| Reference Type |
Unknown
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| Title |
Jindabyne - the landscape |
| Chapter/Web article title |
Jindabyne - the landscape |
| State |
Unknown |
| Country |
Australia |
| Publication Date |
22-06-2009 |
| Citation Date |
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| Site URL |
http://education.theage.com.au/cmspage.php?intid=136&intversion=227 |
| Comments |
This article refers to the landscape in the movie Jindabyne and how they are inextricably linked to the emotions of the characters. Lawrence uses Jindabyne as the catalyst for what unfolds throughout the film, meaning, the murder, the the cultural aspects, the great sense of loneliness and the great sense of discomfort in the character's position. All of these groups are linked purposely by Lawrence to deliver the sense of realism to the audience. The landscape in relation to death is very vivid as it is portrayed in every scene. The grieving aboriginals, who mourn the death of Susan who died in the cold confines of the Snowy mountains, Cailyn-Calandria who grieves for her mother whilst overlooking the old Jindabyne, which in turn adds to the depression that consumes the film, and Claire's contemplating when she stares into the fields of nothing, thinking about her life and questioning her families compassion and stability. The Landscape is a powerful tool used by Lawrence linked to almost every theme, feeling, emotion and scene in Jindabyne.
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| Synopsis |
IN THIS 2006 film, Jindabyne is both a place and a complex state of mind. By choosing to rework Raymond Carver's short story for a distinctly Australian setting, director Ray Lawrence opens Jindabyne to multiple layers and resonances around landscape, imagination and meaning. Landscape is imbued with social, cultural, psychological and spiritual dimensions.
It is a cliche - but an inescapable one - to say that the landscape is a character in the film. The symbolism and meanings are potent, but the cinematography also centralises the landscape, giving it almost as much screen time as the other characters. Long panning shots move languidly across the distant views and the camera offers sweeping takes on the undulating land, Lake Jindabyne and the Snowy Mountains.  The chosen setting of Jindabyne sets up echoes of the past in the location itself; the ''drowned town''.
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Echoes and ghosts of past lives are everywhere in the film. Choosing to locate the narrative within a setting of indigenous and non-indigenous relations adds depth and complexity to the cultural and historical frames of reference and meaning. Memory and loss feature within culture, society and family life. Claire and Stewart experience gaps, and a complicated past. Jude, Carl and Caylin-Calandria are grieving in complex ways. And the Aboriginal families' immediate loss of Susan mingles with their loss of country and social displacement in white society.
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The murder of Susan defiles the landscape, the two communities and the lives of the four men implicated in the heartless act. But it is Claire's journey that sits at the heart of the film.
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In Jindabyne, the landscape holds different meanings for the different personalities and communities. The interaction between characters and the landscape is a central frame. What the landscape means to non-indigenous men out fishing (''no women allowed'') contrasts with indigenous characters mourning and freeing the spirit of their loved one through a smoking ceremony on the land.
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Yet the landscape also has qualities of its own, symbolising mixed potential, benevolence and danger. It is haunting and menacing at some moments, and lyrically beautiful at others, and this is experienced directly by the characters within the unfolding narrative of nature, unnatural death and the pursuit of healing. In separate scenes, Stewart broods over the lifeless tethered body of the murdered Susan, and over the dying fish - both juxtaposed with the moving waters teeming with life. Maybe fishing is another violation of nature and life.
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Music and bush sounds underscore the eeriness and mixed potential of the land, and the wailing quality of the soundtrack evokes an atmosphere of grieving. This poignancy is accompanied by the two songs associated with Susan, at the start and at the end of the film.
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As well, Billy notices the role of modern distractions from full involvement with the primeval landscape; the power lines and his own iPod. As he enters the natural setting, he is alarmed by its unfamiliar power.
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The landscape mirrors and articulates the characters' moods. They look out over the landscape, which takes on their emotions: for Billy it is alien; Claire sees beauty and loneliness; Stewart sees abundance and death; Caylin-Calandria plays in a disturbed way with settings, spaces and people.
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tags: jindabyne
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