Jindabyne (film)
Encyclopedia
Jindabyne is a 2006
Australia
n drama
film by director Ray Lawrence and starring an ensemble cast including Gabriel Byrne
, Laura Linney
, Deborra-Lee Furness
and John Howard
. Jindabyne was filmed entirely on location in and around the town of the same name: Jindabyne
, New South Wales
, situated next to the Snowy Mountains
. The film was written by Beatrix Christian
, and was adapted from the Raymond Carver
short story, "So Much Water So Close to Home", which was also the basis for one of the storylines in Robert Altman's Short Cuts
. Carver's story had been retold in song by Paul Kelly
in his song 'Everything's Turning to White', from his 1989 album 'So Much Water So Close to Home' and Paul Kelly would go on to write the score to this film as well.
Jindabyne had its world premiere at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival
and its North American premiere at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival
. The film was released in Australia on 20 July 2006 and was released in the United States on 27 April 2007.
), Carl (John Howard
), Rocco (Stelios Yiakmis) and Billy (Simon Stone
) find a girl's body in the river; she has been brutally murdered by Gregory (Chris Haywood), a local electrician. The girl turns out subsequently to be Aboriginal
; it is not clear whether the men observe this. Stewart, who found her, is initially distraught, and his screams bring the other men, who are equally disturbed. It is too late in the day for them to hike back to the road and report their tragic find. They spend the night, but before they can hike out to get help the next morning, Stewart gets up early and goes fishing. He returns to camp holding a large fish he has caught up for the other men to see, and wordlessly the men decide to continue their fishing trip instead of hiking out to alert the authorities about the body. They secure the girl's body by the ankle to the riverbank, so she will not drift downstream and get lost in the rapids.
While the men are gone, some of the men's wives (Jude and Claire) and Rocco's girlfriend (Carmel), get together socially. During their conversation, Jude (Carl's wife) reveals that their daughter died nearly two years ago, leaving them to raise their granddaughter. When Stewart's wife, Claire (Laura Linney) remarks that she does not think Stewart would want more children, Jude reveals that Claire had a mental breakdown after her son was born and left the family for 18 months.
The men return home late Sunday night. After reporting the body to the police, they each go to their respective homes. Stewart goes home to Claire and finds her sleeping on her stomach, reminiscent of the posture of the dead body. He talks to her briefly and initiates intimacy, which later causes problems when Claire finds out he left the girl's body to keep fishing.
The next morning, the police show up at Claire and Stewart's house to ask Stewart to answer some more questions. The men gather in the sheriff's office, where the sheriff expresses his disgust that they would "fish over a dead body" instead of reporting it as soon as they could. Claire is stunned that Stewart would do such a thing and keeps trying to understand his reasons for being so selfish. Because the girl was Aboriginal, some believe the men neglected the dead girl out of racism. All of the men's businesses are vandalised in retaliation by Aboriginals, with painted slurs branding them racists.
Claire and Elissa (Billy's partner) are the only ones of the group who express any remorse and condemnation for what happened. Jude repeatedly defends her husband Carl, Carl and Stewart defend their actions. Arguing that it "didn't make any difference to the dead girl; it's not like she had feelings any more," Carl epitomises the callousness with which the men treated the murdered girl. The more Claire pushes Stewart and the others to make amends, the angrier everyone becomes. Jude, Carl's wife, "just wants things to get back to normal again."
Prior to the fishing trip, Claire had begun throwing up repeatedly from morning sickness, which she hid from everyone. With her marriage unravelling, and haunted by her post-post-partum breakdown and abandonment of her first child, she inquires of a medical professional about how to get an abortion.
Despite encountering hostility from the rest of the group, Claire continues to try to reach out to the girl's family. She gathers donations to give to the girl's family for her funeral. Claire even goes to the family's home and is rebuked. She later returns to give them the money she has gathered.
Increasingly incensed that Claire continues to make a big deal out of their mistakes, Stewart erupts in rage one evening when Claire asks him to talk about it. The two begin fighting physically, while slinging barbs at each other about their past mistakes.
The next day, Claire goes to the memorial service. The rest of the men and their wives show up to pay their respects, too. When Stewart apologises on behalf of the men, the girl's father throws dirt on him, spits on the ground and walks away, but there are no further objections to their presence.
Throughout the movie, the murdering electrician continuously pops up around the characters, and even attends the memorial service. He is never caught.
hailed it as "easily one of the most engrossing, thoughtful, adult-oriented big-screen dramas produced in Australia for 20 years. However, A.O. Scott of the New York Times wrote that "The real flaw is that the movie's best features -- the aching clarity of its central performances - threaten to be lost in a wilderness of metaphor and mystification." The film won awards both in Australia and overseas.
Nominated:
2006 in film
- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006...
Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n drama
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
film by director Ray Lawrence and starring an ensemble cast including Gabriel Byrne
Gabriel Byrne
Gabriel James Byrne is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, writer, cultural ambassador and audiobook narrator. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined Londo's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's screen debut came in the Irish soap opera The Riordans and the...
, Laura Linney
Laura Linney
Laura Leggett Linney is an American actress of film, television, and theatre. Linney has won three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has been nominated for three times for an Academy Award and once for a BAFTA Award...
, Deborra-Lee Furness
Deborra-Lee Furness
-Biography:Furness attended Methodist Ladies' College, Melbourne where she graduated in 1973. She subsequently graduated at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York in 1981....
and John Howard
John Howard (Australian actor)
John Howard is an Australian stage and screen actor. Howard is best known for his appearances in the film The Club, and the television series SeaChange, Always Greener, All Saints and Packed To The Rafters.-Film:Howard's first role was in 1978's My Boys Are Good Boys, in a minor role...
. Jindabyne was filmed entirely on location in and around the town of the same name: Jindabyne
Jindabyne, New South Wales
Jindabyne is a town in south-east New South Wales, Australia that overlooks Lake Jindabyne near the Snowy Mountains, in Snowy River Shire. It is a popular holiday destination, especially in winter, due to its proximity to several ski resorts throughout the Kosciuszko National Park, including...
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, situated next to the Snowy Mountains
Snowy Mountains
The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", are the highest Australian mountain range and contain the Australian mainland's highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko, which reaches 2,228 metres AHD, approximately 7310 feet....
. The film was written by Beatrix Christian
Beatrix Christian
Beatrix Christian is an Australian playwright and screenwriter.Beatrix Christian graduated from National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1991, and her first play, "Spumante Romantica", was produced the next year by the Griffin Theatre in Sydney...
, and was adapted from the Raymond Carver
Raymond Carver
Raymond Clevie Carver, Jr. was an American short story writer and poet. Carver is considered a major American writer of the late 20th century and also a major force in the revitalization of the short story in the 1980s....
short story, "So Much Water So Close to Home", which was also the basis for one of the storylines in Robert Altman's Short Cuts
Short Cuts
Short Cuts is a 1993 American drama film directed by Robert Altman. Filmed from a screenplay by Robert Altman and Frank Barhydt, it is inspired by nine short stories and a poem by Raymond Carver...
. Carver's story had been retold in song by Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly (musician)
Paul Maurice Kelly is an Australian rock music singer-songwriter, guitarist, and harmonica player. He has performed solo, and has led numerous groups, including the Dots, the Coloured Girls, and the Messengers. He has worked with other artists and groups, including associated projects Professor...
in his song 'Everything's Turning to White', from his 1989 album 'So Much Water So Close to Home' and Paul Kelly would go on to write the score to this film as well.
Jindabyne had its world premiere at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival
2006 Cannes Film Festival
The 2006 Cannes Film Festival ran from May 17, 2006 to May 28, 2006. Twenty films from eleven countries were in competition for the Palme d'Or. The President of the Official Jury was Wong Kar-wai, the first Chinese director to preside over the jury....
and its North American premiere at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival
2006 Toronto International Film Festival
The 2006 Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 7 to September 16, 2006. Opening the festival was Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn's The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, a film that "explores the history of the Inuit people through the eyes of a father and daughter."In a press release...
. The film was released in Australia on 20 July 2006 and was released in the United States on 27 April 2007.
Plot
On an annual fishing trip, in isolated high country, Stewart (Gabriel ByrneGabriel Byrne
Gabriel James Byrne is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, writer, cultural ambassador and audiobook narrator. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined Londo's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's screen debut came in the Irish soap opera The Riordans and the...
), Carl (John Howard
John Howard (Australian actor)
John Howard is an Australian stage and screen actor. Howard is best known for his appearances in the film The Club, and the television series SeaChange, Always Greener, All Saints and Packed To The Rafters.-Film:Howard's first role was in 1978's My Boys Are Good Boys, in a minor role...
), Rocco (Stelios Yiakmis) and Billy (Simon Stone
Simon Stone
Simon Stone is an Australian theatre director, writer and actor.-Film and Television:Stone has acted in the television series John Safran's Music Jamboree, MDA , Blue Heelers, Rush , City Homicide, and the films Jindabyne, Kokoda, Balibo, Blame, and The Eye of the Storm.-Theatre:In 2007 Stone...
) find a girl's body in the river; she has been brutally murdered by Gregory (Chris Haywood), a local electrician. The girl turns out subsequently to be Aboriginal
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
; it is not clear whether the men observe this. Stewart, who found her, is initially distraught, and his screams bring the other men, who are equally disturbed. It is too late in the day for them to hike back to the road and report their tragic find. They spend the night, but before they can hike out to get help the next morning, Stewart gets up early and goes fishing. He returns to camp holding a large fish he has caught up for the other men to see, and wordlessly the men decide to continue their fishing trip instead of hiking out to alert the authorities about the body. They secure the girl's body by the ankle to the riverbank, so she will not drift downstream and get lost in the rapids.
While the men are gone, some of the men's wives (Jude and Claire) and Rocco's girlfriend (Carmel), get together socially. During their conversation, Jude (Carl's wife) reveals that their daughter died nearly two years ago, leaving them to raise their granddaughter. When Stewart's wife, Claire (Laura Linney) remarks that she does not think Stewart would want more children, Jude reveals that Claire had a mental breakdown after her son was born and left the family for 18 months.
The men return home late Sunday night. After reporting the body to the police, they each go to their respective homes. Stewart goes home to Claire and finds her sleeping on her stomach, reminiscent of the posture of the dead body. He talks to her briefly and initiates intimacy, which later causes problems when Claire finds out he left the girl's body to keep fishing.
The next morning, the police show up at Claire and Stewart's house to ask Stewart to answer some more questions. The men gather in the sheriff's office, where the sheriff expresses his disgust that they would "fish over a dead body" instead of reporting it as soon as they could. Claire is stunned that Stewart would do such a thing and keeps trying to understand his reasons for being so selfish. Because the girl was Aboriginal, some believe the men neglected the dead girl out of racism. All of the men's businesses are vandalised in retaliation by Aboriginals, with painted slurs branding them racists.
Claire and Elissa (Billy's partner) are the only ones of the group who express any remorse and condemnation for what happened. Jude repeatedly defends her husband Carl, Carl and Stewart defend their actions. Arguing that it "didn't make any difference to the dead girl; it's not like she had feelings any more," Carl epitomises the callousness with which the men treated the murdered girl. The more Claire pushes Stewart and the others to make amends, the angrier everyone becomes. Jude, Carl's wife, "just wants things to get back to normal again."
Prior to the fishing trip, Claire had begun throwing up repeatedly from morning sickness, which she hid from everyone. With her marriage unravelling, and haunted by her post-post-partum breakdown and abandonment of her first child, she inquires of a medical professional about how to get an abortion.
Despite encountering hostility from the rest of the group, Claire continues to try to reach out to the girl's family. She gathers donations to give to the girl's family for her funeral. Claire even goes to the family's home and is rebuked. She later returns to give them the money she has gathered.
Increasingly incensed that Claire continues to make a big deal out of their mistakes, Stewart erupts in rage one evening when Claire asks him to talk about it. The two begin fighting physically, while slinging barbs at each other about their past mistakes.
The next day, Claire goes to the memorial service. The rest of the men and their wives show up to pay their respects, too. When Stewart apologises on behalf of the men, the girl's father throws dirt on him, spits on the ground and walks away, but there are no further objections to their presence.
Throughout the movie, the murdering electrician continuously pops up around the characters, and even attends the memorial service. He is never caught.
Cast
- Laura LinneyLaura LinneyLaura Leggett Linney is an American actress of film, television, and theatre. Linney has won three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has been nominated for three times for an Academy Award and once for a BAFTA Award...
as Claire - Gabriel ByrneGabriel ByrneGabriel James Byrne is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, writer, cultural ambassador and audiobook narrator. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined Londo's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's screen debut came in the Irish soap opera The Riordans and the...
as Stewart - Deborra-Lee FurnessDeborra-Lee Furness-Biography:Furness attended Methodist Ladies' College, Melbourne where she graduated in 1973. She subsequently graduated at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York in 1981....
as Jude - John HowardJohn Howard (Australian actor)John Howard is an Australian stage and screen actor. Howard is best known for his appearances in the film The Club, and the television series SeaChange, Always Greener, All Saints and Packed To The Rafters.-Film:Howard's first role was in 1978's My Boys Are Good Boys, in a minor role...
as Carl - Chris HaywoodChris HaywoodChris Haywood is an English-born, Australian-based film and television actor/producer.-Early life:Haywood was born in Billericay, Essex, England. He spent his early childhood in Chelmsford before moving to High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire where he attended High Wycombe Royal Grammar School from...
as Gregory - Leah PurcellLeah PurcellLeah Purcell is an Australian actor, director and writer.-Biography:She is a film, television and theatre actor, singer, director and playwright. She is the youngest of seven children of Aboriginal and white Australian descent. Her father was a butcher and a boxing trainer...
as Carmel - Eva LazzaroEva LazzaroEva Lazzaro in Melbourne, is an Australian actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles as Caylin-Calandria in the 2006 film Jindabyne and Stacey in the critically acclaimed 2009 film Blessed. She has also had minor parts in the television series Blue Heelers, Underbelly and Nightmares and...
as Caylin-Calandria
- Sean Rees-Wemyss as Tom
- Alice GarnerAlice GarnerAlice Garner is an Australian actress, musician and historian.She is the daughter of Australian writer Helen Garner and writer and actor Bill Garner.-Acting life and career:...
as Elissa - Stelios Yiakmis as Rocco
- Simon Stone as Billy
- Betty LucasBetty LucasBetty Lucas is an Australian actress, best known for her roles on television. She played prominent roles in Prisoner as Clara Goddard in 1979, Taurus Rising as Faith Drysdale in 1982, and Richmond Hill as Mavis Roberts in 1988....
as Vanessa - Tatea Reilly as Susan
Reaction
Jindabyne was commercially successful, but reviews were mixed. The AgeThe Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
hailed it as "easily one of the most engrossing, thoughtful, adult-oriented big-screen dramas produced in Australia for 20 years. However, A.O. Scott of the New York Times wrote that "The real flaw is that the movie's best features -- the aching clarity of its central performances - threaten to be lost in a wilderness of metaphor and mystification." The film won awards both in Australia and overseas.
Festivals
- 2006 – FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
– Cannes Film FestivalCannes Film FestivalThe Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals... - 2006 – UK – Edinburgh International Film FestivalEdinburgh International Film FestivalThe Edinburgh International Film Festival is an annual fortnight of cinema screenings and related events taking place each June. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival...
- 2006 – CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
– Toronto International Film FestivalToronto International Film FestivalThe Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues... - 2006 – SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
– Valladolid International Film Festival - 2007 – IrelandIrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
– Jameson Dublin International Film FestivalJameson Dublin International Film FestivalThe Jameson Dublin International Film Festival is a film festival that is held annually in February over the course of ten days in Dublin, Republic of Ireland-History:The Jameson Dublin International Film Festival was established in 2003...
Awards and honours
Won:- 2006 Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards: Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Deborra-Lee FurnessDeborra-Lee Furness-Biography:Furness attended Methodist Ladies' College, Melbourne where she graduated in 1973. She subsequently graduated at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York in 1981....
). - 2006 Valladolid International Film Festival: Best Actress (Laura LinneyLaura LinneyLaura Leggett Linney is an American actress of film, television, and theatre. Linney has won three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has been nominated for three times for an Academy Award and once for a BAFTA Award...
), Best Music. - 2006 Stockholm Film Festival: Best Manuscript (by Beatrix Christian), FIPRESCI Prize for Best Film.
- 2006 Aria Fine Arts Award: Best Soundtrack (Australia)
- 2006 Australian Screen Sound Guild Awards: Best Achievement in Sound for Film Sound Recording, Best Achievement in Sound for Film Sound Mixing, Feature Film Soundtrack of the Year.
- 2006 Edinburgh Film Festival: Herald Angel Award
Nominated:
- 2006 Australian Film Institute AwardsAustralian Film Institute AwardsThe Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award, known as the AACTA Award , is an accolade presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts . The awards recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry and television industry, including directors,...
: Best Film, Best Direction, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Original Music Score, Best Actor in a Lead Role (Gabriel ByrneGabriel ByrneGabriel James Byrne is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, writer, cultural ambassador and audiobook narrator. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined Londo's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's screen debut came in the Irish soap opera The Riordans and the...
), Best Actress in a Lead Role (Laura LinneyLaura LinneyLaura Leggett Linney is an American actress of film, television, and theatre. Linney has won three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has been nominated for three times for an Academy Award and once for a BAFTA Award...
), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Deborra-Lee FurnessDeborra-Lee Furness-Biography:Furness attended Methodist Ladies' College, Melbourne where she graduated in 1973. She subsequently graduated at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York in 1981....
). - 2006 IF Awards: Best Director, Best Actress (Laura LinneyLaura LinneyLaura Leggett Linney is an American actress of film, television, and theatre. Linney has won three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has been nominated for three times for an Academy Award and once for a BAFTA Award...
), Best Actor (Gabriel ByrneGabriel ByrneGabriel James Byrne is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, writer, cultural ambassador and audiobook narrator. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined Londo's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's screen debut came in the Irish soap opera The Riordans and the...
), Best Cinematography. - 2006 Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards: Best Film, Best Actress in a Lead Role (Laura LinneyLaura LinneyLaura Leggett Linney is an American actress of film, television, and theatre. Linney has won three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has been nominated for three times for an Academy Award and once for a BAFTA Award...
), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (John HowardJohn Howard (Australian actor)John Howard is an Australian stage and screen actor. Howard is best known for his appearances in the film The Club, and the television series SeaChange, Always Greener, All Saints and Packed To The Rafters.-Film:Howard's first role was in 1978's My Boys Are Good Boys, in a minor role...
), Best Music Score. - 2006 Valladolid International Film Festival: Golden Spike (Ray Lawrence).
- 2006 Australian Screen Sound Guild Awards: Best Achievement in Sound For Film Sound Recording, Best Achievement in Sound for Film Sound Design, Best Achievement in Sound for Film Sound Mixing, Feature Film Soundtrack of the Year.