Tim Winton’s bestselling book of seventeen short stories is not something most people would see as being an obvious choice for adapting to the big screen. Filmmaker and producer Robert Connolly is not most people, and he has gathered together an enviable list of Australian cinema talent to put together this compilation film.
Each of the seventeen stories has been made into a short film by a different director – a veritable who’s who of Australian talent, both established and up-and-coming.
The result is, as you might expect, is a little mixed…but ultimately rewarding.
The book, set primarily on the Western Australian coast, is populated by damaged people. Alcoholism runs through the stories, as does abuse of both women and children. But there are also undercurrents of hope, salvation and spiritual awakening that will pull the desperate characters out of the world they currently wallow in. The tone of the film follows that of the book – melancholy and yearning.
Segments that stood out for me were “Sand”, in which two brothers engage in a dangerous game on the beach while the adults fish, oblivious to how easily they could have lost a son, and “On Her Knees” in which a cleaning woman deals with being wrongfully dismissed with uncanny dignity and passes a valuable lesson on to her son. I also very much enjoyed the experimental dance piece, “Immunity”, and the title story, “The Turning”, in which an abused wife living in a trailer park has her life turned around by befriending a born-again Christian.
While the three-hour run time is intimidating, for the most part, the stories are so engrossing, you barely notice the time ticking by.
8/10
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Australia | 178 minutes | Drama
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Richard Roxburgh, Rose Byrne, Hugo Weaving, Miranda Otto, Susie Porter
Directors (and segments): Jonathan auf der Heide (“Fog”), Tony Ayres (“Cockleshell”), Jub Clerc (“Abbreviation”), Robert Connolly (“Aquifer”), Shaun Gladwell (“Family”), Rhys Graham (“Small Mercies”), Justin Kurzel (“Boner McPharlin’s Moll”), Yaron Lifschitz (“Immunity”), Anthony Lucas (“Damaged Goods”), Claire McCarthy (“The Turning”), Ian Meadows (“Defender”), Ashlee Page (“On Her Knees”), Stephen Page (“Sand”), Simon Stone (“Reunion”), Warwick Thornton (“Big World”), Marieka Walsh (“Ash Wednesday”), Mia Wasikowska (“Long, Clear View”), David Wenham (“Commission”)
Cinematography: Denson Baker, John Brawley, Stefan Duscio, Robert Humphreys, Jeremy Rouse, Miles Rowland, Warwick Thornton
