Outback: Westerns in Australian Cinema

Studying the role of the Western film genre in Australia's changing political and cultural landscape.

Focusing on the influence of the cinematic Western in Australian cinema history, Outback explores how the American genre has been adapted to the changing Australian social, political, and cultural contexts of its production, including the shifting emphases in the representation of the Indigenous population.

Brian McFarlane emphasizes the ways film can, without didacticism, provide evidence of changing politics and culture. McFarlane explores Australian history with the genre by analyzing such films as Charles Tait's 1906 The Story of the Kelly Gang and Justin Kurzel's 2020 adaptation of Peter Carey's The True History of the Kelly Gang. He further explores other key matters, including the changing attitudes to and representation of Indigenous peoples and of women's roles in Australian Westerns.