Let's be realistic.

Admirable film.

A Major Disappointment

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

As an Australian, I fully acknowledge and support the content of this hard-to-watch documentary. This is not 'news' to anyone in Australia who watches our shameful history regarding indigenous peoples.John Pilger is a highly acclaimed award winning Australian journalist who throughout his lifetime has contributed to humanity by calling the truth - http://johnpilger.com/biography. One reviewer criticizes him for not having lived in Australia for decades. The truth is the truth, no matter where you live in our global village. I would like to correct some content in one of the reviews here, which is otherwise a very thoughtful and intelligent review. 'The first thing shown to you is a 70's era anchorman talking about the plan of sitting ministers to simply round up people for no reason, and move them away, then taint their drinking water to sterilize them in a "Humane" manner'. This man was not an anchorman. At that time, he was by far the richest 'self-made' man in Australia. His name is Lang Hancock, a Western Australian iron-ore mining magnate (1909-1992). His daughter, Gina Reinhart (1954-present), is heir to his fortune and is one of the four richest women in the world. As an Australian I am utterly ashamed and disgusted by Hancock's sickening view and he did not speak back then for all Australians, although many Australians still wish the 'aboriginal problem' would 'just go away'! Another reviewer suggests that Pilger's report is biased and one-sided. Of course, we do not need to 'fix what is not broken' so Pilger's film explores the underbelly of racism and genocide...... the 'positive' things can readily be found if one cares to look. Journalists such as Pilger shine the light in the darkest of places across the world - where most don't dare go. He is not frightened by power and people often, if indeed they even bother to access such documentaries, feel very uncomfortable and challenged about their own view of our world. This then, surely, is a vehicle for inspection and change.

Deceptive journalism at its best. A thoroughly one sided and repetitive film. John Pilger is a self righteous git who edits facts, interviews and footage to suit his point of view. Cheap tricks like adding foreboding music and dark shaky film effects are used to accompany many shots featuring the Australian army, police, government and other opposing parties. Token attempts to appear unbiased by allowing people to explain their actions regarding the aboriginal people are few and often cut short. Yes the aboriginal people have suffered many injustices over the years and more needs to be done, but Pilger paints a picture of a demonic race of white Australians mercilessly eradicating the entirely innocent indigenous population. The whole film is focused on blame and not once does he show or mention anything positive that the Australian government is doing or has ever done to help. I feel less intelligent having seen this film, it seems like John Pilger has taken many a leaf from 'A Current affair' and 'Today tonight'. Incitive rubbish. Do not waste your time.

A good documentary should derail your entire day, unless you had planned ahead to watch it, in which case you are one together human being. Enough fluff, this is a very good, and extraordinarily surprising story to see for a Canadian who already feels that human rights are not shared equally in this world. I was planning to sit around, and watch network crap until I just started watching this to see if I could watch it later, and I was immediately hooked. The first thing shown to you is a 70's era anchorman talking about the plan of sitting ministers to simply round up people for no reason, and move them away, then taint their drinking water to sterilize them in a "Humane" manner. Yes hooked I was, so I stayed to the end, and learned a lot that I thought I knew, but even I had thought that these things had stopped, and that things in "1st" world countries was getting better in how we were treating one another. Just shows how deluded we all are. I Enjoyed the no holds bared journalism from John Pilger, who has been trying to get people to pay attention to this issue for almost 30 years. Just because their ancestors roamed the land like the herds they followed does not mean they did not own it like all men(at least that is my take). If the act of observation changes the observed, then could not the aboriginal peoples say that by observing nature they shaped it?Jesse of www.jesse.ca

The title UTOPIA is ironic, referring to a district of Australia set aside for the native Aboriginies that is anything but Utopian. John Pilger's documentary takes a long hard look at the ways in which the Aboriginies have been systematically abused by the white majority, who have not only taken their land, but subjected them to a series of indignities, whether physical, mental, or legislative. In many parts of the country they live in abject poverty, in communities redolent of nineteenth century England, with little prospect of improvement. Small children are often taken away from their families and made to assimilate into mainstream white culture. A succession of government policies have subjected them to heavy-handed police tactics, as well as being invaded by the Australian army. As with many of his films, Pilger's documentary is hard-hitting and opinionated, with the presenter-director asking the kind of questions of important politicians (e.g. former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd) that few of his contemporaries dare ask. In structural terms, however, the film becomes rather monotonous in terms of content - a bit of judicious pruning wouldn't have come amiss. But watchable nonetheless.