Watermark

You've really got to wonder. Upstairs in Sydney's State theatre, after the festival screening of WATERMARK, a thousand people (the one's left after a heavy walk out) are begging extra audience ballot papers so they can vote how awful the thing was another time and down stairs the film maker is hosting an approving gathering, explaining that after sending her to Cannes with it, the Australian Film Commission is freighting round the planet, this incomprehensible, protracted, pretentious wannabe production with it's soapie actor's delivery awful synth. score in a theatrical guage blow up.

There may be a time and place for such apprentice works (I nominate Tasmania in 1985) but to put it shoulder to shoulder with international product is symptomatic of how far the local funding structure has lost contact with reality.

I'm assured there is a plot line to do with the character who has a naked beach make out with the mother of the child she drowns while suffering from post birth depression thus crippling his subsequent relationships. Exactly where all this occurs in the endless driving point of view shots and boat repairs, I'm unable to say. Oh and they purloined Goddard's switched letters plot somewhere in there too.

Watermark attracted attention when it was selected for the Directors' Fortnight at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. It's the first feature for writer and co-scriptwriter Georgina Willis who, with producer and co-scriptwriter Kerry Rock, then self-released the film in Australia.

Watermark follows Jim (Jai Koutrae) and his relationship with two different women in two different eras: the 1970s and now. Much of the film is silent and explores the relationships the three have with water and each other.

Georgina Willis' background is in visual arts, which goes towards explaining her prodigious talent at visual storytelling. Shots are framed from interesting angles (stairwells for example), giving the audience voyeuristic insight into the characters. And the dreamlike infusion of water, the beach and sea into the story adds sensuality and a mythic quality to the film. It also emphasises Watermark's 'Australianness' without jingoism.

Although not a conventional thriller, there's a twist towards the end of the film, which is built upon by Allyson Newman's suspenseful soundtrack. While occasionally intrusive, the music is also appropriate and reflects elemental influences – water and the unconscious mind.

It's a shame, then, that when the actors speak, they destroy the mood Willis has worked so hard to create. With the exception of some of the 1970s sequences, the cast manage to be simultaneously flat, hysterical and unconvincing in conversation – whereas, when silent, their performances are profound. It's not their fault – Willis needs to manage her actors better. Thankfully, the most irritating scenes appear early in the film, so that the last half can wash over you. **½/***** stars.

I went along to see this film on closing night of the Sydney Film Festival and was amazed with the journey this film took me on. This is the type of film you will either love or hate, yet one I fell totally in love with. It's refreshing to see an Australian film that steers its way clear from any other, I have seen in the past... Well done, can't wait to see what you do next.

The advertising looked good - the fact that it had gone and done great things at Cannes (it was a Directors Choice presentation) was very positive but I have never been so disappointed in a film in all my life!!

Despite the hype, it wasn't moody and to call it reminiscent of Jane Campion films is an insult to Ms Campion. It was pretentious tripe. The dialogue was appalling, the characters unbelievable and the delineation between past and present at times was very hard to determine (making the understanding of the film even more difficult).

The only reason I gave a rating of 1 is for the music, which really was its only redeeming factor.

A complete waste of and hour and 20 minutes!

This is the best film I have been to in ages. It is a story of a guy who can't put into words what he has seen. It's sort of a thriller and a mystery rolled into one. At its core is a story that deals with an issue that is very rarely discussed. The central character is deeply tormented by what he has witnessed, but the director very cleverly conceals the mystery until the end.

The visuals are amazing and the soundtrack deeply haunting. You are on the edge of your seat for the entire film and that is true cinema. What struck me was that the film was an interesting unfolding of the drama that was very careful not to give away too much at the beginning. Essentially the two women leads really carry the entire film. Both never appear in a scene together and yet both characters have a profound effect on one another in a way that neither fully understands. It's a very clever film and the director excels at telling this very complex story.