"I feel very specifically that I benefited from growing up where I did, where so much revolved around the sea - in a way, it was a gift and I owe it something. Winton draws his main inspiration from the landscape he knows well. Mia Wasikowska: Thats true. I wanted very limited VFX. Neither Mitchell and Wasikowska can do much to enliven dialogue that is more bound up with the life cycle of a groper than the shifting emotions involved in being human. But we were very lucky, because Western Australia where we filmed was completely separated from the rest of the country. Ilsa Fogg plays the teenage Abby in Blueback. Only the fishs eyes were CGI. Blueback is a love letter to Western Australias Ningaloo Reef and the sea creatures that make their home there. The directors other family film, 2015s Paper Planes, reflects a similar commercial mindset as Blueback, providing a broadly appealing if a little indistinct experience that doesnt speak down to younger audiences but certainly hands them unambiguous moral lessons. up; talk about sacred links and the New Age is just so much baloney if it
Later, an older Dora who has suffered a stroke is played in a smaller and more limited role by Liz Alexander. Blueback. I think I think Rob has done a beautiful job of capturing a natural environment and emotional environment where you realize that yeah, we do as humans get more out of nature than nature gets out of us, when it is a wonderful place to be. My
Blueback is a story about love, loss, growing up, and above all, living with respect for our beautiful and natural environment. I got a lot of grief from my daughters about the idea that I was making another film where the hero was a young boy after Id made Paper Planes. "I'm standing there in the water with my wife and my mother looking at each other like, 'Remind you of anything? "I knew I was hard working. he helps his mother each day and loves to dive. slight. When I look back and see how hard I worked when I
I think there are a lot of examples of incredible women leading the environmental movement at the moment and plenty of examples of men whove done some pretty catastrophic choices on the environment, including our political leaders in this country in the past. im Winton was born on the 4th August 1960 in Western Australia is a famous Australian Author. In one scene, adult Abby, during a moment of melancholic reflection, casts her gaze towards sand dunes, before Connolly cuts to teenage Abby walking across them. ", "I don't think art needs an excuse to exist. Winton: an affable, plain-speaking man of unaffected intelligence and deep
. This short. The film drifts around a bit, neither plot-driven nor super stylish, but its a nice, gentle kind of drift. He has written novels, children's books, non-fiction books, and short stories. Mia, did you spend much time or have a lot of discussions with Robert, Ilsa, or Ariel at all to try and create a through-line of sorts for who Abby becomes from the first act to the last, or was your approach to more focus on where she was during the time you were playing her? And, you know, Robs very upfront about the fact that theres no point being ambiguous. Adapted from Tim Wintons book of the same name (Winton also shares screenwriting credit here), no doubt ocean life and the environment are depressingly pertinent topics these days. Looking back, Winton says some books have been much easier to write than others. The acting is mostly great, the underwater cinematography is superb and the selection of songs on the soundtrack suggest that Robert Connolly's record collection would be an agreeable place to spend a couple of hours. I would recommend Blueback. The joins feel fluid, sometimes seamless. Ningaloo with Tim Winton will reveal a bewildering diversity of wildlife, including one of the only whale shark aggregation sites, the world's largest humpback whale nursery, a sea snake hotspot, and a refuge . Years later, when Abel is older, he returns to the bay and plays with Blueback again, but when his mother passes away he returns to his studies about the ocean. "I am more
Actually, we already know thats not going to happen. that writing is (a) "essentially a tedious occupation I spend scads of time
But the plots essential shape has been maintained by writer-director Robert Connolly (The Dry), whos worked with Winton before. A hint that she may have a crush on Briggs (Clarence Ryan), the friend who has adored her since their childhood, goes nowhere. Uploaded by Carys Arnold. It's not like we've taken characters from the city and put them into this particular world, and it's how they respond to it. Like the excellent, more adult-oriented Breath also based on a Winton novel this wholesome and modestly affecting coming-of-age story is set on the west coast of Australia, in a fictitious community called Longboat Bay. that people are seen as writing either for children or adults - and that
"My wife left for work at eight o'clock in the morning, and I was wrapping it up to send it to my publisher," Winton says. YouTube. Perhaps it's that simplicity which makes Blueback so powerful for readers young and old. I was only there for two weeks, and maybe you were quite similar? Abel Jackson has lived by the sea at Longboat Bay ever since he could remember. all my time on, around or under the water. He felt indebted to the teachers and mentors who'd helped him to succeed, who didn't get the same accolades themselves. The Riders, which itself disconcerted many, it looks somewhat
waking up, but it's a question of whether it's fast enough to maintain the
Mia Waskikowska: Yeah, this was my only pandemic film, actually. Tim Winton on Blueback "I don't know whether books like Blueback make a difference, but in an innocent way, it's discussing these things - we have been taking from the sea and the land for so long, it's time for us to give something back. Blueback is an adaptation of a novel from best-seller Tim Winton (The Turning). udiences open to an ecological ocean drama thats gentler, more grounded and certainly more Strayan than James Camerons. , Exclusive: Blueback's Mia Wasikowska and Eric Bana Open Up About Their Heartwarming New Film, Two Planned DCU Projects Remain a Mystery, Including James Gunn's Favorite, 10 Gut-Wrenching Movies That Are Too Sad to Rewatch, The Little Mermaid's Live-Action Sebastian Design Revealed in Merchandise - and Continues a Disappointing Disney Trend. Adapted from Tim Wintons best-selling 1997 novella of the same name, co-writer and director Robert Connolly tells the environmentally-conscious and emotionally-driven story of the unlikely lifelong connection forged by young activist Abby and the titular wild blue grouper, which goes on to inform, inspire, and define her entire life. "I never had a desire for a public life, never
The most successful was Breath (2017), a coming-of-age story which united Wintons passion for the sea with a poignant examination of the emotional damage casually inflicted on two teenagers by a pair of charismatic but unthinking adults. Radha Mitchell plays Dora, an environmental activist. Winton was the first member of his family to go to university, where he studied creative writing. Get InReview in your inbox - free . We havent seen Eric do this for a while. The teenage Abby (Ilsa Fogg) is the perfect child, intellectually gifted, uncannily calm in a crisis and free of all the stroppiness that punctuates the adolescent years of more credible beings. Once Bremer Bay was decided on as a film location, the magic started to unfold. Donate to InReview today. paid $50,000 for second books ", That's the professional shaking his head in disbelief. On the one hand, it's a time when students should be challenged by texts more complex than anything they've experienced at primary school. the past few decades. awkward in that I don't know who it's for. He. An ecological novel on a boy who protects a fish from property developers and rapacious fishermen. The storytelling came via stars Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) and Eric Bana (The Dry, The Forgiven), and a young cast including Ilsa Fogg, Pedra Jackson and Ariel Donoghue. So its a pretty well-known story over here. I was
From the hard-to-find Metal Skin, through Somersault, The Black Balloon and the quietly incredible 2016 Is This The Real World, the Aussies routinely knock absolute gems out of the park. secular cesspool, environmentalism. I liked this film immensely. has stooped to the mawkish in this tale about world ecology that as message is indisputable but that as fiction is inane. commercially feted, from the first, An Open Swimmer, which was joint
His reviews and interviews with TV and film personalities have appeared in USA Today Network, Huffington Post, The Advocate, and other media outlets. Cloudstreet the Miles Franklin-winning novel about two families sharing a house in Perth between the 40s and 60s was also a "pleasure" to write. Listen back to his conversation with The Book Show's Claire Nichols. A classically Western Australian story from Tim Winton comes to the big screen with a star-studded cast including Mia Wasikowska and Eric Bana. I found it inspiring! childhood once available to us. Is that a sentiment you agree with, or are have you got a soft spot for the more direct approach if the occasion calls for it? And I love the dynamic between between Macka and Abby. Winton's novel was created for the young adult market, and is therefore a lot more positive and simply written than his novels for adults. In the book, for example, Abby is a 10-year-old boy, Abel. It can live up to 70 years. Whats going on?. The story of Abby, a young girl living with her environmentalist mother on Australia's pristine west coast. Its also a story about family at the end of the day, and its hard to imagine theres anyone wholl watch the film that wont find at least one element they cant relate to on some level, which can sometimes be a difficult balance to strike when it comes to independent productions that also wear their localization as such a proud badge of honor like Blueback does, which is a testament to how the film turned out. 100% (1) 100% found this document useful (1 vote) 2K views. Blueback is in cinemas around Australia from 1 January, Irreverent review a Chicago criminal goes undercover down under, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. With the always superb Radha Mitchell doing the heavy lifting as Dora and a deeply likeable Eric Bana, as local rogue and ally Macka, Blueback has talent to burn on screen. * making the coastal area they own a National park, stopping deforestation so that industries or parks could not be made; By continuing to use our site you are agreeing to our, Ten-day video challenge creates a snapshot of Adelaides music scene. ourselves. But once we were there, we were working on a normal film. Oh, this one! I have a need for a fairly big margin of privacy to feel that I
"That book just slipped out," he says. And I was like, Whats with the polystyrene fish? And, and somebody in my office said, Ah, thats Robs next project.. Its an urge shared by Abby and her widowed mother, Dora (Radha Mitchell), who has taught her well. There are no doubts, insecurities or moral weaknesses to be found here. Even as Abby is played by three different actors (Mia Wasikowska, Ilsa Fogg and Ariel Donoghue), the storytelling remains easy to follow and most importantly we understand there is purpose in constructing the film this way. I feel like everything that is being explored here has been relevant for a really long time. Blueback opens theatrically in wide release on March 3 and Blueback Quiver Distribution will also release the film on demand on April 21. But theres a twist in the lead role. Winton at this address are forwarded to him by his publisher. "I feel very specifically that I benefited from growing up where I did,
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