Drama. Starring Laura Linney and Gabriel Byrne. Directed by Ray Lawrence. (R.
123 minutes) film clip below the page
"Jindabyne" was directed by Ray Lawrence and bears
a strong family resemblance to his previous film, "Lantana,"
despite the fact that they had different screenwriters. Both are somber
films that trace the ripple effect of an act of violence - namely the
havoc the incident creates within a shaky middle-class marriage. Both
films are intelligent, superbly acted and finely observed, but "Jindabyne"
suffers from too many extraneous elements and from a story that doesn't
land with enough force or purpose.
Gabriel Byrne and Laura Linney battle middle-aged angst in "Jindabyne."
Sony Pictures Classics photo by Matt Nettheim
by Mick LaSalle found at sfgate.com
Friday, May 11, 2007
It takes place in Camberra, Australia, where an Irish immigrant, Stewart
(Byrne) and his emotionally fragile American wife, Claire (Laura Linney), live
in a state of middle-aged angst. He's numb and frustrated from his work at a
service station, and she's wan and stupefied, going through life with a Peggy
Lee-like sense of "Is that all there is?" There's only one source for
fun, at least for the Stewart and his friends: Every year a half dozen or so of
the fellows in town get together for a weekend fishing trip, and the director
does a good job of conveying the importance of the trip in their lives. It's
their time to be free, to be men in nature, the one time in the whole calendar
not to be frustrated, beaten down or punching a clock.
The trip, however, does not go as planned, because on their first day - after
a daylong hike to the lake - Stewart finds the dead body of a young woman, who
clearly has been murdered. The men are horrified, but it's too late to hike
back. However, the next day, instead of curtailing the trip, the men proceed
with their holiday and don't report the body until the next day, almost 48 hours
after discovering it.
This presents a fascinating situation. The police are disgusted with the men.
The family of the victim regards them as almost akin to the murderer (who is at
large). The press makes them into villains, and the men's wives - especially
Claire - are disillusioned and mystified. Of all these plot strains, the most
potentially fruitful has to do with the wives' reaction. Claire sees the men's
ability to go fishing under those circumstances as an example of their devaluing
of women; that is, she believes that if the body had been male instead of
female, the men would have ended their trip immediately. She's wrong, but the
fact that the filmmakers never correct that misperception leads one to think
that they share her point of view.
In fact, the real gender issue at work here is a lot more interesting than
the one the movie touches on. It's the one Robert Frost explored in "Home
Burial," in which a wife turns on her husband after seeing him contentedly
and methodically dig a grave for their newly dead child. The wife sees that as
evidence of callousness. But the man sees it as merely getting lost in an
activity, as operating from a purely functional center of the brain.
Stewart in "Jindabyne" isn't articulate enough to make a case for
himself, and the movie gets bogged down in the specifics of Claire's emotional
history, which distracts from the general import of the situation presented.
Screenwriter Beatrix Christian (adapting Raymond Carver's story "So Much
Water So Close to Home") is officially lost when she starts concentrating
on Claire's efforts to make contact with the victim's family. That's not where
the conflict is, so that's not where the healing can come about.
- Advisory: Nudity, violence, simulated sex and strong language.
See the Jindabyn trailer
On an annual fishing trip,
in isolated high country, Stewart, Carl, Rocco and Billy ('the Kid') find a
girl's body in the river.
It's too late in the day for them to hike back to
the road and report their tragic find.
he next morning, instead of making the
long trek back, they spend the day fishing. Their decision to stay on at the
river is a little mysterious—almost as if the place itself is exerting some
kind of magic over them.
When the men finally return home to Jindabyne, and report finding the body,
all hell breaks loose. Their wives can't understand how they could have gone
fishing with the dead girl right there in the water—she needed their help.
The men are confused—the girl was already dead, there was nothing they could
do for her.
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Gabriel Byrne and Laura Linney battle middle-aged angst in "Jindabyne."