Fishing Down Under

Aussie drama Jindabyne reels in a stunning character study

Comments (0) By Phillip Valys Thursday, Jul 19 2007

There’s a passé adage that’s swapped among the most fervid fishermen: angling is always cheaper than a psychiatrist. But when some dead lass washes up against the lakebed while you’re busy hooking trout, couch time with your favorite quack sounds pretty sensible. So how can you reason what an Aussie quartet did after chancing upon a buck-naked female aborigine floating facedown in New South Wales’ Jindabyne Lake? Those intrepid Welshmen kept on reeling in the salmon. What? It would’ve ruined their hedonistic trip otherwise, boy crikey! And so what if the incident continued knocking around in their noggins, sapping away their pleasure like carp nibbling at bait? The river was swarming and the day was young.

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Such is one portion of the film Jindabyne; relative unknown Ray Lawrence’s sober stagger through eviscerated marriages (the one between Laura Linney and Gabriel Byrne is particularly poignant), unsupervised children experimenting with torture and masochism (ah, to be young), plus the aforementioned dead gal’s discovery that corrodes the perpetually-frazzled township even further.

The tension-riddled and emotionally arresting drama Jindabyne screens all week at Lake Worth Playhouse (713 Lake Ave., Lake Worth) and Cinema Paradiso (503 SE Sixth St., Fort Lauderdale). Tickets cost $5 to $8 at both venues. Call 561-586-6410 (LWP) and 954-525-3456 (CP), or www.lakeworthplayhouse.org and visit www.fliff.com.