jindabyne

the film not the place in this case
another one that slipped by me on original release
so with the dvd in hand home-viewing is next best
laura linney and gabriel byrne are the stars
international stars in this otherwise australian film
i'm not sure why they had to import these actors
the plot does not need irish and american characters
so presumably a marketing ploy for international appeal
maybe films are now so globalised it doesn't matter
or possibly more realistically that's the way of the world
people of all nationalities all over the place
living their lives, reacting, interacting, etc
the film opens with the telling of a murder
a lone woman in a car on a lonely stretch of road
followed then confronted by the local loner come creep
we then are in jindabyne mixing it with the locals
stewart kane (byrne) runs the local garage
his partner claire (linney) is busy raising their son tom
it's a close-knit community where everyone knows everything
stewart and his 3 buddies are heading off fishing
a long drive and hike into kusciosko national park
they stumble across the body of the murdered woman
but delay reporting the find until after their weekend
which is where things really start coming undone
there's a bad reaction all round to their action
the implication being their fun has taken precedence
suggestions that the victim's gender has influenced them
more so that the victim was from the local aboriginal community
which adds a very interesting spiritual twist to the tale
as traditional aboriginal beliefs are introduced to the mix
stewart and claire's relationship sours quite dramatically
many other friendships and allegiances are also tested
religion, sexuality, familiies, race relations all explored
so quite a lot going on in this quite simple tale
the director also wants to show off the geography
many beautiful shots of gorges, rivers, lakes, etc
which basically makes up for a busy 90 minutes
though in the end i think it is quite successful
but i couldn't help also thinking it side-stepped a bit
especially in scenes of confrontation with the aboriginals
where the overseas stars represented the white man
australian actors kept effectively side of stage
couldn't help thinking how powerful that could have been
especially in this year of the apology
but this was made 2 years ago
still - worth a look