Movie Mahal

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This shimmering jewel of a postcolonial Australian Western set in the outback in 1897 is one to savour. Written and directed by newcomer Roderick MacKay, The Furnace unearths a repressed history untold, the story of ‘Ghan’ cameleers – Sikh and Muslim men from Afghanistan, Persia and India who migrated to Australia to eke out a living in the late 1880s. Subjected to a colonial racism, the cameleers forge an intimate connection with the native Aboriginal community, both sets of people recognising their mutual discrimination and collective status as outsiders. The talented Ahmed Malik plays Hanif, an Afghani cameleer who embarks on a journey with Mal, a volatile bushranger and ex-con (the brilliantly underrated David Wenham) who is in the possession of stolen Crown gold. At first, Hanif and Mal don’t like each other very much but over time a delicate understanding emerges centred on death, friendship and escape. Structured as a road movie, Hanif and Mal’s arduous journey provides MacKay with a vehicle to explore the equation between nation building, race and whiteness. In pursuit is a gang of gold squad officers led by a violently sadistic trooper who repeatedly gaslights the cowardly demeanour of his terrified son. With the migratory dimension that is augmented by the contemporary politics of race, belonging and nationality, MacKay brings an innovative new spin on the frayed conventions of the Western genre.