Jindabyne (2006)

Director:

Ray Lawrence

Writers:

Raymond Carver (short story "So Much Water So Close to Home")
Beatrix Christian (written by)

Release Date:

20 July 2006 (Australia)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Under the surface of every life lies a mystery

Plot:

Stewart Kane, an Irishman living in the Australian town of Jindabyne, is on a fishing trip in isolated...

Plot Keywords:

Fishing | Town | River | Fishing Trip | Park

Awards:

11 wins & 19 nominations

Cast

Chris Haywood	...	Gregory
Tatea Reilly	...	Susan
Laura Linney	...	Claire
Sean Rees-Wemyss	...	Tom
Gabriel Byrne	...	Stewart Kane
Deborra-Lee Furness	...	Jude
John Howard	...	Carl
Eva Lazzaro	...	Caylin-Calandria
Maya Daniels	...	Caylin-Calandria's Mother
Bob Baines	...	Doctor #1
Max Cullen	...	Terry
Stelios Yiakmis	...	Rocco
Simon Stone	...	Billy 'The Kid'
Victoria Allen	...	Girl at Garage
Leah Purcell	...	Carmel
Betty Lucas	...	Vanessa
Alice Garner	...	Elissa
Ted Bowers	...	Ted
Dean Freeman	...	Younger Park Ranger
Rod Mason	...	Elder Park Ranger
Fay Butcher	...	Coral
Glenda Linscott	...	Detective
Stephen Barker	...	Top Cop
Mala Ghedia	...	Doctor #2
Mary Kostakidis	...	Newsreader
Jie Pitman	...	Susan's Cousin (as Jie Pittman)
Amanda Bond	...	Susan's Cousin
Braydn Pittman	...	Susan's Cousin
P.J. Williams	...	Labourer #1
David Evans	...	Labourer #2
Kevin Smith	...	Susan's Father
Pamela Young	...	Susan's Mother
Bronwyn Penrith	...	Auntie #1
Barbara Stacy	...	Auntie #2
Sylvia Scott	...	Auntie #3
Ursula Yovich	...	Alice - Susan's Sister
Gordon Jenkinson	...	Butcher
Maureen Green	...	Alma
Binowee Bayles	...	Mother
Charles 'Bud' Tingwell	...	Minister
Biwali Bayles	...	Son
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Michael Ienna	...	Patron (uncredited)

Directed by
Ray Lawrence

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Raymond Carver		short story "So Much Water So Close to Home"
Beatrix Christian		written by

Produced by
Philippa Bateman	....	executive producer
Garry Charny	....	executive producer
Catherine Jarman	....	producer
Tony Tvrdeich	....	line producer

Original Music by
Paul Kelly
Dan Luscombe

Cinematography by
David Williamson

Film Editing by
Karl Sodersten

Casting by
Susie Maizels

Production Design by
Margot Wilson

Art Direction by
Deborah Riley

Costume Design by
Margot Wilson

Makeup Department
Charmaine Connelly	....	prosthetics
Charmaine Connelly	....	special makeup effects artist
Rick Connelly	....	prosthetics
Rick Connelly	....	special makeup effects artist
Dylan Holmes	....	moulding assistant
Dylan Holmes	....	sculptor
Janita Shaw	....	life casting assistant
Sarah Smith	....	life casting assistant

Production Management
Colleen Clarke	....	post-production supervisor
Paula Jensen	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jamie Crooks	....	first assistant director
Jason Faulkner	....	second assistant director
Betty Fotofili	....	third assistant director
Douglas Ngai	....	fourth assistant director
Nora Saliba	....	additional assistant director

Art Department
Daniel Birt	....	assistant stand-by props
Faith Robinson	....	props buyer/set dresser

Sound Department
Peter Grace	....	sound recordist
Michael McMenomy	....	sound effects recordist
Nada Mikas	....	dialogue editor
Peter Miller	....	sound effects editor
Linda Murdoch	....	sound effects editor
Andrew Plain	....	supervising sound editor
Robert Sullivan	....	sound re-recording mixer
William Ward	....	assistant sound editor (as Will Ward)

Special Effects by
David Trethewey	....	special effects supervisor

Visual Effects by
Brad Dunn	....	compositor
Rebecca Dunn	....	senior compositor
Jamie Hediger	....	compositor
Michelle Hunt	....	digital compositor
Matthew North	....	digital compositor
Robert Sandeman	....	digital effects supervisor
Anthos Simon	....	digital effects producer
Takahiro Suzuki	....	compositor
Sandeep Vengsarkar	....	compositor
Shannon Wilson	....	compositor

Stunts
Amanda Graver	....	stunt double
Andy Owen	....	stunt rigger
Glenn Ruehland	....	stunt coordinator
Greg Stuart	....	stunt rigger
Sheree Swords	....	stunt double

Camera and Electrical Department
Andrew Conder	....	camera operator
Matthew Nettheim	....	still photographer
David Nichols	....	key grip
Matthew Spowart	....	video split operator
Brett Tracey	....	camera operator
John Tsiavis	....	still photographer
Marc Windon	....	assistant camera
Matt Windon	....	key first assistant camera
Damian Wyvill	....	additional photographer

Casting Department
Samantha Strauss	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Flip Wootten	....	costume stand-by

Editorial Department
Leo Bahas	....	negative cutter
Chris Button	....	telecine transferer
Olivier Fontenay	....	film and digital color grader
Vicki McRitchie	....	negative cutter
Christine Trodd	....	digital grader: high-definition

Music Department
Simon Polinski	....	music engineer
Adam Rhodes	....	music engineer
Adam Rhodes	....	music mixer
Christine Woodruff	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Sandi Archer	....	clearance
Kira Bohn	....	script supervisor
Merilyn Cook	....	production secretary
Davids Darzins	....	legal
Gina Hallas	....	production accountant
Katie Harris	....	unit nurse
Rebecca Howcroft	....	assistant accountant
Jenny Lalor	....	legal
David Lawrance	....	laboratory liaison
Simon MacRae	....	title designer
Colin McDougall	....	location manager
Marlay Mcintosh	....	location assistant
Nicki Roller	....	head of production
Glenn Ruehland	....	safety supervisor
Madeleine Shaw	....	business affairs coordinator
Greg Sitch	....	legal

Thanks
Kevin Smith	....	in memory of

Production Companies

• April Films
• Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC)
• Babcock & Brown
• Red Chair Films

Distributors

• Alfa Films (2007) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Archer Entertainment Asia Pacific (2007) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Filmcoopi Zürich (2007) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Golden Village Entertainment (2007) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• La Fabrique de Films (2007) (France) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Classics (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Releasing (2007) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Village Roadshow Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• April Distribution (2005) (worldwide) (all media)
• Movie Bank (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD) (rental)
• Prorom Media-Trade (2007) (Romania) (all media)
• Revolver Entertainment (2007) (UK) (all media)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2007) (Finland) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Atlab (digital optical effects) (as Atlab Australia)
• Connelly Make-Up FX Team (special makeup effects and prosthetics)

Other Companies

• Atlab  digital grading services (as Atlab Australia)
• Atlab  post-production
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera dollies
• Frame, Set & Match  high-definition digital film grading
• Frame, Set & Match  telecine transfer
• Huzzah Sound  sound editing facility
• Kirsko Film Animals  animal wrangler
• Negative Cutting Services  negative cutting
• Panavision Australia  cameras and lenses
• Sing Sing Studios  music mixing studio (as Sing Sing Studios, Melbourne)
• Soundfirm  sound mixing studio (as Soundfirm Australia)

MPAA:

Rated R for disturbing images, language and some nudity.

Runtime:

USA:123 min | France:123 min (Cannes Film Festival) | Norway:118 min (DVD censored version)

Country:

Australia

Language:

English | Irish Gaelic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:R | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Ireland:15A | Finland:K-13 | Singapore:NC-16 | Portugal:M/12 | Germany:12 | Iceland:12 | New Zealand:M

Filming Locations:

Jindabyne, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

April Films

Trivia:

The screenplay is based on the short story "So much water so close to home" by American writer Raymond Carver. The song "Everything's Turning to White" by Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly was also inspired by Carver's story.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The telephone number on the door of Gregory's, the electrician, Land Rover starts with '70'. This cannot be a Jindabyne telephone number as they start with '64' in that part of N.S.W., Australia. (Note that the code ‘70’ is a special prefix for movie use. It is issued by the Australian Media and Communications Aurtority).

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Getaway: (#15.30)" (2006)

Guilt in a Glorious setting

This is an intriguing, evocative and multilayered film superbly acted and wonderfully filmed (mostly in single takes, it seems). It is also rather slow and meandering, and problematic. The basic plot could be set almost anywhere – failure of personal relationships in the context of a failure of civic duty, but Ray Lawrence has chosen to adapt Raymond Carver's short story of the fishermen who took their time over reporting finding a woman's body to a highly specific place, Jindabyne, NSW, and to include the vexed question of black/white relationships in Australia.

As is pointed out in one of those awful cheery 1960s documentary being shown to the kids in the local primary school, the present day Jindabyne is a "second chance" sort of place, the old town having disappeared under the waters of Lake Jindabyne during the creation of the Snowy Mountains Hydro Scheme, though at very low water levels the old church steeple is said to poke out of the water. Unfortunately, as we are shown in the opening sequence there is still evil in the new town in the shape of the local electrician (Chris Heywood, very nasty), who likes to hunt and kill young women. It is his victim's body the four fishing buddies, Stewart, Carl, Rocco and Billy, find in the stream, tie to a log, fish for a day, and then the next morning decide to raise the alarm.

When it becomes public that the four delayed reporting their find to go fishing (why didn't they lie about when they found the body?) there is a predictable uproar. The dead woman was aboriginal and the local aboriginals are particularly upset since they see this as symptomatic of whitey attitudes). Rocco's aboriginal girlfriend is not impressed. But the greatest emotional impact falls on Stewart (an Irishman) and his American wife Claire whose relationship is already rocky.

At one point I thought Claire was going to crack the case, but instead we get a literally hazy scene where some kind of reconciliation between black and white is attempted. After seeing the superb "Ten Canoes" recently I found the whole aboriginal storyline contrived. What I did think was very powerful and affecting was the portrayal of a damaged marriage. Gabriel Byrne does not put a foot wrong as Stewart, an ordinary bloke resigned to what little emotional comfort he can get from his family, and Laura Linney gives great depth to her role as his wife Claire, a woman for whom motherhood is a daunting task.

The rest of the cast are fine. Debra-Lee Furness as Carl's wife Jude makes a dislikeable character understandable, John Howard as Carl puts in a solid performance and there are two good performances from child actors Eva Lazzaro as Jude's disturbed granddaughter, and Sean Rees-Wemyss as Stewart and Claire's son Tom.

Ray Lawrence clearly did not set out to create a crime story but he certainly shows that crime can have some unexpected collateral damage. He also has contributed to the "Cinema of Unease", a phrase Sam Neill once used to describe New Zealand cinema, by setting a story about personal and public guilt in such a glorious setting.