No. 55. (2020) DIRT MUSIC. Sept. 10th.

 

Film No. 55 (2020) September 10th.  9:30 AM  EVENT CINEMAS Vmax 11,  Innaloo.

"Now I really feel like a ghost, so I figured why not become one" (Lu's voice over to a note he wrote describing his reasons to move on).

I liked Dirt Music but I wanted to love it. There were too many vagaries in its story telling for it to really capture my heart. But it is an effective, sweeping love story told against the backdrop of two of the most beautiful, Western Australian coastal settings (Esperance & the Kimberley region) you're ever likely to see on screen.

Gregor Jordan (Two Hands, Unthinkable) returns to his Australian roots to direct a story written by Tim Winton. Not an easy task. The thing about Winton's prose is, there is an internalization that magically takes his reader to familiar emotions, which are not easily transposed to film. Perhaps this is why two of it's leads Kelly Macdonald (Georgie) and Garrett Hedlund (Lu) were cast. While neither are Australian (creating much criticism) they certainly have the look and some of the chemistry.

Georgie, seemingly has everything. A beautiful house overlooking stunning white sand and ocean, a ready made family, a wealthy fisherman husband Jim (David Wenham). She is however restless and emotionally unfulfilled. She craves to be truly loved. Two chance meetings with local loner, Lu, and she is smitten. But Lu has a deep, dark connection to Jim. The impending love story is going to bring angst, not to mention the opening of old wounds. It's here that Jordon doesn't quite develop a deeper "in" for his audience thus we might better understand why Lu is trapped in this, his brooding, emotional solitude.  

The story is not a complicated one. There are few original moves but there is some chemistry; thus rendering an authenticity to the compassion Jordan wants us to feel towards Georgie, Lu and eventually Jim. But is that enough? I ask the question because I simply loved the outdoor setting of every scene. I'm an unabated Esperance/Kimberley region devotee, so my opinion may not be enough to elevate Dirt Music to the heights its big studio execs would like. It's interesting that I've been unable to read anything of Winton's thoughts on Jordan's interpretation. There are rumours that he is not impressed. And oh, did I mention the soundtrack? Well Julia Stone, a local songstress with silky tones, appears fleetingly on screen, but it's her voice that wins D.M. another tick. 8GUMS.