JINDABYNE
Director: Ray Lawrence Stars: Gabriel Byrne, Laura Linney, Deborra-Lee Furness, John Howard, Leah Purcell, Simon Stone, Alice Garner, Stelios Yiakmis, Chris Haywood, Betty Lucas, Charles Tingwell, Sean Ree-Wemyss, Eva Lazarro
Reviewed by GREG KING
Robert Altman’s sprawling, multi-layered Short Cuts (1993) was based on the short stories and occasional writings of American author Raymond Carver. One of the narrative strands of that omnibus told of a group of friends on a weekend fishing trip who discover a body in the water. Rather than report their find straight away the men continue to fish. When they return home they face the opprobrium of their wives who are disgusted by their callous actions. Carver’s short story, So Much Water So Close To Home, has been expanded and relocated to Australia, and forms the basis of Jindabyne, the new drama from Ray Lawrence.
Although this is only Lawrence’s third film in 20 years, he has established an enviable track record as both of his previous films (the massively overrated Bliss and 2001’s sublime Lantana) have won a swag of awards and critical acclaim. While not quite as good as Lantana, Jindabyne is a haunting, evocative and compelling psychological drama about death, loss, the grieving process, the way in which relationships can be scarred, and even reconciliation.
Jindabyne was once the heart of the Snowy Mountain Scheme, but now is just another quiet, sleepy country town in which everyone knows everybody else, and also knows their business. For mechanic Stewart (Gabriel Byrne) the regular weekend fishing trip with his friends (John Howard, Simon Stone and Stelios Yiakmis) is one of the few pleasures he has to look forward to. But this year the discovery of the body of a young girl has unexpected repercussions. Stewart’s initial decision to tether the body to a tree trunk so it won’t drift away comes back to haunt him. The four men are essentially decent men, but their decision ripples throughout the tight knit community.
When the news of what they have done leaks out, the townsfolk are disgusted. The media circle. Their womenfolk try to understand but somehow find themselves at a loss to comprehend. That the dead girl is a local aboriginal also raises the issue of racism, which is handled with surprising sensitivity. Screenwriter Beatrix Christian has skilfully woven into Carver’s original story another subplot concerning a young girl, driven by the death of her own parents, to understand the complex nature of death itself. This adds another, darker level to the material.
Lawrence’s direction is always understated and unobtrusive, and he doesn’t always neatly tie up the various narrative strands or subplots. Lawrence is an acute yet non-judgemental observer of human nature, our flaws and frailties.
The performances of the ensemble cast are all generally excellent, with the two imports certainly making the most of their opportunities. Byrne delivers one of the best performances of his career here. Laura Linney (from Primal Fear, the recent The Squid And The Whale, etc) is a standout as the fragile Claire, who tries to understand her husband’s actions, which have deepened the rift in their marriage. She also tries to effect a reconciliation with the local aboriginal townsfolk, which further increases the tensions.
****
Reviewed by PETER MALONE
Ray Lawrence directed Lantana, one of the best Australian films in recent years, an intelligent drama that engages an adult audiences at several levels. He has followed it up with an equally intelligent drama, Jindabyne. It has been skilfully adapted to an Australian setting from the United States by Beatrix Christian. The source is a Raymond Carver story.
In this film, Jindabyne is certainly a place, identified and beautifully photographed along with its mountain environment, its lake and the local rivers. But, it is also a state of mind, and the film develops this with increasing interest as well as challenge for the audience. It is one of those ‘what would you do in similar circumstances?’ stories.
It actually opens with a murder, all too plausible in this setting. We know who did it, so there is no murder mystery and working with clues. Rather, the plot takes us into several families in the town and sets up a strong set of characters. The central family is the Kane family: Irish father (Gabriel Byrne in one of his best roles), mother with an unexplained American accent (the excellent Laura Linney) and their young son Tom. Friends and neighbours are Jude and Carl (Deborra-Lee Furness and John Howard) who have care of their alienated and rather scary-imaginative granddaughter.
Fishing is the key subject of talk – and will soon become the centre of a crisis as four friends go into the mountain for a weekend with rods and reels. Plenty of character development here and a portrait of male bonding. But, they discover the murdered girl’s body. After the shock, they make sure the body is secure and continue their fishing. No comment, which seems a little strange.
What would we have done? Continued as the men did? Pack up and inform the police? Get help?
This crisis is argued in the second part of the film. Relationships grow tense. The police and the town disapprove of the men’s inaction. The murdered girl was aboriginal which leads to all kinds of expression of racism. This is powerfully explored, all angles looked at. Some resolution is possible at a smoking ceremony for the dead in the bush, a possibility for apology and for some understanding within the families.
Well acted, well written, the countryside a treat for the eye, and a plot and issues that challenge the mind.
Reviewed by MARCUS SINCLAIR
Like the American film-maker Terrence Malick (The New World, etc), Ray Lawrence (Bliss and Lantana) attempts to convey, by the use of lingering long shots of the vast rugged tree laden terrain and of the rolling plains with their thick grasses and rocky outcrops, the Mystic - the Spirit of Nature or Essence that permeates both the animate and the inanimate in his Jindabyne.
Throughout, he indicates that this force is gradually disappearing from the human experience as civilisation moves ever onwards with its advanced technology: power lines, communications (mobile phones), roads, modes of transportation (cars and planes), food and dress. In its wake it has generated emptiness. Those of European extraction, whether native born or immigrant, as well as the indigenous people are basically bored with their existence. The former seek solace in booze, the occasional ritual fishing trip, and socialising, whilst the latter just sit around feeling sorry for themselves and dreaming of the Golden Age that never was - a time when they were in complete harmony with the Earth. On occasions, such as funerals, they attempt to regenerate and recapture their lost past by trying to communicate with this Spirit.
The story line of Jindabyne is basically simple. A small group of the townsfolk shut shop and head into the wilds on a fishing trip for a few days. On their arrival the men discover the body of an Aboriginal girl wedged between the rocks that flank the river where they intend to fish. Rather than return and report their find, they tie the body to the bough of an overhanging tree and proceed with their fishing.
On their return, several days later, all hell breaks loose. The local constabulary would rather have not known about it: the City papers get hold of the story; and the fishermen discover that they have outraged the Aboriginal community over their treatment of the deceased. Also, as the relationship between these men and their wives is not particularly harmonious, it is further estranged by the incident. The rest of the movie is about reconciliation: husbands and wives, Europeans and Aboriginal.
Running at a fraction over two hours, Jindabyne drags its feet. The concept of racism is handled with great sensitivity and shows how attitudes, often covert, exist and are ready to explode given a suitable stimulus. Often actions are the result of thoughtlessness - made on the spur of the moment, with the result deep hurt is experienced. This aspect of the film is its strength.
Regarding the domestic situations between the principals much is hinted at but never spelt out in detail. The under-writing here is rather annoying. Also, these people seemed a tight group and never have any real interaction with other members of the community. Although there are minor displays of this it is quite unlike any of the small country towns that I have lived in – places where everyone knows everyone else and gossip is rife. Jindabyne, as depicted in this film, is almost a social vacuum.
Underlying all this there is the horror, not realised by the community at large, that perhaps there is a killer living amongst them.
And they don't seem to care that one of their numbers is missing or that the death is not suicide but murder. Lawrence's handling of this character, the murderer, is chilling. He doesn't go for cheap thrills, the graphic intensity or histrionics of a Wolf Creek or The Hills Have Eyes, but we are constantly reminded that this monster is ever present.
Overall, Jindabyne is a fine effort, beautifully but cautiously photographed and directed, well acted by most of the players, especially Laura Linney, Gabriel Byrne and Chris Haywood. It is thought provoking, but in the end one is left with a feeling of frustration - of was it worth the time and effort.
Reviewed by WENDY RAWADY
Jindabyne is not just a scenery-fest
If there were any suggestion that Ray Lawrence has exploited the environs of Jindabyne (the town) just as a wide, scenic background for Jindabyne (the film), let’s stomp that one out right now. The metaphor of the drowned town (much hidden below the surface) is so in-your-face, in dialogue, in action and the long, slow shots of the dam and misty landscapes rendered smoky by their eucalyptus-laden haze, that it could become a little ho-hum after a while. Yet it doesn’t. There is much to explore in every shot, the confidence that the director, Ray Lawrence, imbues meaning into every prop and aspect of the scenery making it an imperative to gaze and take it all in with intelligence.
Jindabyne is a long film. But the performances, particularly of Deborra-Lee Furness, John Howard and both children (Sean Rees-Wemyss and Eva Lazzero – who plays innocent evil in such a way as The Turn Of The Screw springs to mind…) – well, its really unfair to single out anyone. This is an ensemble piece where each brick in the wall supports and enhances the final creation.
As with Lantana, Ray Lawrence uses the lingering camera to underline his story. There are meaningful looks, strong visuals and ECU shots, all important in creating the intense emotional tension present in each character. There’s a story of angst for each player, and even the minister (Charles “Bud” Tingwell) is, apologetically, beholden to some other agenda.
I’m not so sure that that the aboriginal storyline worked for me. It seemed to lack heart.
Interestingly, though I enjoyed the film despite seeing it at a sticky carpet movie-house, the aging couples behind me angrily got out of their seats as the credits rolled expressing disappointment at the ending and vowing never to see another Aussie film again. Perhaps there should have been at least one car chase and some machine gun cross-fire to keep them happy.
One thing Ray Lawrence has proved well in this film is that, if you need to satisfy the overseas investors by adding an international component, this can be done effectively and with grace and logic. We didn’t need to hear the back-stories of why Laura Linney and Gabriel Byrne ended up living together in remote Australia. The angst they depicted – Post-natal depression, Catholicism, mother-in-law tension, small-town insularity and dozens of other very real hurdles that cropped up in the story and around the story – was palpable. This was not just because of the excellence of the acting, but because of the way Lawrence progresses his characters through their filmic journey. He picks it up as they are mid-crisis and leaves them an inch or so past the anguish point, still grappling with memories, events and relationships, both on a personal level and in the wider community.
Nowhere has small town bias and the resentment of marginalised communities (the Aboriginal element) been put more succinctly. However, I would have liked a bit more of the positive communal aspects to be portrayed somehow as there was a disconnectedness that these people perhaps shouldn’t have experienced.
Every Australian film is worth a look at a local level, if not for entertainment, perhaps for the chance to assess how we are seen by our artists. Thus, I would recommend Jindabyne highly for all audiences. And a Ray Lawrence note – here is a man who has built his craft steadily and told those smaller stories (commercials) clearly and impressively. It is a sad state of affairs that Australian production finds itself in these days where most of the big budget TVCs are just replayed (often re-voiced with clunky Aussie VO tracks) overseas ones.
Jindabyne shows a strong understanding of local culture and the cast and crew, across the board, gets my standing ovation for a classy film. See Jindabyne on a big screen, and enjoy not just the view but the nuances of some great close-up acting.