Review of Jindabyne (2006) by Catherine L — 27 Sep 2007

This was a movie that does well, but deserved much more from the director. Based on a short story by Raymond Carver, Jindabyne is really an examination of the lies that people spin to suppress the ugly realities or the past.

This theme recurs on many levels in the movie, from the way the town Jindabyne was relocated to higher ground to make way for flooding brought about by a new dam (and leaving the old town submerged, only for the spires of the church to poke through the lake at low tide), to the episodes in the characters' past that they paper over.

Many people see the movie's message as the treatment of the Aboriginal people but I felt the movie was strongest when it did not deal with the Aboriginal issue. If anything, that diluted the show's power and caused it to meander and lose its pace.

I would still recommend the movie to anyone who wants a serious, intelligent movie. If you don't fall into that category, watch Transformers instead (I have not watched Transformers myself.).