AustLit

Michael, the impoverished nephew of wealthy mining magnate George, is concerned about taking care of a mentally handicapped brother and a half-brother who is Aboriginal. When Michael asks for financial help from his uncle (believing that he should, by rights, have inherited some money from his father), George indicates that he isn't letting go of a penny. In retaliation, Michael decides to kidnap George's granddaughter for ransom. The snatch takes place while the girl's aunt, a Polish nun, is visiting the girl's mother. The aunt gets caught up in the abduction as well, and a relationship develops between the angry young man and the otherworldly religious woman. She only knows that he seems like a ruffian, and she expects to be raped. He just wants her to be respectful towards him. The situation brings on a degree of personal intimacy neither of them has anticipated.