Blueback: Uma Amizade Profunda

Saw this at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival

"Blueback" is a story about Abby, a child who befriends a magnificent wild blue groper while diving. When Abby realizes that the fish is under threat, she takes inspiration from her activist Mum, Dora, and takes on poachers to save her friend. Tim Winton novel called "Blueback" was a book I read as a child and I remember enjoying it quite a lot. Director Robert Connolly clearly has talent on directing and camerawork as this movie has really amazing camerawork of the Oceania landscapes and some cool underwater sequences. Each scenes that shows the fishes, reefs and ocean grounds were beautiful and felt like you are inside of the ocean and experiencing it. Unfortunately the film falls onto the example of style over substance as the film carries a disjointed narrative and unreliable structure.

I understand the purpose of each characters arches but the film doesn't do a great job on developing the characters as the characters didn't feel properly fleshed out. The performances were pretty good but they weren't really able to carry the film due to the lack of character development and poor structure of the story. Many themes of environmentalism and save the ocean are explored but Connolly doesn't seem to understand how to approach these topics properly and they fell all over the place. For a children's film, the film does take a very long time to get to the point and from someone who enjoys slow pace films, Blueback doesn't feel very earned.

The runtime doesn't feel justified as there were several moments that felt like filler, some of the dialogue was pretty bad and the disjointed execution doesn't help to make the film interesting. Winton's books are pretty interesting and have chances to be adapted into films but Blueback isn't one of the good adaptations unfortunately. Overall, there are great camerawork and production throughout but the positives are overshadowed by it's negatives.

Rating: C.

I saw a pre-showing for this movie and loved every minute of it. The acting coming from everyone was fantastic in it, especially the main girl who conveyed emotions really well. The character development and how the characters grow in the story was so interesting to watch and I was so invested in it. The writing of the script is very clever and each scene in this film was brilliantly executed, and I personally liked the one of the first scenes where the young girl meets the big fish it was so touching and I found that all the parts which were filmed underwater were stunningly beautiful. Something else I really loved about this movie was watching this young girl fighting to save the lives of these fish, it was so inspiring watching her determination grow in this film. Such an AMAZING movie, you HAVE to go see it, perfect for all ages.

Beautiful Australian drama, based on an anonymous novel, Australia once again starring in beautiful images of its hydro system, and the marine biography, with meticulous and talented photography... And curiously the following year a Blue Grouper known as Gus, who swims alongside divers, was mercilessly killed by a man with a spear who was only fined US$500, a beautiful and necessary film, simple and efficient...

Abby is a child who becomes friends with a magnificent wild Blue Groper while diving. When Abby realizes that the fish is under threat, she is inspired by her activist mother, Dora, and faces poachers to save her friend. Thus begins her long journey to save the coral reefs.

Abby, a young woman working as a marine biologist, recalls her teenage years with her mother in Western Australia. She is introduced to the diverse marine life in the bay she grew up in, makes friends with a blue groper and helps her mother fight to protect the bay's marine life from encroaching property developers.

A straight-forward, heart-felt film with a pleasant, leisurely pace about pursuing a passion to protect something you care about, aimed at a young audience. The flash-back narrative structure is nostalgic and makes clear why the adult Abby is working to protect the bleaching coral reef, but it obviates any emotional or dramatic impact from either time-period. The underwater photography of the ocean life, and the actors interacting with it, is very beautifully shot, tranquil and convincing of the film's thesis, to protect ocean life. Though short on depth and complexity the film successfully depicts the simplicity and integrity of spending your life caring for your immediate environment.

I have enjoyed previous Tim Winton book adaptations for the screen, but BLUEBACK is disappointing. While the film stays true to the book's messages of environmentalism and empowerment, it took too long to get there and didn't offer a deep enough story to keep me invested. BLUEBACK follows the journey of a young girl, Abby (Mia Wasikowska), who discovers a wild blue grouper while diving and is inspired to take action towards preserving Australia's coral reefs from destruction. She becomes an enthusiastic crusader for protecting the delicate ecosystem and its inhabitants.

The visuals are stunning, with beautiful shots of the ocean and its creatures, but they don't make up for the simplistic narrative. The movie focuses heavily on Abby and Dora's relationship, yet there is not enough development or depth to it. There could have been more exploration of the other characters who play significant roles in the story.

BLUEBACK failed to make an impression on me with its lack of narrative complexity. While its messages of environmentalism and empowerment will appeal to some viewers, its slow pacing and lack of story make it an overall underwhelming experience.