Jindabyne

Review by Clint Morris

With so many great Aussie hits over the past couple of years, it’s no surprise that someone’s gone ahead and done a compilation.

There are moments in Ray Lawrence’s (Lantana) new film that are riveting, powerful, levelheaded and quite memorable, but most of them are samples from previous recordings. There’s the Lantana moment (not surprising, since it was Lawrence’s last film), there’s the Somersault remix, there’s a few bars of Australian Rules, and the overall rhythm plays a lot like Look Both Ways. (One element of the film may even remind some of Wolf Creek).

The film, set in the gorgeous mountains of Jindabyne (the southwest region of NSW), tells of four men, all locals, who head out to their local fishing spot to dip their rods in. It’s there, that the guys discover the dead body of a young aboriginal woman.

Instead of calling the cops, or going back into town for help, they make an impulsive decision to leave the girl put, and continue on with their weekend.

Later, when it is discovered what the men did, the local people - especially the aboriginals, who believe the men are racists - are irate, and the four are suddenly no longer known as likeable locals, but the biggest scum on earth.

Though Lawrence has obviously been a little too predisposed by other films here – and it is no surprise that he has, I suppose, considering there’s a lot of pressure riding on this one, because of the success Lantana had – his effort still results in an entertaining, and well-performed, film. Just something that needed a few more of it’s ‘own moments’ – the last act is probably when the film hits its stride, dishing out some rather exceptional stuff and touching on subjects not habitually bought up in film – to separate it a little more from the herd.

Just as he did with Lantana, Lawrence teams some international faces (helps foreign sales, you see) with some local faces. And, as with the former, the Aussie actors near outshine the imports. Gabriel Byrne and Laura Linney are as good as they always are, but the Aussie constituent of the film, which includes John Howard (All Saints), Deborra Lee-Furness, Chris Haywood and Leah Purcell, are as finely tuned as Elton John’s piano. Most, you’d even go as far as saying, give the best performances of their careers.

Jindabyne is a very good film, but decent short stories (in this case, it’s based on Raymond Carver's So Much Water So Close to Home) don’t always transfer into stupendous long screenplays, and such is the case here. 

3.5 out of 5

Jindabyne
Australian release: 20th July, 2006
Cast: Laura Linney, Gabriel Byrne, Deborra-lee Furness, John Howard, Leah Purcell, Charles “Bud” Tingwell, Max Cullen
Director: Ray Lawrence
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