” JINDABYNE “…Film Review
PEDRO’S WORLD OF CINEMA
” JINDABYNE ”
australia 2006 dir: ray lawrence
4 friends on a fishing trip discover a dead body,but don’t report it for 3 days…and continue catching fish along the beautiful river…
ok kids,this is a slow burner of a film, a layered+intense look at adult relationships under stress…directed by ray lawrence(bliss) and starring gabriel byrne (based on a short story from raymond carver-”so much water,so close to home”)…it is filled with simmering inarticulate rage like a sam shepard play…
set in the snowy mountains of NSW,it centres on stewart kane(gabriel byrne) and his wife claire(laura linney),their relationship is tested when she discovers they tethered the dead girl in the river as they continued their trout fishing trip,the dumped body being a young koori girl…the main metaphor of the piece being the original township of jindabyne that was drowned by a dam +covered over with a new placid surface…
the writer beatrix christian (who i’ve met+worked with,is a leading playwright+dramaturg),scene after scene is elegantly wrought,many open- ended+ only in the accumulation of detail does the drama unfold…the men are accused of “doing nothing”,a lack of respect for the dead that the local kooris find unforgivable…
some jarring notes though, claire( a non-relative) is “allowed ” to view the body in the mortuary+ the funeral rites are shown (usually such smoking ceremonies are taboo-see disclaimer @ start of film warning kooris that dead people are portrayed)…these quibbles aside ,this is a great film,the emotional heart belonging to the american outsider,claire,who wants to apologise to the koori family,to draw everyone in the community together,black+white—impossible?—watch the ending…(no spoilers but this very macho australian male was fighting back tears…)
its about how we all try to “move on” and how we tell our children that there are “no bad men around”…btw, a roll call of my favourite actors,chris haywood,bud tingwell+max cullen…
**** outta 5
so what do you think?