The last confession of alexander pearce A STUDY GUIDE by Kate Raynor
http://www.metromagazine.com.au
http://www.theeducationshop.com.au ‘It seems to me a full belly is prerequisite to all manner of good. Without that, no man will ever know what hunger can make you do.’ – Alexander Pearce
Introduction the fledgling colony and a fellow Irish- important story, and would sit well man. At stake in their uneasy dialogue alongside The First Australians series n 1822, eight men escaped from the is nothing less than the soul of man. recently screened on SBS. most isolated and brutal prison on Utilizing the stunning and foreboding Iearth, Sarah Island in Van Diemen’s landscape of south-west Tasmania, The It could also work in the context of Land. Only one man survived and his Last Confession of Alexander Pearce Philosophy or Religious Studies, as it tale of betrayal, murder and cannibal- draws a visceral and compelling picture poses profound questions about the ism shocked the British establishment of the savagery and barbarism at the nature of good and evil, and redemp- to the core. The Last Confession of heart of the colony. It is an example of tion. It provides two intriguing character Alexander Pearce follows the final days Australian filmmaking at its very best. studies (Pearce and Conolly) and could of this man, Irish convict Alexander be used in English (film as text); and,
Pearce, as he awaits execution. The Curriculum Links with the eloquence of its visual storytell- SCREEN EDUCATION year is 1824 and the British penal ing, it also has relevance to Film/Media colony of Van Diemen’s Land is little This film should be compulsory view- Studies. Teachers are advised to view more than a living hell. Chained to a ing for every middle years and senior the film carefully before screening it for wall in the darkness of a cell under secondary Australian History student their classes: this is very dark and dis- Hobart Town Gaol, Pearce is visited in the country. It is a brilliant piece turbing material, dealing with extremely by Father Conolly, the parish priest of of filmmaking on an exceptional and violent aspects of Australian history. But 2 112 convicts escaped, of whom sixty- two perished and nine were murdered by their fellow convicts. The remaining forty-one were all eventually recap- tured, four of them after spending some time in South America. given the gruesome nature of the tale, it is almost guaranteed to engage and in- Altogether about 1200 men and trigue even the most apathetic student! women were sentenced or sent to Sarah Island. Most of them had com- Backgound Briefing mitted further offences while serving their original sentences; others came Van Diemen’s Land as ‘remittance men’, skilled tradesmen who worked at the Settlement in ex- Van Diemen’s Land was named by change for remission of their sentence. Dutchman Abel Tasman, the first Euro- They were supervised by military pean to explore Tasmania. The name detachments of several regiments (up was given in honour of Anthony van to ninety soldiers at one time), and by Diemen, Governor-General of the Dutch a variety of civilian officers, supervi- East Indies, who had sent Tasman on sors and constables, many of whom his voyage of discovery in 1642. Sarah Island were ex-convicts. Ships’ crews were regular visitors, and tradesmen were In 1803, the island was colonized by Sarah Island (sometimes known as co-opted and often bribed to work the British as a penal colony and was Settlement Island) lies in the far south- at the Settlement. There were also regarded as part of New South Wales. west corner of Macquarie Harbour, women and children: female convicts In 1824, Van Diemen’s Land became on the west coast of Tasmania, within working as servants; wives of soldiers a colony in its own right. In 1856 the sight of the Gordon River. This isolated and officials; and wives and children of colony was granted responsible self- island of six hectares (fifteen acres) convicts. At the Muster in 1828 there government, with its own representa- was a penal settlement between 1822 were 531 people on Sarah Island, in- tive parliament, and the name of the and 1833, established before the more cluding about 380 convicts, ninety-five island was changed to Tasmania. well-known Port Arthur, as a place of military, fourteen women and twenty- ‘secondary’ punishment, an attempt to seven children. From the 1830s to the abolition of control the uncontrollable. Its convicts penal transportation in 1853, Van laboured under the harshest condi- Over time Sarah Island gained a Diemen’s Land was the primary penal tions in nearby rainforest, felling Huon reputation as a place of unspeakable colony in Australia. Following the pines for boat building. Of all the horrors – a living hell. Convicts were suspension of transportation to New possible sites for a penal settlement, routinely flogged, tortured, brutalized,
South Wales, all transported convicts Macquarie Harbour was the most dehumanized, starved and degraded. SCREEN EDUCATION were sent to the island. In total, some windswept and barren, but it was also And then, of course, there were the 75,000 convicts were transported to the most secure. Any convict trying to legendary exploits of Alexander Van Diemen’s Land, or about forty per escape Sarah Island had not only to Pearce, the Cannibal Convict … cent of all convicts sent to Australia. get across the harbour but to try and The last penal settlement in Tasmania hack his way through the impenetrable at Port Arthur finally closed in 1877. rainforests of the west coast. In all, 3 A Select History Timeline of Van Diemen’s Land/Tasmania
1642 Tasmania discovered by Europeans – Abel Tasman made landfall on the 1825 Order-in-Council separated Van Diemen’s Land from New South Wales Heemskirk and Zeehan on 24 November 1642. 14 June. Legislative and Executive Councils were established in Van Diemen’s Land. 1700 – 1799 1830 Governor Arthur established the penal settlement of Port Arthur on the 1772 French navigator Marion du Fresne anchored his ships Mascarin and Tasman Peninsula. Tasmania’s ‘Black Line’ – Governor Arthur attempt- Castries in Frederic Hendric Bay, now known as Marion Bay. ed to force Aboriginal people onto the Tasman Peninsula. 1773 Furneaux visited Adventure Bay. 1831 Emigration Commissioners established in London to promote emigration to Australian colonies. 1777 Captain James Cook visited Adventure Bay on his third and last voyage. 1833 Civilian juries began to be used for certain criminal trials. 1789 Cox visited Adventure Bay. 1835 George Robinson appointed Protector of the Aboriginal people, who 1788 Captain William Bligh visited Adventure Bay. have been removed to Flinders Island in Bass Strait. The Anti- 1792 Admiral Bruny D’Entrecasteaux, directed by National Assembly to Transportation League founded in Sydney. search for the missing explorer La Pérouse, anchored the Esperance 1837 Queen Victoria crowned. Church Act in Van Diemen’s Land. and Recherche at Recherche Bay. He entered the channel prior to departure for New Caledonia. 1840 Military juries for criminal trials abolished. Order-in-Council ended transportation of convicts 22 May 1840 (UK). 1793 D’Entrecasteaux returned to the channel and surveyed Norfolk Bay and the upper reaches of the Derwent. Charts made by D’Entrecasteaux 1846 Aboriginal people on Flinders Island in Bass Strait petitioned Queen were unknown to the British who later duplicated much of the work. Victoria. 1794 Lieutenant John Hayes reached Storm Bay and explored Derwent. 1847 Anti-transportation movement began in Van Diemen’s Land. 1798 Matthew Flinders and George Bass proved Van Diemen’s Land is an 1850 – 1899 island in the Norfolk. 1850 South Australia, Van Diemen’s Land and Victoria gained two-thirds 1800 – 1849 elected legislatures. 1802 Commander Nicholas Baudin sighted De Witt Island; Lieutenant Charles 1851 Victoria separated from New South Wales. Robbins landed on King Island and proclaimed Van Diemen’s Land a British possession. 1853 Last convicts transported to Van Diemen’s Land. 1803 The Albion, under the command of Captain Ebor Bunker, reached 1855 Constitution Act 1855 (Tas) – parliamentary self-government. Order-in- Risdon Cove ahead of the Lady Nelson on 12 September 1803, with Council changed the island’s name to Tasmania, 21 July 1855 (UK). Lieutenant John Bowen to establish the settlement. James Meehan arrived to conduct the first surveys. 1856 Responsible government in South Australia and Tasmania. 1804 David Collins established a convict settlement at Hobart on the Derwent 1869 Tasmania and Victoria were connected by telegraph. River in Van Diemen’s Land; William Paterson established a second set- 1870 British troops were withdrawn from the Australian colonies; each tlement in Van Diemen’s Land, named George Town, on the Tamar River. colony established its own forces. 1810 Governor Lachlan Macquarie took office and Ellis Bent became the 1896 Tasmania and Victoria passed Federation Enabling Acts. Colony’s third deputy judge advocate. 1898 People in Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia voted ‘yes’ in the 1811 Governor Macquarie inspected Van Diemen’s Land, and set out the referendum for Federation. town design for Hobart. 1899 Second referendums on the Australian Constitution succeeded in New 1814 The Charter of Justice 2 April 1814 (UK) established law and order in South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania and South Australia. Se- Van Diemen’s Land. cret Premiers’ conference held in Melbourne. Boer War began in South 1824 George Arthur became Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen’s Land; Sir Africa; colonial troops embarked to support British forces. John Pedder became Chief Justice of Van Diemen’s Land.
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Discussion Points & their students – not to work through set number of tasks. NB: Throughout Activities the guide systematically. Most of the the guide, a series of deliberately con-
activities target literacy outcomes: troversial statements are presented SCREEN EDUCATION The main aim of this guide is to speaking and listening, reading and as quotes. These can be used in a present a wide variety of teaching writing. There are also activities that number of ways: as the focus for dis- and learning opportunities based on address film analysis, ICT and crea- cussion, debate or oral presentations; the film, ranging in sophistication and tive thinking. Teachers may choose and as a direction for further research, complexity. Teachers are encouraged to present a selection of appropriate analysis or creative writing tasks. to pick and choose tasks that suit activities as a matrix, with students the particular interests and abilities of given the responsibility to complete a 4 The Irish refuse to believe Pearce’s confes- Conolly: Man of God in a sion? (It was inconceivable that a Godless Place ‘We’re Irish, the both of us: we were European, even an Irishman, could born hungry.’ resort to such savagery, and the ‘Let the wicked forsake his ways, the – Father Conolly to Alexander Pearce Magistrate refused to believe that unrighteous man his thoughts re- Pearce murdered, butchered and turn unto the Lord and he shall have • Make a list outlining the paral- devoured his fellow escapees: mercy.’ – Isaiah 55:7 lels between Pearce and Conolly. ‘He’s a thief, he’s a forger, a recal- (For instance: both men were Irish citrant Irish, as ungovernable as all ‘The ignominious results of disobedi- Catholic; they were born six miles of them. But he’s still a subject of ence to law and humanity cannot be apart; they both spoke Gaelic …) the King and I didn’t credit him as ignored; blood must atone blood, • Write character profiles of the two being a savage’.) society demands it. Pearce’s crimes men, trying to account for the fac- • What is the attitude of the English are confirmed and systemic. They
tors that resulted in such different officer at Lieutenant Governor cannot be met with leniency, indeed SCREEN EDUCATION outcomes for them. Sorrell’s dinner towards the Irish? they must be pursued with vengeance, • What does it mean to describe the What can you find out about the made good with his death. But these Irish at Van Diemen’s Land as ‘the history of this antipathy and preju- dreadful sufferings I have witnessed sons of famine and ferment’? dice? often drive desperate men to horrific • Why did Magistrate Knopwood acts.’ – Father Conolly 5 • What breeds such savagery? This is a question the film returns to over and over again. Conolly says that Pearce withstood some 2000 lashes during his time on Sarah Island – more than any man before or since: ‘punishment was heaped upon punishment … I imagine what little sense he had deserted him’. Discuss the following statement:
If Alexander Pearce was a mon- ster, it was the brutal system that reigned in the penal colony that created him. And it is the admin- istrators of that punitive regime who must bear some of the blame and responsibility for the crimes he committed. The film’s true horror lies ultimately not in the depraved actions of the men on the run, but in the systemic cruelty and sense- less barbarism of the convict life they fled from.
• Discuss Pearce’s comment: ‘You try to kill a man, he’ll either die • ‘There is a sense in which this • Imagine Father Conolly could visit or put up a fight. That’s how it is. film is more interested in Father a Tasmanian prison in 2008. Would That’s what happened’. How does Conolly’s struggle with Pearce’s he be surprised by what he sees? this explain his actions? horrific crimes, than it is with • Using the internet and resources in • Could you make an argument that Pearce himself’. Discuss. your school library, what can you Pearce was simply responding • In what ways might Conolly’s find out about Conolly’s life after to the harsh realities of kill or be faith in God have been tested by Pearce’s execution? (Check out killed, eat or be eaten? Pearce’s confession? resources listed at the end of this • How do you feel about Pearce • What evidence is there in the film guide for starting points.) after watching this film? Do you that Conolly had an attitude of think he was a monster? Who do compassion towards Pearce? Do Pearce: A Euorpean you think can stand in judgement you think their shared national Savage of his actions? Do you agree with identity might have played a part in the film’s producer, Nial Fulton, this? Consider his closing state- ‘He [Pearce] is a beast made mad by that Pearce ‘never moves beyond ment ‘This was just a man, pos- beatings … And he will die here in a our empathy’ (film press kit)? sibly evil, more likely a belligerent strange land, alone, caged, having • What price did Pearce pay for thief, broken and whipped to his learned nothing but pain, piss, shit, his sins? Encourage students to extremity’. blood and death.’ – Father Conolly explore this idea from a number of • ‘Father Conolly’s is a modern no- angles. Obviously he lost his life, tion of good and evil, not as abso- ‘I was a better man before here, before but there are other issues: look at lute categories, but as behavioural this.’ – Alexander Pearce his speech about being haunted responses to circumstances.’ by Greenhill – ‘he watches me Discuss. • What does Conolly mean when he from the other side’ – for an insight • Is there a difference between a describes Pearce as ‘The son of into his darkly troubled mind; also
crime and a sin? paupers, belting his head against consider his terrible murder and SCREEN EDUCATION • In the Catholic religion, genuine life from the start’? defilement of Thomas Cox. Cuth- confession and repentance bring • Alexander Pearce was sentenced bertson says of Pearce after his redemption, no matter the scale to seven years in the penal colony return to Sarah Island: ‘In his mind of the sin. Do you believe certain for the theft of six pairs of shoes. he was mad, a burnt out husk’. crimes/sins are unforgiveable? Conduct some research into the Do you think Pearce’s experiences Is any man beyond redemption? types of crimes that convicts were cost him his sanity? What is the act of contrition? transported for. • The film’s director, Michael James 6 Rowland, says that Pearce’s story he turn his back on him? Consider • The film’s producer, Nial Fulton, frames ‘a set of timeless moral Pearce’s comment: ‘I would have describes Pearce as ‘the elemental dilemmas’ (film press kit). Outline counted a spear in my back a human animal ... humanity stripped these dilemmas. blessing … I waited, but they kept back to its bleak essence’ (film • The horror of Pearce’s final crime is hidden’. press kit). What do you think he that he killed Cox only eight days • What prevented Pearce from hang- means by this? out from Sarah Island, while they ing himself? (Suicide is considered • The film’s director, Michael James still had provisions: he butch- a mortal sin in Catholicism.) Rowland, notes that Pearce’s ered the young man while he had • Pearce was incarcerated at Hobart infamous exploits were the source cheese and bread in his pockets. Town Gaol for six months before of inspiration for Marcus Clarke’s How can you account for his ac- his execution. Write an account of For The Term of His Natural Life tions? the conditions he endured. and Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney • ‘Today, Pearce would be diag- • Pearce was executed on 19 July Todd, as well as ‘a dozen other nosed with post-traumatic stress 1824 and under orders of Chief works of fact and fiction in be- disorder.’ Discuss. Justice Pedder, his body was dis- tween’ (film press kit). Conduct • ‘Pearce’s ultimate madness attests sected for science. His skull can your own research in order to to his basic humanity and offers a be seen on display at the Depart- compile a list of works focusing on
glimmer of hope for his redemp- ment of Archaeology and Anthro- or inspired by Pearce. SCREEN EDUCATION tion.’ Discuss. pology, University of Pennslyvania. • Pearce has been the subject of at • What does it mean to be de- Can you find out more about the least two songs: Weddings, Par- praved? What does it mean to be experiments that were performed ties, Anything’s ‘A Tale They Won’t civilized? on Pearce’s body and how it Believe’; and The Drones’ ‘Words • Explore the scene in which Pearce ended up in America? What is From The Executioner to Alexan- confronts the Aborigine. Why does phrenology? der Pearce’. Analyse the lyrics to 7 in distilling unlawful acts and yet here in Van Diemen’s Land he took succour amongst some of the most despicable people in the universe: a perverse gen- eration addicted to adultery, blasphemy, malice, idleness, dishonesty and The Drones’ song printed below. drunkenness, Pearce was a recalcitrant See if you can bring the songs in among reprobates.’ – Father Conolly to play to the class. Thomas Bodenham – second to be Tell me how are you coping murdered Now that it’s time to go James Little Brown – returned to Can you see the chariots Sarah Island to die Swinging low Alexander Dalton – convict flogger Up over the Huon pine and out to Robert Greenhill – the navigator the snow William Kennelly – returned to Sarah How much treachery Island to die Can you possibly know John Mather – Irish man with flint Well your chaplain loves these Matthew Travers – butcher Death row boys Alexander Pearce – cannibal convict, More than he loves me More than he loves me top of the foodchain! As though I have the choice He abandons you to prayer You pour in from the trees Turns so he won’t see • Write a back story for one of You say an Irish boy should never You standing alone Pearce’s seven companions, Wear the hood As you were all along explaining how they came to be But I wear it for you To descend fear first transported. And you are here for me Abscond from the earth • How can you explain Greenhill’s Tell me how are you coping Alone tenderness towards Travers after Now that it’s time to leave We were meant to meet he was bitten by the snake? How can you burn more Your exile is reached • Write and perform a dialogue You’ve been burning for years You’re home. between Greenhill and Dalton, They assumed when you fled with Greenhill making his case for You were good as dead The Damned of Hobart Dalton to be sacrificed for the sake Was their indifference crueller Town: Desperate Men of the other men’s survival, and Than your nothing to eat Driven To Horrific Acts Dalton rebutting him. How much of the venom • ‘The penal colony at Van Diemen’s Can a tiger snake eat ‘On Sarah Island we were animals Land was a living hell.’ Discuss.
There are no whores in heaven beaten and screwed to turn on each • Write an account of ‘A Day in the SCREEN EDUCATION No boys at your feet other. They talked about redemption, Life of a Convict at Sarah Island’. And tell me how do we taste but on Sarah Island all we knew was • Why was Sarah Island the most It’s a curious place, a mountain cruel suffering.’ – Alexander Pearce notorious and feared prison in the To resort to customs of the sea colony? Well your chaplain loves your ‘This man I prepare for the gallows • Can you find out anything about Death row boys came here depraved, already proficient Davis and Churton, the men 8 Pearce fell in with after he reached Jericho and recovered (physically) from his ordeal?
Cannibalism: Better Him The Last Confession of Alexander Than Me? Pearce credits strips of leather and boiled ferns.) Year of Production: 2008 • Is there a limit beyond which we ‘Jesus man, my hunger’s eating us.’ are no longer human? – Kennelly Duration: 58 minutes 15 seconds • How can you explain the strength Director/Writer: Michael James Rowland of the human urge to survive at all ‘Sentiment ain’t so damn simple if all costs? set to perish.’ – Greenhill Producer/Writer: Nial Fulton • Was death their only alternative? • Discuss the following exchange: Executive Producer: Chris Hilton ‘Our hunger was back and brotherly Conolly: ‘And what thought did love was gone.’ – Alexander Pearce Line Producer: Fiona McConaghy you have of provisions?’ Pearce: ‘None ... I had the thought that we Director of Photography: Martin McGrath • Why is it considered worse to eat might forage, but God never put a man than to kill him? Is cannibal- Editor: Suresh Ayyar any food down there’. ism less abhorrent if the victim is • What do you make of Pearce’s Production Designer: Felicity Abbott already dead? statement to Conolly: ‘It was all • Are there any circumstances in Costume Designer: Xanthe Heubel Greenhill’s plan from tit to arse’? which you think it might be ac- • Make a list of all the monstrous Composer: Roger Mason ceptable to eat another human things we see in this film. being? Is there any justification for Sound Designer: James Currie • ‘Cannibalism challenges our con- Pearce’s crimes? cepts of the limits of acceptable • ‘Understanding is not the same as Sound Designer: Tom Heuzenroeder human behaviour.’ Discuss. excusing’. Discuss the distinction. CAST • What is the Catholic sacrament of • Write an account of the order in holy communion if not a symbolic which the men were dispatched, Phillip Conolly – Adrian Dunbar act of cannibalism? Consider the and the circumstances behind Alexander Pearce – Ciaran McMenamin words that accompany the act: each death. Why was Alexander In the night in which he was be-
Dalton the first to be eaten? (He Robert Knopwood – Chris Haywood trayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, SCREEN EDUCATION had flogged all of the other men at Robert Greenhill – Dan Wyllie and gave thanks; broke it, and gave Sarah Island.) Who nominated the it to his disciples, saying: Take and first victim? (Greenhill) John Mather – Don Hany eat; this is my body given for you. • What sorts of things did the men Do this for the remembrance of Matthew Travers – Bob Franklin try to eat to cope with their ter- me. Again, after supper, he took rible hunger? (For example, boiled John Cuthbertson – Martin Jacobs the cup, gave thanks, and gave 9 it for all to drink, saying: This cup (We are told it took three months. feel he is able to offer to Pearce? is the new covenant in my blood, Encourage students to take de- How does Conolly rebut the shed for you and for all people for tailed notes during the screening. people who argue Pearce does not the forgiveness of sin. Do this for For instance, in Pearce’s narration deserve his attention and is evil the remembrance of me. to Conolly we learn lots of impor- beyond redemption? Discuss. tant details: ‘On the fourth day we • Describe the tone of the crowd • At the Governor’s dinner, a man ran out of food; on the eight day watching Pearce’s hanging. How mentions Swift’s satire about an we came to the side of a large does it shift over the course of this island where people are cultivated mountain …’) sequence? for food. Can you track this down? • Draw a picture of the men in the • How can you account for Magis- What was Swift satirizing? landscape and write an account of trate Knopwood’s lack of solemnity • Re-write the terrible story of your picture: what aspects of the at Pearce’s execution? (He says Pearce and his fellow escapees, experience have you chosen to casually, ‘It’s a good crowd’ and casting yourself and seven of your focus on and how have you repre- ‘Well, there’s an end to that’, all the classmates. sented these visually? while chomping on an apple. At • Using the history timeline included the beginning of the film he says, The Land and Their in this guide, select one key event ‘Hanging will settle it’.) Journey in the history of Van Diemen’s • ‘White Australia’s beginnings lie Land/Tasmania to research in steeped in violence; nothing much ‘Beyond this outpost lies a barren greater depth. Present your work has changed.’ Discuss. wilderness which no man has ever to the class. made safe passage through. Those The Film who have tried have perished from A Catholic Pageant to the starvation or succumbed colourfully Gallows: The Execution • What does it mean to describe this to the savage’s spear. If you are wilful, film as a ‘factual drama’? What you will be whittled down by the lash.’ ‘I do it [minister to Pearce at his ex- features might such a genre have? – Lieutenant Cuthbertson ecution] for fear of what we all might • What attitude to history does the become, here, at the end of the world.’ film embody? ‘A man is small out there. It cruels – Father Conolly • ‘While The Last Confession of you.’ – Alexander Pearce Alexander Pearce was made for • What is ‘corpus delicti’? (Present television, in every way it is a cin- • Why was it considered inconceiv- the corpse: the capital charge of ematic triumph.’ Discuss. able that anyone could escape murder required a body.) • Discuss the symbolism of our first from Sarah Island? • Did Pearce deserve to be hung? glimpse of Pearce. (He is in dark- • Draw a map of Van Diemen’s Land, Mount a class debate. ness, in chains, with his back to locating Sarah Island, Macquarie • We don’t hear Father Conolly’s the priest.) Harbour, the settlement of Jericho words on the gallows. Write the • Discuss the filmmaker’s stylistic and other significant places. speech you think he might have choices in the shooting of the first • What skills might the Aboriginal made at this point. murder. (The sequence is shot tribes of this region have had that • Transcribe and analyse Father using a night vision camera and enabled them to survive in such an Conolly’s speech at Lieutenant graded black and white, with the inhospitable terrain? Governor Sorrell’s dining table: soundtrack dominated by the sick- • What can you find out about consider statements such as ‘It’s ening thud of the axe and Kennelly the Aboriginal tribes whose land inhuman from start to finish and shouting the awful question, ‘What Pearce journeyed through? I’m sickened by it’. have you done man?’) • Can you find out the Aboriginal • There is some ambiguity at the end • Discuss the film’s colour palette. name for Sarah Island? (Langerrar- of the film as to whether Pearce • How would you describe the film- eroune) is a willing recipient of the Eucha- maker’s attitude towards Pearce? • What does Pearce mean when he rist. Discuss the issue of Pearce’s • The only time we actually see says, ‘This is a hollow land … the repentance. Do you believe his Pearce eating one of the victims is place was empty’? confession constitutes an authen- towards the end, when he himself
• Describe the landscape the men tic quest for God’s forgiveness or murders Greenhill. Why might the SCREEN EDUCATION travel through. In what ways might does Pearce feel he is damned for filmmakers have chosen to present it differ from Pearce’s homeland? his sins? Do you believe that in the material in this way? How • Make an imaginary map of the committing such a heinous crime, does it work to build tension and journey from Sarah Island. How far Pearce must inevitably have relin- create a sense of Pearce’s dreadful do you think they travelled? quished his faith? journey beyond the limits of human • Make a timeline of their journey. • What solace does Father Conolly propriety? How do we feel about 10 Pearce at this point in the film? lished in a daily newspaper. Tasmanian Historical Studies, Uni- • How much of the film is told in • Write a fifty-word synopsis of the versity of Tasmania, Hobart, 2005. Pearce’s own words? What other film to be published in a television Nick Bleszynski, Bloodlust: The Un- perspectives are we offered on the guide. savoury Tale of Alexander Pearce, events? Do you believe Pearce’s • Who is the audience for this film? The Convict Cannibal, Random confession, his version of what Would it connect strongly with an House, 2008. took place, how and why? international audience? James Boyce, Van Diemen’s Land: A • As Pearce is hung, his feet twitch- • Consider the film’s title. Make a list History, Black Inc, 2008. ing pitifully, we hear the sound of other possible titles. For this ac- Ian Brand, Sarah Island: An Account of a baby crying in the distance. tivity, encourage students to explore of the Penal Settlements of Sarah Discuss this aesthetic choice. their notes from the screening. (For Island, Tasmania From 1822–1833 • The company around Lieuten- example: ‘A Murderous Feast’, ‘The and 1846–1847, Regal Publica- ant Governor Sorrel’s dining table Damned of Hobart Town’, etc.) tions, 1984. toast ‘progress’. What do you • Imagine you had an opportunity to Richard Butler, The Men That God think they mean by this? Do you interview the film’s director, Michael Forgot, Richard Butler, Richmond, think Conolly’s understanding of James Rowland. Compile a list of 1989. progress might be different to the ten questions you would like to put Marcus Clarke, For the Term of His others at this dinner? to him, considering issues such as Natural Life, Harper Collins, 2003 • In his closing speech, Conolly says his motivation and purpose in mak- (originally published between 1870 ‘The world is always easier under- ing this particular film. and 1872). stood held at a distance with tales • Rowland sees Pearce’s story as Paul Collins, Hell’s Gates: The Terrible of monsters and the like. This is ‘seminally Australian’ (film press Journey of Alexander Pearce, Van how Alexander is remembered, not kit). What do you think he means by Diemen’s Land Cannibal, Hardie as a man’. Use this statement to un- this? Grant, 2004. pack the intention behind this film. • What steps might the film’s pro- Richard Davey, The Sarah Island • The Last Confession of Alexander ducers and writers have taken in Conspiracies, The Round Earth Pearce was shot on location in researching this story? Company, 2002. and around the Franklin/Gordon • Consult the list of credits at the Richard Flanagan, Gould’s Book of Wild Rivers National Park in the end of this guide. Choose one Fish: A Novel in Twelve Fish, Pan central highlands of Tasmania. The role and write an outline of this Macmillan, Sydney, 2002. film’s press kit describes this ter- person’s responsibilities during the Josephine Flood, The Original Aus- rain as ‘a spectacular wilderness production of the film. tralians: Story of the Aboriginal encompassing high alpine forests, • The Last Confession of Alexander People, Allen & Unwin, Crows vertical scrub, snow capped basalt Pearce is a brilliant example of Nest, 2006. mountains, booming waterfalls, filmmaking as an ensemble art, P. Hilton and S. Hood, Caught in the leech infested rainforests and roll- with every key department func- Act: Unusual Offences of Port ing button-grass plains the colour tioning at an outstanding level to Arthur Convicts, Port Arthur His- of burnt umber’. What difficulties contribute to the excellence of toric Site Management Authority, might the filmmakers have encoun- the production as a whole. Con- 2002. tered in shooting their film in this sider the score, for instance. What Warwick Hirst, Great Escapes by Con- landscape? discussions might the producer, victs in Colonial Australia, Kanga- • Imagine you are the film’s producer, director and composer have had roo Press, Sydney, 1999. seeking funding for this project. concerning the musical accompa- Robert Hughes, The Fatal Shore: The Write an outline of your intentions, niment for the film? Screen a sec- Epic of Australia’s Founding, Harvill the purpose and value of the film. tion with the sound down or with Press, 1987. • This film benefitted from the new your own alternate soundtrack to Hans Julen, Penal Settlement of Producer Tax Offset. How does this reinforce for students how vital the Macquarie Harbour 1822–1833: system work to impact on a film’s sound is to the effect of particular An Outline of its History, Regal budget? How do filmmakers qualify sequences. Choose one sequence Publications, 1988. for this scheme? In what ways does and write a detailed account of Matthew Kneale, English Passengers: it differ from the discontinued 10BA how the soundtrack functions. A Novel, Penguin, Harmondsworth,
scheme? 2000. SCREEN EDUCATION • Design a poster to promote this film. Resources Christopher Koch, Out of Ireland, Ran- Annotate your design choices, font, dom House, 1999. colour scheme, layout, etc. How Books Thomas J. Lampriere, The Penal Set- would you select (a) representative tlements of Early Van Diemen’s image/s? Alison Alexander (ed.), The Companion Land, Royal Society of Tasmania, • Write a review of the film to be pub- to Tasmanian History, Centre for Hobart, 1954. 11 Iain Lawrence, The Convicts, Random Francis Barker, Peter Hulme and Convict History House, 2005. Margaret Iversen (eds), Cannibalism David Levell, Tour To Hell: Convict and the Colonial World, Cambridge Van Diemen’s Land Australia’s Great Escape Myths, University Press, Cambridge, New http://www.uppercanadahistory.ca/ University of Queensland Press, St York, 1998. tt/tt11.html Lucia, 2008. Nathan Constantine, A History of Can- Port Arthur Historic Site James Porter, The Travails of Jimmy nibalism: From Ancient Cultures http://www.portarthur.org.au Porter, The Round Earth Company, to Survival Stories and Modern Includes information about relevant 2003. Psychopaths, Arcturus, 2006. publications N.J.B. Plomley (ed.), Friendly Mission: Daniel Diehl and Mark Donnelly, Eat Thy Convicts to Australia The Tasmanian Journals and Pa- Neighbour: A History of Cannibal- http://members.iinet.net. pers of George Augustus Robinson ism, The History Press, 2006. au/~perthdps/ convicts/res-12.html 1829–1834, Quintus Publishing, Laurence R. Goldman (ed.), The An- Convict Stats and Facts – contains Hobart, 2008 (first published 1966). thropology of Cannibalism, Bergin & project activity suggestions N.J.B. Plomley (ed.), Weep in Silence: Garvey, London, 1999. http://www.jaconline.com.au/ A History of the Flinders Island Paul Raffaele, Among the Cannibals: downloads/sose/2004-07-05 Aboriginal Settlement, Blubber- Adventures on the Trail of Man’s -convict.pdf head Press, Hobart, 1987. Darkest Ritual, Smithsonian Books, Convict Narratives N.J.B. Plomley, The Baudin Expedi- New York, 2008. http://iccs.arts.utas.edu.au/ tion and the Tasmanian Aborigines, Peggy Reeves Sanday, Divine Hunger: narratives/davisintro.html 1802, Blubberhead Press, Hobart, Cannibalism as a Cultural System, The Companion to Tasmanian History 1983. Cambridge University Press, New http://www.utas.edu.au/library/ L.L. Robson, A History of Tasmania: York, 1986. companion_to_tasmanian_ Volume 1 – Van Diemen’s Land Richard L. Sartore, Humans Eating history/L/Langerrareroune.htm from the Earliest Times to 1855, Humans: The Dark Shadow of Punishment at Macquarie Harbour Oxford University Press, Mel- Cannibalism, Cross Cultural Publi- Penal Settlement bourne, 1983. cations, Notre Dame, 1994. http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/file. L.L. Robson, A History of Tasmania: Reay Tannahill, Flesh and Blood: A aspx?id=6859 Volume 2 – Colony and State from History of the Cannibal Complex, Women of Macquarie Harbour Penal 1856 to the 1980s, Oxford Univer- Abacus, London, 1996. Settlement sity Press, Melbourne, 1991. Priscilla L. Walton, Our Cannibals, http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/file. Lyndall Ryan, The Aboriginal Tasma- Ourselves, University of Illinois aspx?id=7103 nians, University of Queensland Press, Urbana, 2004. Macquarie Harbour Penal Station Press, St Lucia, 1981. http://soer.justice.tas.gov.au/2003/ Patsy Adam Smith and Joan Wood- Websites casestudy/10/index.php berry, Historic Tasmania Sketch- Convict History book, Rigby, 1977. The Film http://www.sydney-australia.biz/ Dan Sprod, Alexander Pearce of Mac- history/convict.html quarie Harbour: Convict, Bush- The Official Film Website Tasmania: Rich in Convict History ranger, Cannibal, Cat and Fiddle http://www.thelastconfession.com http://www.clickforaustralia.com/ Press, Hobart, 1977. Internet Movie Database (IMDb) tasmania_convict_history.htm Paul Taylor, Australian Ripping Yarns: (Credits Listing) Cannibal Convicts, Macabre Mur- http://www.imdb.com/title/ Sarah Island ders, Wanton Women and Living tt1099204 Legends, Five Mile Press, South Essential Media & Entertainment (Pro- Sarah Island Yarra, 2004. duction Company) http://www.roundearth.com.au/ John West, A History of Tasmania, http://www.essential-media.com sarah.htm Henry Dowling, Launceston, 1852. Facebook (Film fansite) Life At Sarah Island 1823–1825 http://www.new.facebook.com/ http://members.trump.net.au/ Cannibalism pages/The-Last-Confession-of-Alex ahvem/Family/Wright/Life_at_ anderPearce/10254372925?ref=nf Sarah_Island.html
William Arens, The Man-Eating Myth: Wikipedia (Background, Credits) Sarah Island SCREEN EDUCATION Anthropology & Anthropophagy, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_ http://www.discovertasmania.com/ Oxford University Press, New York, Last_Confession_of_Alexander_ about_tasmania/our_islands/sarah 1979. Pearce _island Hans Askenasy, Cannibalism: From Freebase (Background, Credits) Sacrifice to Survival, Prometheus, http://www.freebase.com/view/ 1994. authority/imdb/title/tt1099204 12 Alexander Pearce newsletter.php?ACT=story&issue= http://www.utas.edu.au/library/ 86&story=6 companion_to_tasmanian_ Alexander Pearce Paul Collins, ‘A Journey Through Hell’s history/C/Phillip%20Conolly.htm http://nationaltreasures.nla.gov.au/ Gate’, The Age,
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