‘My Name is Gulpilil’ finds the actor, now aged 67, living as an invalid in Murray Bridge, S.A. He is battling lung cancer, and even though he has already outlasted the doctors’ predictions, he knows there is no reprieve in sight. These days Gulpilil’s constant companion is Mary Hood, an elderly white lady who acts as his friend and minder.
Mary looks after his medication; she feeds him and does the housework. Gulpilil himself is not up for much. He walks with painful slowness and needs various devices to help him breathe. But for the most part his conversation is tempered with stoicism as thoughts of mortality weigh on his mind. Reynolds’ superb documentary rises to the challenge of doing justice to the extraordinary life and career of the great veteran actor. Pensive and piercingly emotional, this is an unforgettable film.