Jindabyne Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)April 28th, 2007
JINDABYNE
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2007 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
Stewart Kane (Gabriel Byrne) and his fishing buddies are having a great trip, fly-fishing in a very remote mountain stream in New South Wales, Australia. The weather is perfect, and they catch some large and beautiful fish. As male bonding goes, it couldn't be better. Well, almost.
The newspaper headlines will later blast their actions -- "Men fish over dead body." But when they first encounter the partially nude body floating in the water, they don't see any reason to cut short their weekend fishing excursion. Even if she had been sexually assaulted, they didn't do it, and, waiting for a day or two to hike out and notify the authorities surely isn't any big deal, they reason.
JINDABYNE is a slow but mesmerizing film directed with a deft hand by Ray Lawrence (LANTANA). The discovery of the body and the firestorm generated by the thoughtless men's actions is but one part of the narrative. Based on Raymond Carver's short story "So Much Water So Close to Home," the movie has a lot on its mind.
As Stewart's wife Claire, Laura Linney plays an interesting woman still haunted by old demons. For eighteen months after their son was born, she went AWOL. One might assume that this was because of postpartum depression, but the film is good about giving us enough information to let us be curious, while not feeling the need to spell out the details.
A key part of the tale concerns the race of the deceased, an attractive young woman named Sussan (Tatea Reilly). An aborigine, Sussan's death raises racial tension in Jindabyne, a "tidy town" according to the signpost on the way in. It is also a relocated village, since it was moved to higher ground in 1964 when a new dam flooded the old town in order to create a lake.
As this character study works its way toward an ending but not really a conclusion, per se, where it is going is not particularly interesting. What makes the movie is how it gets there, revealing subtle nuances in everyone's character. And with the film's sweeping cinematography and great and haunting soundtrack, you'll be with it all the way.
JINDABYNE runs 2:03. It is rated R for "disturbing images, language and some nudity" and would be acceptable for teenagers.
The film opens in limited release in the United States on Friday, April 27, 2007.
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