Jindabyne (2007)

I love this movie so much

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Ray Lawrence's Jindabyne is as haunting as motion pictures get, and hasn't left my thoughts since I saw it in a small independently run cinema some ten years ago. When a film is set in Australia, you know right of the bat it's going to have an eerie, striking story to tell. It's a vast, lonely place in areas, full of secrets and unexplored areas. Gabriel Byrne finds himself in a tricky situation of his own doing, playing an Irishman living in a small, isolated fishing village deep in the mountains. While on an expedition with his mates, he comes across something harrowing along a desolate stretch of river: the body of a murdered aboriginal girl. Here's where he makes a fatal mistake.. instead of reporting it instantly, he continues over the weekend with his trip, waits until he's back in town and then notifies the authorities, leaving her right there in the water. Once the details emerge, this causes a royal nightmare of controversy, racial tension and upset, including his wife (Laura Linney) who is horrified by the borderline inaction on his part. Was he wrong? Definitely. These snap decisions during times of great stress are common though, reactionary function not always falling into the place of logic, resulting in a mess such as this. Now as you can tell by my review, most of the film focuses on his actions and their repercussions, not so much on who killed the girl, or why. We see her in an unnerving prologue on some faraway highway, lured to a rest stop by a mysterious trucker, and then we see her alive no more. The trucker appears again throughout the film on the fringes of the main story, but never are we given clarification or catharsis to the murder side of the plot. That to me is an ultimate mood setter and thorn in the side of resolution. The cumulative result of her being found is simply an unrest hanging over the region like a blanket of uncertainty, matters only clouded further by Byrne and the storm he created by not acting right off the bat. Uncomfortable viewing, but beautifully made and not a film one soon forgets after viewing.

Australian screenwriter and director Ray Lawrence's third feature film which was written by Australian playwright and screenwriter Beatrix Christian, is an adaptation of a short story by American author Raymond Carver (1938-1988) called "So Much Water, So Close to Home" from 1977. It was screened in the Special Presentations section at the 31st Toronto International Film Festival in 2006, was shot on location in Jindabyne, Australia and is an Australian production which was produced by producer Catherine Jarman. It tells the story about an Irish mechanic and former rally driver named Stewart Kane who lives in Jindabyne with his wife Claire and their son Tom. Whilst his mother Vanessa is on a visit, Stewart and his three friends Carl, Billy and Rocco goes on one of their private fishing trips. Away from their everyday lives the men enjoy the gracious peace of nature, but out there in the silence Stewart notices a woman's body in a river.Finely and precisely directed by Australian filmmaker Ray Lawrence, this quietly paced fictional tale which is narrated from multiple viewpoints draws a quiet and moving portrayal of a marriage, a relationship between a 7-year-old girl and a boy, a strange choice and a crime. While notable for it's naturalistic and atmospheric milieu depictions and sterling cinematography by cinematographer David Williamson, this dialog-driven and narrative-driven story where a community becomes so engaged with placing guilt at a group of men who acted against their better judgment that they disregard looking for the actual perpetrator, depicts some empathic and enigmatic studies of character and contains a prominent and efficient score by Australian composers Paul Kenny and Dan Luscombe.This tangible and psychological drama about interpersonal relations and culture clash which is set in a town in the South-eastern part of New South Wales during a summer, is impelled and reinforced by it's cogent narrative structure, subtle character development and continuity, natural characters and the commendable acting performances by Irish actor Gabriel Byrne, American actress Laura Linney, Australian actress Deborra-Lee Furness and actor Sean Rees-Wemyss and Australian actress Eva Lazzaro in their debut feature film roles. A somewhat unsettling and reflective mystery from the early 21st century which gained, among several other awards, the award for Best Screenplay and the FIPRESCI Prize for Best Film at the 16th Stockholm International Film Festival in 2006.

Apparently 'Jindabyne' is the story of how the monumentally stupid behavior of four Australian good buddies (not reporting the discovery of a body until they've finished fishing, and then letting on that they did so) brings the racial conflicts of an Australian town and emotional conflicts of its families to the surface.The problem with the film is that not one of the characters is written as anything but a stereotype. Not a single one of them has a need that the audience can understand - you're left to assume their motivation from the cliché they are drawn from. It's sheer bad writing - each main character has to have some sort of major drama going on, because their characters are so thin. That's melodrama, and the cast chew the Australian scenery like they haven't eaten in a week, and the full-on ethnic wailing on the soundtrack gets old very quickly.The consequence of having so many threads of melodrama is that not one of them is resolved. The movie tries to cover up its lack of proper characterization by resorting to an unnecessary and unresolved serial killer plot, and a paper-thin small-town racism plot.Nobody on the crew thought to mention that if you find a dead body in a creek, you might not feel like eating the fish you pull out of there. Bad writing and sloppy film-making.

The sleepy town of Jindabyne lays peacefully in suburban Australia but is badly awoken by a murder incident that divides the townsmen. With this framework, director Ray Lawrence is able to craft a unique motion picture that shows excellent insight and clear focus. Essentially a character piece, Jindabyne follows the trend of Clint Eastwood's Mystic River, portraying how lives are interrelated and affected in a local community, and the undesirable consequences that follow.The central theme of Jindabyne is one of race. When the body of a young black woman is discovered by a group of white men gone fishing, they decide to report the incident only days later after their fishing trip. This misjudgment escalates not only into a major racial issue, but also creates thorns in family relationships. The cast gives credible displays, especially Laura Linney, whose performance is both powerful and dynamic. Lawrence's direction is astute, and this allows the film narrative to flow like a river going downstream.The real plus point of Jindabyne is the cinematography work by rookie David Williamson. His ability to capture the Australian wild and its gorgeous natural beauty is noticeably impressive. The slight problem lies in the ending which is abrupt and leaves many questions unanswered. Was there justice? Was there redemption? Somehow as the end credits roll, some viewers are likely to feel unsatisfied.Jindabyne is high on drama but low on thrills. There are homage scenes referenced from the unforgettable Jaws' opening sequence. Sometimes, there's an eerie glow to the film atmosphere, but it dissipates quickly, leaving Jindabyne little room to build its capacity as a thriller. It's a substantial effort from the filmmakers, but the sum is never greater than the sum of its parts. Jindabyne starts strongly; alas it goes out with a whimper. It never really realized its immense cinematic potential.SCORE: 7.5/10 (www.filmnomenon.blogspot.com) All rights reserved!