A moving tale of loss, grief and reconciliation

Jindabyne
Directed by Ray Lawrence
Screenplay by Beatrix Christian
With Laura Linney and Gabriel Byrne
Showing at major cinemas

REVIEW BY GRAHAM MATTHEWS

Four men go on a weekend fishing trip into the high-country of the Snowy Mountains. It's an annual pilgrimage that is planned for months and takes hours to reach, and is out of mobile-phone range.

On the Friday evening Stewart (Gabriel Byrne) discovers the body of a young Koori woman floating in the river. After stopping the body floating down stream, the men decide to go on with their fishing, only returning to their car and calling the police on the Sunday.

Jindabyne has a familiar plot line, taken from Raymond Carver's short story So much water, so close to home, which has been the basis for a short film in Robert Altman's Short Cuts as well as Paul Kelly's song Everything's turning to white. However Jindabyne is something original and poignant.

Jindabyne is a film of exploration. Within its well-worn plot, it weaves a story exploring grief, mourning and reconciliation, set against the background of a small NSW country town with all the discrete racism and busy-bodyism that such a small community engenders.

The acting and the direction of this film are superb. Gabriel Byrne and Laura Linney (as Byrne's wife Claire) give excellent account. Director Ray Lawrence allows the time for the characters to develop throughout the film, building the dramatic tension as the lives of the four men, their families and the dead woman's family become enmeshed. The photography of the film is breathtaking. The imagery of the Kosciusko national park in summer is spellbinding.

Jindabyne is an exceptional Australian film, one that will move you. If you enjoy films that challenge you rather than simply entertain, that develop an argument without searching for pat solutions, then see it. But don't forget a hankie.

From GLW issue 677