"The Dry" -- Movie Review

 

This week, Lincoln Center arranged an advance screening of the new Australian crime thriller from IFC Films, “The Dry”, starring Eric Bana.

Synopsis

When an investigator is asked to help solve a murder-suicide, will the suspicious locals let him do his job even though they are aware of his own questionable past?

Story

Having spent the past twenty years living in Melbourne, Aaron Falk (Bana) has managed to earn great success as a federal agent – but he still has many memories of the small town in the Victoria region where he grew up.  Not all of those memories are necessarily good, however.  Part of the reason why he hasn’t been back there in quite some time is because people believe that he covered up a girl’s murder when they were adolescents.  Falk has been haunted with that possibility ever since.  Now, with that farming town enduring a drought that has lasted almost a year, Falk must return to attend the funeral of his old friend, Luke. 

Luke is believed to have died in a murder-suicide, where it’s thought that he killed his wife and son before taking his own life.  What makes attending this funeral even more painful for Falk is the fact that Luke is believed to have been the one who murdered Ellie, their mutual friend.  While in town for the funeral, Luke’s parents ask Falk to unravel this mystery to determine why this tragedy happened.  Reluctantly, he agrees to stay on a while longer to see if he can figure out all of this.  It won’t be easy, though, because many of the residents still remember who Falk is and believe he was complicit in Ellie’s death.

During his stay, Falk rekindles a relationship he had with Gretchen; a mother now, Gretchen knew Falk back in the day and was also friends with Ellie and Luke.  During his investigation, Falk becomes suspicious of just about everyone he interviews.  There are so many people in this area that theoretically could have insight into what may have happened, but still no clue as to why.  Will Falk be able to solve the crime and in so doing, restore his good name?    

Review

“The Dry” is based on a popular novel of the same name by Jane Harper; in Australia, this movie adaptation was a big hit.  What’s most compelling about the film is not only the crime that Falk is trying to solve, but also, his own personal demons from the past that centered around that area where he grew up.  His internal struggles to come to terms with his fallibility as a mere teen are interwoven with the investigation, where he encounters a number of triggering moments.  Falk will never forget what happened, but will he ever forgive himself?

Where “The Dry” becomes problematic is in how it resolves both stories – the crime and Falk’s past.  Although the loose ends are tied up by the conclusion of the movie, it’s easy to get a little confused by some of the details.  While viewers can certainly draw their own conclusion about these specifics, it’s probably best to read the novel before seeing the film.  In writing this review, information about the book had to be researched in order to confirm (or refute) certain assumptions.  This can turn out to be more than just a little bit frustrating since some things aren’t spelled out as clearly as one might like, given the two-hour investment.   

Following the screening, there was a Zoom interview with the star of “The Dry”, Eric Bana, and the director/co-writer, Robert Connolly.  Connolly said that he was given a manuscript of the book before it was published; he liked it so much he eventually approached Bana about appearing in the adaptation – coincidentally, by that time, Bana’s wife had already read the book and urged him to join on.  Bana said that he was intrigued by the story more so than the character; what he found appealing was the idea of attending a school reunion you didn’t really want to attend.  The movie was shot mostly out of sequence, except for the scenes with the teenagers.     

 

"Gull" -- Movie Review

 

This week at the New Directors/New Films series, I screened the South Korean drama, “Gull”.  

Synopsis

When an older woman is raped by a coworker, what impact will this have on her life -- both professionally and personally?

Story

In her early 60’s, O-bok is a woman who is looking forward to marrying her eldest daughter -- even though she may not necessarily be that crazy about her fiancé.  For over thirty years, O-bok has worked at a fish market in Seoul; she is basically the breadwinner of the family as her husband can’t support their family of three grown daughters -- the middle one already married with her own family and the youngest merely looking to party.  One night after work, O-bok socializes with the other workers at the market; afterwards, she is sexually assaulted by one of them.

Initially, she tries to keep it a secret from everyone.  Having incurred some serious injuries as a result of the attack, she seeks medical help and is forced to take some time off from work.  Eventually returning to the market, she asks one of the supervisors to help her by getting her attacker to apologize to her -- but when she refuses to tell him the reason why, he is reluctant to be of assistance.  Soon, rumors abound and her fellow market workers hear about what happened and urge O-bok to remain silent as speaking out may have a negative impact on the future of their market.  

Ultimately, O-bok realizes that she must share her story with her family.  While the daughters are understandably horrified, her husband is of no use as he accuses her of being at fault.  O-bok’s middle daughter tries to come to her aid by urging her to file an official police report.  Once everyone else hears about this, it only exacerbates the situation at the market; O-bok winds up getting into a physical confrontation with one of the other women and the police are forced to intervene.  When she sees that she must finally leave her job at the market, O-bok seeks out the man who attacked her -- but will this confrontation resolve the issue?  

Review

The beauty of subtlety and nuance in a film are never better displayed than in “Gull” -- and it may be no coincidence that this is because its director is a woman.  One of the wisest choices Kim Mi-jo makes in telling the story visually is what she doesn’t show on camera -- specifically, the scene where O-bok is raped.  Likely the reason for this is in order to avoid being exploitative, which is smart -- also, being a woman, she probably didn’t want to put her female lead in a rather uncomfortable position to have to shoot a scene where she would be terribly vulnerable.  

One criticism of the movie would have to do with the ending.  It seems a bit ambiguous in the sense that we are apparently supposed to believe that O-bok confronts her attacker and may or may not be able to get some degree of revenge and/or justice.  This ambiguity seems to hurt the film, at least in terms of its conclusion.  Perhaps a more satisfying resolution would have been greater clarity -- regardless of the outcome.  Obtaining justice would have been an upbeat ending, but not getting it might have been downbeat but more realistic.  Since this is a neophyte director, such a transgression might be forgiven.       

Following the screening, there was an interview with the director Kim Mi-jo.  She said that the reason why alcohol is so prominent in her movie is because it is very much part of the culture in South Korea.  It is a way of bonding with others, especially your co-workers.  Her ideas for stories usually start with a theme of human desire.  When she originally conceived of the film, the character was not an older woman -- but then, she considered what would happen if the woman who was assaulted was her mother?