Jindabyne

Went down to see Jindabyne this evening in town. It's really quite terrific. Gabriel Byrne and Laura Linney as a couple living in a small town in Australia. He's an Irish rugged outdoorsy type, she a quiet American working in a pharmacy and worrying that she may be pregnant again. We learn that she suffered terribly from post-natal depression after the birth of their son.

Byrne's character and 3 of his friends head off for the weekend for an annual fishing trip and, before they start, discover the naked body of an Aboriginal girl that we had seen being killed at the start of the film. Though initially horrified by the discovery the men agree to wait until after the weekend to report their discovery. Whether or not you believe that anyone would be capable of doing something like that might affect how you feel about the rest of the film. When they eventually report the body, the men are overcome with bemusement and anger at the reaction that awaits them from their friends and family, and guilt when the callousness of their decision dawns on them. The local community shun them and the family of the dead girl respond with violence.

Of couse it's about an awful lot more than that. There's implied racism, isolation, fear, ambivalence and violence to deal with too. It plays out, without hysterics, over the course of 2+ hours and doesn't rush to get anywhere that it can't take you at a leisurely pace. In other words it's slow! But in a good way. And then at the end, as we approach some kind of resolution there's a horrendous song sung by a grieving Aborigine girl. Eagles on high, wind beneath wings - that sort of thing. The kind of rubbish that wouldn't look out of place on America Idol and goes on far too long. As if that wasn't bad enough, the very last shot is of the girl's killer (a local handyman who pops up menacingly in and around the town throughout) swatting a wasp on the back of his neck as he stares at the camera like a panto villian..

If the previous 2 hours hadn't been so good, those two scenes could have ruined the whole experience. Instead there'd been so much to enjoy prior to it that I'm sure I can overlook it!