UNDER THE SURFACE OF EVERY LIFE LIES A MYSTERY.
On a fishing trip out in the wilderness, four best friends find the naked body of a murdered girl in the riverā¦ and make a decision that will have far-reaching consequences. Director Ray Lawrence’s first film since Lantana (2001) is almost as impressive, another ensemble drama set in a tight Australian community (Jindabyne, New South Wales) where a woman’s death affects the lives of everyone and brings back old wounds. The film also addresses an uneasy relationship between whites and Aboriginals. A bit loose around the edges in those instances, but still compelling as we get to know the characters ā and Laura Linney is particularly good.
2006-Australia. 123 min. Color. Widescreen. Produced byĀ Catherine Jarman. Directed byĀ Ray Lawrence. Screenplay: Beatrix Christian. Short Story: Raymond Carver (“So Much Water So Close to Home”). Cast: Laura Linney (Claire Kane), Gabriel Byrne (Stewart Kane), Deborra-lee Furness (Jude), John Howard, Leah Purcell, Stelios Yiakmis.
Trivia: Carver’s story also inspired part of the script for Short Cuts (1993).
Last word: “I asked [Lawrence] once for a close-up. I said, ‘I think we need a close-up in this sequence.’ And it was the only time I really asked him for anything, and he said, ‘Okay’. And so we did the close-up, and afterwards he said to me, ‘You were right. We did need that.’ And I asked him also… because the film is about life and about death, I said… Because he’s a big fisherman, Ray, and even though he made me look like I could fish, I was really dreadful. I was an absolute disaster. And, um, I looked at the fish breathing its last on the rock and I said, ‘Ray, we should get a shot of the fish fighting for life.’ And he said, ‘Good idea. Put the camera there.’ He just shot it and then he shot one of me and it’s in the film. To be that open was tremendously reassuring.” (Byrne, ABC)
