Film No. 40 (2016) June 25th. 10.45 PM LUNA Leederville.
"Here we are being civilised to one another, but you and I know things are going to change sooner or later, because that's how life is Jay" (Maureen (Jacki Weaver) issues a warning dripping with saccharine to her nemesis Jay Swan (Aaron Pedersen).
Mystery Road was my favourite Australian film in 2015. It showed that Ivan Sen has a seriously good eye for our golden land and for infiltrating that barren sparseness with a lone wolf character experiencing more problems than the early settlers. Goldstone, his sequel, brings back Jay Swan in similar fashion without the credibility but with precisely the same genre quality.
Aaron Pederson (Jay Swan) the city trained cop who brought a semblance of morality and justice to the screen in Mystery Road returns to the screen to set things right in Goldstone, another outpost riddled with cruelty and corruption. Sen sacrifices storyline for golden, outback images a little too much this time but even the classic westerns of Howard Hawkes did the sameand they weren't any less engrossing for it.
Goldstone doesn't rattle along with any speed but Sen has a good sense of pace as scenes smoulder then gradually ignite. Josh (Alex Russell) is the young, lone, impressionable cop overseeing law enforcement in Goldstone. He's corruptable but there is innocence in his eyes, he knows his moral compass needs resetting. Local mayor Maureen (Jacki Weaver) bakes apple cakes for Josh to remind him about when and where he needs to turn a blind eye. Mining and illegal immigration for prostitution purposes are at the seat of the corruption.
As with High Noon or Rio Bravo there is a deadline by which good must conquer evil. Jay and the lovely May (Michelle Lim Davidson) guide Josh to his senses. Jay now has his ally for the all important "shootout", a scene Sen has made integral to both movies. Weaver set her mark as the malevolent Janine Cody in Animal Kingdom, her Maureen character lacks the same bite, which detracts from the conclusion. Critics are already rating Goldstone to be superior both visually and narratively to Mystery Road. From a visual POV I agree but I think the story could have been less simplistic. 9GUMS.
I thought it dripped with other stuff like acid and arsenic.
ReplyDeleteThe images were indeed golden.
Even the mine was golden.
Glad his moral compass was reset in the end when they spent those last scenes - he knew what he needed to do and what he wanted to do.
These deadline stories are great.
What did you think of the nerdy mine owner?