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'Numunwari is a gigantic salt-water crocodile - sacred to the Aboriginal community, and the keeper of the secrets of their ancient customs. It lives in Arnhem Land in a remote part of northern Australia. But when it moves downstream terror breaks out.This is the most exciting, fast-paced and challenging novel of wild-life and cultural conflict which you will ever read.It will cause you to reflect deeply on the fate of Aboriginal cultures, and on the contemporary plight of ancient animals.It is an acclaimed fiction based on fact.This is an adventure tale set amidst the mystery of Aboriginal Dreamtime. The crocodile is a symbol of the Aboriginal people's timeless culture threatened with destruction by the white man's ways. For reasons which the novel reveals, Numunwari leaves its remote domain, and swims downstream, asserting its authority in its domain, and transforming the coastal City of Darwin into one of terror.The challenge this represents opens out disturbing and fundamental questions about our relationships with wild life.The book is full of the rough, tough characters, ruthless criminals and opportunist politicians of Northern Australia. It also features the Aboriginal Oondabund, the creature's hereditary guardian. The events are set in the ancient and tropical 'feel' of a mysterious landscape. The novel offers many insights into culture, and conservation.The author is the leading global expert and scientist of crocodile life. He is a globally-recognised and award-winning leader of the conservation and management of wildlife resources. Notably on the concept of conserving wildlife through sustainable use programs.' (Publication summary)
Adaptations
-
form
y
Dark Age
( dir. Arch Nicholson
)
Australia
United States of America (USA)
:
F. G. Film Productions
Film and General Holdings
RKO Pictures
,
1987
Z1865469
1987
single work
film/TV
horror
fantasy
One of only four films directed by Arch Nicholson before his early death from motor neurone disease, Dark Age follows the attempts by wildlife ranger Steve Harris, his girlfriend Cathy Pope, and trackers Oonadabund and Adjaral to capture a seven-metre salt-water crocodile (already responsible for two deaths) and relocate it to a breeding sanctuary. Their attempts are thwarted by hunter John Besser, determined on revenge after surviving an attack by the crocodile. In the course of the hunt, one of the trackers realises that he has a psychic connection to the crocodile.
According to Gary Couzens's online review for The Digital Fix,
'Dark Age is not a kill-the-monster story but a save-the-monster one. In fact, the real monster is a human - as played by Max Phipps, scary enough and just the right side of overplaying the part. The seven-metre croc may kill people (including a young child in a scene many will find upsetting) but it at least is obeying its nature. We do get moderately gory attack scenes (adroitly directed by Nicholson), a not always convincing but well disguised mechanical giant crocodile and a sex scene, but it's as if Nicholson and Borg are "smugglers" (in the Scorsese filmmaking sense), slipping in eco themes into what could have been a more straightforward exploitation horror movie. In addition, the two principal Aboriginals [sic] in the cast are treated with considerable dignity and sensitivity and, thanks to David Gulpilil's input, the Aboriginal rituals seen here are accurate. Also, the female lead has more to do than be decorative and to help demonstrate the hero's heterosexuality - maybe due to a female scriptwriter? - and the relationship between Steve and Cathy does ring true.'
Made as part of a two-picture deal with RKO Pictures (the other half of which was The Lighthorsemen), Dark Age was never released in Australia, thanks to negotiations with an Australian distributor falling through shortly after completion.
Source: The Digital Fix (http://film.thedigitalfix.com/content/id/75041/dark-age.html). (Sighted: 7/6/2012)
Notes
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Dedication: For Bunda-bunda and Agaral
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also braille.
- Arnhem Land, Top End, Northern Territory,
- Darwin, Darwin area, Northern Territory,
