There’s a hint of John Ford to “High Ground,” a sinewy, sun-baked faceoff between indigenous and invading armies in the Arnhem Land wilderness of Australia, though by now we probably need a better word than “western” for films that situate the tensions and tropes of Hollywood operas in their own distinct geographical context.
Handsomely mounted and absorbing, even if its action never quite ascends from a canter to a gallop, Stephen Maxwell Johnson’s long-brewing sophomore feature arrives nearly two decades after 2001’s “Yolngu Boy,” and continues that film’s mission to elevate the stories and voices of the Aboriginal population in the country’s Northern Territory.Given how “High Ground” fits into Australia’s ongoing cultural reckoning with its violent colonial legacy, this Berlinale premiere is guaranteed a high domestic profile — though its mostly classical genre adherence, plus the presence of Simon Baker as the most morally upright
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