Movie: Jindabyne

Phill and I just watched the movie, Jindabyne (an Aussie made movie), at our local cinema. It was a more enjoyable movie than "The Break-Up" (starring Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn). More than anything, I enjoyed watching Laura Linney and Gabriel Byrne and how natural they were in their characters and with each other. Both are under-rated actors. Some scenes in the movie showcased the beautiful landscape too and it was breathtaking. Although the movie was somewhat slow-moving at certain parts, it feels like when one is having a degustation meal, so that towards the end, you feel really satisfied and enjoyed the experience but not overly full.

I had read some reviews prior to watching the movie and agree with one review which objected to the audience being shown right at the beginning that the four guys in the film were not responsible for the young girl's death. What ensues when they returned to their town after completing their fishing trip (they did not hurry home upon discovering the body) was the audience cannot understand the full extent of the rage and anger the town felt against the men and their families. I felt that the town had channelled their anger at the killer against these men, who did not do the right thing but were not the killers. However...the town did not know, the audience did.

It threw up abit of discussion between Phill and I about parenting styles too. In one scene, Laura Linney's character grounded her young son but Gabriel Byrne's character overturned that and frustrated her no end. Phill and I agreed that even if we don't agree with each other's decision, we'll stick with it when it comes to our kids so they don't play one against the other. But having been a child myself, I know which parent to go to for certain things to guarantee a "yes". Phill said he'll just tell the kid, "what did Mum say? No? That's it then, no."

Another scenario that featured in the movie was the disagreement between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Both had their points of view but I felt that it's best when parents leave their children to run their own households rather then to take over. In the movie, the mother of Byrne's character moved into the house, helped them run the house, then criticised her daughter-in-law (Linney's character) and reminded her how much she had done to help her. I saw how much she had helped but felt sad that Linney's character was trying hard but it wasn't understood.