Regular readers will know my penchant for supporting Australian movies. The latest edition, Jasper Jones, makes this all the more easy. What a wonderful Australian movie.
thanks to Madman
Before I launch into the review I have to admit a secret. I haven’t read the book. Thankfully a quick show of hands from the small audience showed I wasn’t alone. One only person had read the book, two if you count the English Teacher but I’m not sure you can, can you?
Adapted from Craig Silvey’s best-selling Australian novel the story unfolds from the viewpoint of Charlie Bucktin, a shy, quiet 14 year old boy living in a small West Australian town (locals will delight in recognising Pemberton).
Set in 1969, one hot summer night Charlie is woken by someone tapping on the louver windows of his bedroom. When the local lad of mixed-race outcast, Jasper Jones, asks for help Charlie is shocked. Jones had never even acknowledged his existence before. Their late night journey deep into the forest uncovers something that will change both their lives forever.
But it doesn’t stop with just these two lads. The whole small town community is ripped open as secrets get revealed in the quest to solve a disappearance.
With the central theme about ‘outcasts’, Charlie learns about friendship, first love and the meaning behind the Mark Twain quote ‘courage is the master of fear not the absence of fear’.
The cast … wow. Sure it boasts brilliant performances by Toni Collette, Hugo Weaving, Dan Wyllie but we’ve come to expect that haven’t we. Weaving is a delight as the scary loner on the hill. The real joy though was watching the young cast, each one a stand out on their own and collectively wonderful.
As we small band of movie reviewers chatted about what we’d seen I pondered …
- It was a real delight to see Pemberton on the big screen. The tall trees were atmospheric characters in their own right, particularly the wide expansive tree at the lake;
- So too the louver window, the old cars and the fashion, so many memories;
- The future of Australian movie making is in good hands if this young cast is anything to go by;
- I can see this becoming another Australian classic.
For more details go to Luna Cinemas. There will be a special Q and A with the director Rachel Perkins, writer Craig Silvey and some actors on Feb 24th and March 5th. Season starts March 2
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