Jindabyne's Recent Activity - Spout

Film:Jindabyne

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 13:21:12 GMT

Title: Jindabyne
Year: 2007
Director: Ray Lawrence
Plot: A family is touched by the shadows of hatred and violence in this Australian drama adapted from a short story by Raymond Carver. Stewart (Gabriel Byrne) and Claire (Laura Linney) are a married couple in their early 40's; Stewart runs a gas station while Claire looks after their son Tom (Sean Rees-Wemyss). Tom has been grounded for the weekend after killing a small animal with his friend Caylin (Eva Lazzaro), and Claire keeps an eye on him while Stewart goes off on a fishing trip with his pals Carl (John Howard), Rocco (Stelios Yiakmis) and Billy (Simon Stone). After arriving at their favorite fishing spot, Stewart finds the naked body of a woman floating down the river; unknown to him, Gregory (Chris Haywood), an elderly man riddled with race hatred, killed Susan (Tatea Reilly), a young woman of Aboriginal heritage, and dumped her body in the water. Believing they wouldn't be able to drive to town to report finding the body and get back to make camp before nightfall, Stewart decides to wait until morning to contact the police, and ties a line to the corpse so it won't float away. The next morning, Stewart and his friends decide not to spoil their trip and spend the day fishing; they don't contact the police until after they return home on Monday. Stewart's callous actions cast an ugly light on himself, his friends and his family, and Claire finds herself implicated in the crime through Stewart's poor judgment. Named for an Aborigine word for a valley, Jindabyne received its world premiere at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 5
Number of Lists: 3
Number of blog posts: 3
Number of discussion threads: 1
SpoutRating: 2

Spout Post: Jindabyne - A movie gem

Tue, 15 May 2007 05:19:00 GMT

Post By: laraemeadows
Post To: laraemeadows Blog
Post Date: 5/15/2007 1:19:00 AM
Body: Jindabyne tries to grey the areas of good and bad. An Australian setting is a beautiful backdrop for this remarkable story. Four men, Stewart (Gabriel Bryne), Roco (Stelios Yaikmis), Carl (John Howard), and Billy (Simon Stone) set off on their annual, no girls allowed, fishing trip. Much to their chagrin, on Friday a murdered dead girl floats up in their section of river. Not to let a tiny thing like a murdered woman spoil their trip, they tie her to a tree, floating in the river and continue their weekend fun. On Saturday night, Billy aka “the kid” tells the older men in the group he’s leaving to get help for the girl, even if they don’t come. So on Sunday all the men finally pack up and head back to their car to call for help. The media and their wives learn of the terrible choice they make to leave the dead girl while they fish and their relationships with the town, their spouses, each other and themselves is monumentally altered. While the men are away on their annual fishing trip, the women are home to sort some emotional and family things out. Claire (Laura Linney), Jude (Deborra-lee Furness), Carmel (Leah Purcell) have dinner and talk about the past. Claire, wife of Stewart, learns she is pregnant, which is very bad news. When you first meet Stewart and his wife Claire Laura Linney, she comes across as a loving yet a little unstable wife and Stewart a distant yet stable husband. As the movie progresses it is obvious that Stewart is the unstable one and even though she has a history, Claire’s behavior is rational. Jindabyne is a beautifully written story about the monsters that reside in the hearts of seemingly average men and women. The inaction of these perfectly average men feels like a passive endorsement of the murder of this innocent woman. It leaves the audience to wonder what they or their fathers, brothers and husbands would do if faced with the same situation. The story is even more troubling because they weren’t faced with a true moral dilemma. There was only one right thing to do and they didn’t do it. Does this one bad decision make these men bad men or is it just plain stupid and heartless this one time? The men aren’t the only ones whose morality is ambiguous. The women in their lives responses range from outrageous to understandable. The one woman of the group of spouses who attempts to apologize for her husband and her friends is outcast by the rest of the group. One woman defends her husband ferociously, even against the other women. The morally correct response is less clear for the women. It left me to wonder if I would stay with my husband after they did something so disgusting or if I would be bothered by it at all. When the women don’t punish their husbands, are they also lending passive endorsement to the murder? The settings in the movie are beautiful and very special. The town where the men live is very small and full of character. The river where the woman is found is majestic. The calming settings make the behaviors of the men even more unsettling. Amidst the calm and beauty are these minor demons and an innocent victim. Jinbadbyne is a true movie gem. LaRae Meadows laraemeadows@gmail.com FilmFanatix The Movie Insider Monsters and Critics Movie Pulse Premier Movie Reviews Associated Content Spout Writers’s Cafe Livejournal Myspace Profile Myspace Blog Vox Blogger

Spout Post: FilmCouch #17

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 14:03:38 GMT

Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 4/27/2007 10:03:38 AM
Body: Adaptations: Hot Fuzz, the next film in a trend of respectful spoofs playing with genre cliché and kicking ass. Kevin and Adam drool and discuss. Review of Jindabyne which opens tonight and Laura Linney's interview before its Telluride premier. Jindabyne is an adaption of Raymond Carver's short story, So Much Water, So Close to Home. Also, A brief look at movies adapted from Kurt Vonnegut books. Download FilmCouch #17 or subscribe in the iTunes store (search for "filmcouch" or click here to launch iTunes) and a new free episode will download every Friday. Syndicated Feed From:SpoutBlog

Spout Post: Films I saw at Telluride

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 14:46:55 GMT

Post By: aaronBsmith
Post To: Telluride Film Festival 2008
Post Date: 9/11/2006 10:46:55 AM
Body: At Telluride, I saw:The Last King of ScotlandSeverenceJindabyneCatch a FireDirected by John FordThe ItalianVolverInfamousI would be interesting if anyone out there has seen the original version of Directed by John Ford. It came out in 1971. The version I saw at Telluride was more or less the same, but with more interviews from current filmmakers and actors as well as restored clips from many of John Ford's films.

Spout Post: Jindabyne

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 22:37:00 GMT

Post By: aaronBsmith
Post To: The Savant Speaks
Post Date: 9/8/2006 6:37:00 PM
Body: Jindabyne centers around the marriage of Stewart (Gabriel Byrne) and Claire (Laura Linney). As the film unfolds scene by scene, we discover that Stewart and Claire have unresolved matters in their marriage stemming from Claire's intense postpartum depression after the birth of their son. Claire constantly strives to be the mother she wasn't when her son was born. Stewart finds himself in the middle of his life, wondering where his marriage is and what kind of a man he has become. The film draws us into this domestic life, which seems to be in a kind of stasis. When Stewart goes away on an annual fishing trip with his friends, however, this stasis ends, bringing their wounds to the forefront. An incident followed by a collective decision by the men ignite a crisis for Stewart and his friends, as well as their wives and girlfriends. Ultimately, all of their secrets and deceptions are brought out into the light, along with a piercing question: What kind of men would make such a decision? For Stewart and Claire, this question forces them to face where they are wounded and decide ultimately what they will do and how they will move forward. This story unfolds in the Australian outback in a little town called Jindabyne. The locations for this film are both stunning and haunting. Filmed entirely with natural light, the film has a sensibility to it that reminds the viewer of Malick, but what Ray Lawrence, the director, does with the landscape is wholly original. The vastness of the outback, the desolation of it, the beauty of it, guides the characters in a way. This approach casts the landscape as a kind of character all unto itself. Its secret and sacred places try to warn the characters against the tragedy that awaits them. Some of them can sense this, but other cannot because their lives have caused them to dull their sensitivity to the beauty around them and what it wants to tell them. Each scene of the films unfolds the way it needs to, for how long it needs to. Lawrence doesn't seem to be interested in making sure the audience is "entertained" at all times. Rather, his concern seems to be with the emotional truth of each scene and what that truth means for the characters. Lawrence leads us, and them, towards a conclusion that is utterly profound and moving, while at the same not heavy handed or emotionally manipulative. One of the highlights of watching this film at Telluride was the presence of lead actress, Laura Linney. After the film was screened she answered questions about how it was made and how she created her character, Claire. One of the most interesting things she had to say involved the director's decision to only use natural light for the film. He made this choice, she explained, so that their performances could shine through and be the centerpiece of the story. This decision, while risky, imbued the film with beauty and a sensibility that is not often seen in the cinema.

Spout Tag:family

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:09:21 GMT

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Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:02:59 GMT

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Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:09:24 GMT

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Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:03:11 GMT

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Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:39:36 GMT

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Tue, 12 Sep 2006 12:25:25 GMT

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Fri, 13 Jul 2007 00:19:54 GMT

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Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:01:54 GMT

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Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:45:03 GMT

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Fri, 20 Apr 2007 13:00:40 GMT

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