Watermark

I think WATERMARK is so interesting. It reminds me of PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK-it's so weird and a genuinely frightening film. It's a film that causes so much discussion. I can see why it had a debut at Cannes-and it also had only 5 crew!!! It is so unlike your average Australian film-it's worth going along for the ride

The cast of Watermark all deliver great performances. In a film with little dialogue, it's exciting to see a group of actors bringing such depth to their performances. Jai Koutrae, being present in almost every scene, exudes emotion. Watermark is just amazing for its really strong performances. In an interview, the cast said they worked a lot with the director in rehearsals on the methods of unspoken communication and you can see the results in the finished film. Another aspect of the film that sets it apart is the way in which the characters' emotions are drawn out through the visual imagery. It's rare to achieve such heights in feeling without recourse to the spoken word. The water almost becomes another silent but powerful character in the film. It envelops the characters.

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!

I came out of this film just shaking. It was so moving. It is a bit like Morvern Callar and you can tell its made by a young director because it takes so many risks. The film is a bit slow at the beginning but then it gathers pace and it is so frightening at the end that anything could happen. The young actor Jai Koutrae plays a man who is very disturbed under the calm exterior. It is a difficult role but he gives an amazing performance and is able to transform between time periods seemlessly. He is really looking like the next big thing because of his degree of subtle transformation that he is able to make. The scrrenplay is unusual because it is a film that is light on dialogue but there is plenty of action. However I think the film will shock a lot of people who go and see it. It's a brave film and some will find its themes and depiction very uncomforting.