No. 30 (2023) LIMBO May. 1st.

 

Film No. 30  (2023)  May 1st.  6:45 PM  LUNA LEEDERVILLE,  Cine 5, Leederville.

 

"No, I'm sorry. I don't know how to handle certain situations any more." (Travis issues an apology to his new friend Emma, as he continues to deal with his own frailties when dealing with intimate relationships).

NOMINEE : Best Film; Golden Bear (Ivan Sen) Berlin Film Festival 2023.

The mystery here is less the cold case that needs solving and more the cop Travis Hurley, brilliantly played by Simon Baker. Hurley has been sent to Umoona to solve a 20 year old murder. He's a good guy; complicated, but measured and empathetic towards a community as tired and dried out as the backdrop, a pock-marked moonscape. In this environment Travis discovers a little about himself.

Sen has such a brilliant eye for the Australian outback. He's as good as Rolf de Heer  when it comes to placing indigenous characters and their life stresses against the land that is theirs. Like de Heer's 10 CANOES, Sen chooses a monochrome/sepia tone for every scene. Hurley is a dusty, troubled, weathered warrior picking his way through the stark opal fields that is the fictional town of Umoona (Coober Pedy; South Australian region).

Hurley comes to us with no back story. He could be a Pale Rider, one of Clint Eastwood's intriguing character inventions. He's a man of few words, he arrives with a drug habit (heroine) and a slim file of case notes. His "digs" are an underground motel room with just a bed and a side-board. As we grow fond of this cop the character traits as a listener and quiet communicator is what we are drawn to. His temporary chariot, a 60's Dodge, adds to his mystery and charm. It's engine and squeaky springs adds dimension to the sepia tones.

The mystery of the cold-case takes a back seat as Hurley senses there is a whole lot of healing that needs to take place in Umoona. The case is a whole lot less complicated than the people involved. Emma, Charlie and Oscar, superbly played by Natasha Wanganeen, Rob Collins and Joshua Warrior weld the tale together, they give Travis a purpose. Something he's been lacking in a while; we assume!!  11GUMS.