Watermark

The cast of Watermark all deliver great performances. In a film with little dialogue, it's exciting to see a group of actors bringing such depth to their performances. Jai Koutrae, being present in almost every scene, exudes emotion. Watermark is just amazing for its really strong performances. In an interview, the cast said they worked a lot with the director in rehearsals on the methods of unspoken communication and you can see the results in the finished film. Another aspect of the film that sets it apart is the way in which the characters' emotions are drawn out through the visual imagery. It's rare to achieve such heights in feeling without recourse to the spoken word. The water almost becomes another silent but powerful character in the film. It envelops the characters.

I came out of this film just shaking. It was so moving. It is a bit like Morvern Callar and you can tell its made by a young director because it takes so many risks. The film is a bit slow at the beginning but then it gathers pace and it is so frightening at the end that anything could happen. The young actor Jai Koutrae plays a man who is very disturbed under the calm exterior. It is a difficult role but he gives an amazing performance and is able to transform between time periods seemlessly. He is really looking like the next big thing because of his degree of subtle transformation that he is able to make. The scrrenplay is unusual because it is a film that is light on dialogue but there is plenty of action. However I think the film will shock a lot of people who go and see it. It's a brave film and some will find its themes and depiction very uncomforting.

I think WATERMARK is so interesting. It reminds me of PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK-it's so weird and a genuinely frightening film. It's a film that causes so much discussion. I can see why it had a debut at Cannes-and it also had only 5 crew!!! It is so unlike your average Australian film-it's worth going along for the ride

Watermark attracted attention when it was selected for the Directors' Fortnight at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. It's the first feature for writer and co-scriptwriter Georgina Willis who, with producer and co-scriptwriter Kerry Rock, then self-released the film in Australia.

Watermark follows Jim (Jai Koutrae) and his relationship with two different women in two different eras: the 1970s and now. Much of the film is silent and explores the relationships the three have with water and each other.

Georgina Willis' background is in visual arts, which goes towards explaining her prodigious talent at visual storytelling. Shots are framed from interesting angles (stairwells for example), giving the audience voyeuristic insight into the characters. And the dreamlike infusion of water, the beach and sea into the story adds sensuality and a mythic quality to the film. It also emphasises Watermark's 'Australianness' without jingoism.

Although not a conventional thriller, there's a twist towards the end of the film, which is built upon by Allyson Newman's suspenseful soundtrack. While occasionally intrusive, the music is also appropriate and reflects elemental influences – water and the unconscious mind.

It's a shame, then, that when the actors speak, they destroy the mood Willis has worked so hard to create. With the exception of some of the 1970s sequences, the cast manage to be simultaneously flat, hysterical and unconvincing in conversation – whereas, when silent, their performances are profound. It's not their fault – Willis needs to manage her actors better. Thankfully, the most irritating scenes appear early in the film, so that the last half can wash over you. **½/***** stars.

You've really got to wonder. Upstairs in Sydney's State theatre, after the festival screening of WATERMARK, a thousand people (the one's left after a heavy walk out) are begging extra audience ballot papers so they can vote how awful the thing was another time and down stairs the film maker is hosting an approving gathering, explaining that after sending her to Cannes with it, the Australian Film Commission is freighting round the planet, this incomprehensible, protracted, pretentious wannabe production with it's soapie actor's delivery awful synth. score in a theatrical guage blow up.

There may be a time and place for such apprentice works (I nominate Tasmania in 1985) but to put it shoulder to shoulder with international product is symptomatic of how far the local funding structure has lost contact with reality.

I'm assured there is a plot line to do with the character who has a naked beach make out with the mother of the child she drowns while suffering from post birth depression thus crippling his subsequent relationships. Exactly where all this occurs in the endless driving point of view shots and boat repairs, I'm unable to say. Oh and they purloined Goddard's switched letters plot somewhere in there too.