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Reviews
Oyster Farmer (2004)
Clever script, brilliant characterization
Jack (Alex McLoughlin) makes an ingenious plan to steal the money from the Armagaurd, but doesn't quite work out how he is going to explain the extra money.He even mails it to himself. Sweet. Totally like a young bloke in desperate need of cash. You laugh initially at his naivety only to be gutted to see the real reason. The craziness and innocence of Jack is beautifully characterized.
Jim Norton as Old man Mumbles is hilarious and unstoppable.The plot seemed a little stretched in places.Pearl (Diana Glenn) seemed to be bought into the script for no apparent reason and then unceremoniously dumped.
A marriage ending on a bath seems unnecessary. The initial hook although gripping loosened as the story unfolded.
On the plus side, brilliant and quirky characters with some excellent acting (David Field). A really good script kept the story interesting. Beautiful locales on the south coast of Sydney.
Jindabyne (2006)
Dark and confusing
Starts with great promise about the story of a town now gone and a new town replacing it. The old town is now under water and there are references to zombies by first the father and then friend of the little Tom. The children (Caylin-Calandria) in the film display a lot of crazy behaviou r for no real good reason. One explanation for all of this is to set the scene - but this film, in cinematic terms, is clearly not a thriller and more of an emotional/psychological drama of people who are already mired by problems, having to deal with more.
We see elaborate character building in the film and sometimes it is overdone, especially of characters who are not involved in the main plot. There were too many unanswered questions. Why didn't Stewart and his friends worry about their families back home with a killer loose? Why didn't one or two of them get back to the car and call the police? The film then drags on for a bit and ends with more questions. Why does the murderer chase Claire? Why does he watch the funeral? Beautiful symbolisms and the beautiful Australian landscape make for a haunting movie. Really good acting by all actors, more so by Gabriel Byrne who had me completely convinced that reporting that he'd found a dead body four days too late wasn't really their fault.
The beautiful song sung by Susan's (Tatea Reilly) sister Ursula Yovich and her superb acting, bought a tear to my eye.
Being a lover of stories with a certain amount of structure, Jindabyne left me unsatisfied.