Jindabyne
This review was written for the festival screening of "Jindabyne".SYDNEY -- "Jindabyne" is a coiled and enigmatic psychodrama that cements Australian director Ray Lawrence's standing as a fine, if not prolific, filmmaker. With the considered care of a man who has turned out only three films in 20 years, Lawrence navigates the emotional eddies of a small community thrown into chaos after four fishing buddies discover a body.
The same organic characterizations that marked Lawrence's acclaimed 2001 film "Lantana" will attract fans of strong adult drama, and the film is boosted by a new preoccupation with landscape that leads to haunting visuals reminiscent of Peter Weir's "Picnic at Hanging Rock".
A pivotal moral dilemma with universal resonance, along with spiky performances from Hollywood imports Laura Linney and Gabriel Byrne in the lead roles, should widen the appeal of this powerful Australian production beyond the local market. The film was well-received in Cannes and is included in the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival.
"Jindabyne" relocates Raymond Carver's short story "So Much Water So Close to Home" to the high bush country of Australia's Snowy Mountains in a rather radical adaptation by scriptwriter Beatrix Christian. The Carver narrative, also featured as a piece in the mosaic of Robert Altman's "Short Cuts", has been expanded to embrace a raft of new characters, a racial subtext and a mystical element tied to the heritage of the eponymous town and surrounds.
Lawrence tautens the mood immediately with an opening sequence involving a cat-and-mouse car chase on a lonely back road. But this is no murder mystery; we know from the outset that it is a local tradesman (Chris Haywood) who is responsible for killing the 19-year-old Aboriginal girl (Tatea Reilly) whose near-naked body will wind up floating face down in the river.
The drama comes from the ripple effect of a single decision made by four men - a practical choice that only becomes a question of morals when their actions are exposed to the fierce glare of a community's outrage.
On a much-anticipated weekend fishing trip, Stewart (Byrne), the owner of a local gas station, and his pals Carl John Howard), Rocco (Stelios Yiakmis) and Billy "the Kid" (Simon Stone) stumble upon the murdered girl, but because the sun is shining, the fish are biting and it's a long scramble back to civilization, they put off reporting the find. They tether the girl's ankle to a tree with a length of fishing line and carry on with another day's fishing.
Upon their return, Stewart's wife, Claire (Linney), recoils in horror at the callousness of the act and is forced to sugarcoat the story for the benefit of their young son Tom (Sean Rees-Wemyss) by telling him that his father wrapped the girl in a sleeping bag to keep her warm. The incident puts pressure on imperfectly mended fractures in the couple's marriage - there are oblique references to Claire suffering an 18-month bout of severe postnatal depression - and the gap in understanding between the genders is echoed in the other men's relationships with their wives and girlfriends.
Blame and guilt splinter the community, with the tension compounded by the fact that the victim was Aboriginal, as is Rocco's girlfriend, Carmel (Leah Purcell).
Lawrence expertly layers on small scenes of disquiet, hinting at emotions buried deep beneath the surface. Such is the legitimacy of the interplay between the characters that when tempers flare or composure short-circuits -- as in an itchy confrontation in a restaurant between Claire and her mother-in-law (Betty Lucas) - the drama feels uncomfortably close.
Linney's remarkable talent for folding strength and vulnerability into a single character makes Claire hugely sympathetic, even as she mulishly blunders about trying to make things right with the family of the dead girl. And Deborra-Lee Furness is outstanding in a supporting role as a matriarch bringing up the morbid child (Eva Lazzaro) of her dead daughter.
The socio-political argument eventually begins to weigh down the film, as does the soundtrack's over-reliance on the wordless vocals of Aussie troubadour Paul Kelly. Mood aplenty is conjured up by the watchful nature of the untamed terrain and far horizons, handsomely photographed by longtime Lawrence collaborator David Williamson, and by the director's measured pacing.
The same organic characterizations that marked Lawrence's acclaimed 2001 film "Lantana" will attract fans of strong adult drama, and the film is boosted by a new preoccupation with landscape that leads to haunting visuals reminiscent of Peter Weir's "Picnic at Hanging Rock".
A pivotal moral dilemma with universal resonance, along with spiky performances from Hollywood imports Laura Linney and Gabriel Byrne in the lead roles, should widen the appeal of this powerful Australian production beyond the local market. The film was well-received in Cannes and is included in the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival.
"Jindabyne" relocates Raymond Carver's short story "So Much Water So Close to Home" to the high bush country of Australia's Snowy Mountains in a rather radical adaptation by scriptwriter Beatrix Christian. The Carver narrative, also featured as a piece in the mosaic of Robert Altman's "Short Cuts", has been expanded to embrace a raft of new characters, a racial subtext and a mystical element tied to the heritage of the eponymous town and surrounds.
Lawrence tautens the mood immediately with an opening sequence involving a cat-and-mouse car chase on a lonely back road. But this is no murder mystery; we know from the outset that it is a local tradesman (Chris Haywood) who is responsible for killing the 19-year-old Aboriginal girl (Tatea Reilly) whose near-naked body will wind up floating face down in the river.
The drama comes from the ripple effect of a single decision made by four men - a practical choice that only becomes a question of morals when their actions are exposed to the fierce glare of a community's outrage.
On a much-anticipated weekend fishing trip, Stewart (Byrne), the owner of a local gas station, and his pals Carl John Howard), Rocco (Stelios Yiakmis) and Billy "the Kid" (Simon Stone) stumble upon the murdered girl, but because the sun is shining, the fish are biting and it's a long scramble back to civilization, they put off reporting the find. They tether the girl's ankle to a tree with a length of fishing line and carry on with another day's fishing.
Upon their return, Stewart's wife, Claire (Linney), recoils in horror at the callousness of the act and is forced to sugarcoat the story for the benefit of their young son Tom (Sean Rees-Wemyss) by telling him that his father wrapped the girl in a sleeping bag to keep her warm. The incident puts pressure on imperfectly mended fractures in the couple's marriage - there are oblique references to Claire suffering an 18-month bout of severe postnatal depression - and the gap in understanding between the genders is echoed in the other men's relationships with their wives and girlfriends.
Blame and guilt splinter the community, with the tension compounded by the fact that the victim was Aboriginal, as is Rocco's girlfriend, Carmel (Leah Purcell).
Lawrence expertly layers on small scenes of disquiet, hinting at emotions buried deep beneath the surface. Such is the legitimacy of the interplay between the characters that when tempers flare or composure short-circuits -- as in an itchy confrontation in a restaurant between Claire and her mother-in-law (Betty Lucas) - the drama feels uncomfortably close.
Linney's remarkable talent for folding strength and vulnerability into a single character makes Claire hugely sympathetic, even as she mulishly blunders about trying to make things right with the family of the dead girl. And Deborra-Lee Furness is outstanding in a supporting role as a matriarch bringing up the morbid child (Eva Lazzaro) of her dead daughter.
The socio-political argument eventually begins to weigh down the film, as does the soundtrack's over-reliance on the wordless vocals of Aussie troubadour Paul Kelly. Mood aplenty is conjured up by the watchful nature of the untamed terrain and far horizons, handsomely photographed by longtime Lawrence collaborator David Williamson, and by the director's measured pacing.
- 7/20/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Steel City
PARK CITY -- One of the hardest things to do on film is to present working-class people without condescension or glamorization. In his directorial debut, Brain Jun went home to southern Illinois and gets it pitch perfect. A family drama that is the visual equivalent of a Bruce Springsteen song, "Steel City" offers several standout performances and a satisfying low-key story that should resonate for festival and art house audiences.
PJ Lee (Thomas Guiry) is a scared kid on his way to becoming something he doesn't want to be. With limited job prospects and a family as broken down as his car, PJ hasn't been dealt much of a hand. His father Carl John Heard) left his wife and two kids years ago and barely looked back. When the film opens, Carl has been thrown in jail for a car crash that killed a cop. But Jun, who also wrote the screenplay, doesn't offer too many details and is savvy enough not to turn the film into an episode of "Law & Order."
When PJ explodes and loses his job washing dishes in a restaurant, he can't keep up the ramshackle house he inherited from his dad. His mother (Laurie Metcalf) has remarried to a cop (James McDaniel) but can't do much to help. His older brother Ben (Clayne Crawford), with a teetering marriage and baby girl, works in a steel mill as he hardens with anger.
PJ also pretends to be hard -- it's a survival skill in these parts -- but Guiry brings an intriguing mix of sweetness and rage to the role. It must be the sweetness that his co-worker Amy (America Ferrera) sees in him, and they start a reluctant relationship; he likes her but she's Mexican and overweight so he can't quite get his mind around it.
With his dad in jail, PJ is forced to turn to his enigmatic uncle Vic (Raymond J. Barry). Vic is not an easy man -- even his brother doesn't trust him -- and when he tries to hold PJ accountable, the young man bolts again. Riding what Springsteen might call "a down bound train," PJ has about hit bottom when he manages to pull himself together. But again, Jun doesn't give the story a Hollywood ending; things just get a bit better. With so little going for them, these people might not like it, but all they have are each other. It simply takes awhile for them to accept it, and Jun doesn't push the issue.
Ground down from life and bad choices, these are not souls given to sharing their feelings, so when they do it's like a frozen river thawing. The reconciliation between Carl and son Ben is earned and deeply moving. Although Carl's seven-year sentence conceals a dark secret, it is satisfying to see him trying to be a better father to PJ from jail than he was in the outside world.
In addition to Guiry, who totally sells the role, Heard does some of his best work to date, while Barry brings a level of complexity to his character rarely seen in slicker productions. To look at "Steel City" and the atmospheric work of cinematographer Ryan Samul, it's hard to believe the film was shot for less than $1 million on Super 16. The only misstep Jun makes, and it's hard to fault him given the budget, is the mediocre and at times heavy-handed use of music. Still, it's an unqualified success from the heartland.
STEEL CITY
Steel City Prods., Your Half Pictures
Credits:
Director-screenwriter-editor: Brian Jun
Producers: Ryan Harper, Rusty Gray
Executive producers: Eric Arlt, Mark Covington, Mike Gandy
Director of photography: Ryan Samul
Production designer: Jack Thomas
Music: Mark Geary
Costume designer: Meredith J. Murray
Cast:
PJ Lee: Thomas Guiry
Carl Lee: John Heard
Amy Barnes: America Ferrera
Ben Lee: Clayne Crawford
Randall Karn: James McDaniel
Marianne Karn: Laurie Metcalf
Vic Lee: Raymond J. Barry
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 95 minutes...
PJ Lee (Thomas Guiry) is a scared kid on his way to becoming something he doesn't want to be. With limited job prospects and a family as broken down as his car, PJ hasn't been dealt much of a hand. His father Carl John Heard) left his wife and two kids years ago and barely looked back. When the film opens, Carl has been thrown in jail for a car crash that killed a cop. But Jun, who also wrote the screenplay, doesn't offer too many details and is savvy enough not to turn the film into an episode of "Law & Order."
When PJ explodes and loses his job washing dishes in a restaurant, he can't keep up the ramshackle house he inherited from his dad. His mother (Laurie Metcalf) has remarried to a cop (James McDaniel) but can't do much to help. His older brother Ben (Clayne Crawford), with a teetering marriage and baby girl, works in a steel mill as he hardens with anger.
PJ also pretends to be hard -- it's a survival skill in these parts -- but Guiry brings an intriguing mix of sweetness and rage to the role. It must be the sweetness that his co-worker Amy (America Ferrera) sees in him, and they start a reluctant relationship; he likes her but she's Mexican and overweight so he can't quite get his mind around it.
With his dad in jail, PJ is forced to turn to his enigmatic uncle Vic (Raymond J. Barry). Vic is not an easy man -- even his brother doesn't trust him -- and when he tries to hold PJ accountable, the young man bolts again. Riding what Springsteen might call "a down bound train," PJ has about hit bottom when he manages to pull himself together. But again, Jun doesn't give the story a Hollywood ending; things just get a bit better. With so little going for them, these people might not like it, but all they have are each other. It simply takes awhile for them to accept it, and Jun doesn't push the issue.
Ground down from life and bad choices, these are not souls given to sharing their feelings, so when they do it's like a frozen river thawing. The reconciliation between Carl and son Ben is earned and deeply moving. Although Carl's seven-year sentence conceals a dark secret, it is satisfying to see him trying to be a better father to PJ from jail than he was in the outside world.
In addition to Guiry, who totally sells the role, Heard does some of his best work to date, while Barry brings a level of complexity to his character rarely seen in slicker productions. To look at "Steel City" and the atmospheric work of cinematographer Ryan Samul, it's hard to believe the film was shot for less than $1 million on Super 16. The only misstep Jun makes, and it's hard to fault him given the budget, is the mediocre and at times heavy-handed use of music. Still, it's an unqualified success from the heartland.
STEEL CITY
Steel City Prods., Your Half Pictures
Credits:
Director-screenwriter-editor: Brian Jun
Producers: Ryan Harper, Rusty Gray
Executive producers: Eric Arlt, Mark Covington, Mike Gandy
Director of photography: Ryan Samul
Production designer: Jack Thomas
Music: Mark Geary
Costume designer: Meredith J. Murray
Cast:
PJ Lee: Thomas Guiry
Carl Lee: John Heard
Amy Barnes: America Ferrera
Ben Lee: Clayne Crawford
Randall Karn: James McDaniel
Marianne Karn: Laurie Metcalf
Vic Lee: Raymond J. Barry
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 95 minutes...
- 1/22/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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