:02:55):
That's it, My god, that's a good deal.

Speaker 3 (01:02:57):
And if you go for twelve months you get a
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Speaker 1 (01:02:59):
Yeah, so you can help us out here. But with
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(01:03:19):
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Speaker 3 (01:03:35):
They haven't done it yet.

Speaker 1 (01:03:36):
Come on, I've done it. Yeah, we're waiting with seriously.
That is something that we have to be worried about
now because there's been a lot of what's considered socially
progressive material that is being removed from Amazon's digital stores.
It hasn't happened to us yet, but we are prepared
for the day that it does well.

Speaker 3 (01:03:52):
Specifically, the what was It Hunted for Sport or Born
to Be Hunted, the Gabeashings in Sydney series that we
did in the Priscilla Quinn of the Desert focus very
specifically going to be targeted.

Speaker 1 (01:04:05):
There's lots of stuff there that they could remove our
books from due to the Trumpy and did Ei Mandate,
So we'll keep your praise and if they do pull
our books digitally, we'll go find somewhere else to put them.

Speaker 3 (01:04:17):
Yeah, it's not like there's a shortage of people on
the internet who want it.

Speaker 1 (01:04:20):
Yeah, we'll find another provider. I'm not too concerned. You
can also grab a we crap an Australia T shirt
from our Red Bubble and Tea public stores, just like
social media type and we crap in Australia into the
search bar of those two sites and you'll see all
of our wonderful designs from all of the artists who've
worked with us. Otherwise, as is our custom, we give
Holly the final words.

Speaker 3 (01:04:39):
It's slightly related to the episode. In two thousand and four,
Gobblel actually performed a comedy skit stage show at the
lad Festival Arts, which you can watch on YouTube. So
if you want to go watch him do a different talent,
go for it.

Speaker 1 (01:04:53):
Go check that out, all right. Otherwise, ladies and gentlemen,
as I always say, please be safe out there, be
kind to each other, and we'll see you all next week.
From all week Crap in Australia until then, Bye for now.

Speaker 3 (01:05:04):
Bye.

Speaker 1 (01:05:19):
The Weird Crap in Australia podcast is produced by Holly
and Matthew Soul for the Modern Meltdown. If you've enjoyed
this podcast, please rate and review on your favorite podcatching app.