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Blueback is a film adaptation of Tim Winton's 1997 novel of the same name, directed by Robert Connolly and starring Mia Wasikowska, Eric Bana and Radha Mitchell. The film tells the story of Abby, a young girl who befriends a wild blue grouper while diving in the pristine waters of Western Australia. As Abby grows up, she learns about the threats facing her marine friend and her home, and decides to take action to protect them.

The film is a visually stunning ode to nature, with breathtaking underwater scenes that showcase the beauty and diversity of life in the ocean. The film also explores themes such as family, identity, activism and environmentalism, with a strong female perspective. Wasikowska gives a nuanced performance as Abby, who evolves from a curious child to a passionate woman. Bana and Mitchell are also convincing as her supportive father and mother, who share her love for the sea.

Blueback is a moving and inspiring film that celebrates the bond between humans and animals, and the importance of preserving our natural heritage. It is a film that will appeal to audiences of all ages who care about our planet.

Saw this at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival

"Blueback" is a story about Abby, a child who befriends a magnificent wild blue groper while diving. When Abby realizes that the fish is under threat, she takes inspiration from her activist Mum, Dora, and takes on poachers to save her friend. Tim Winton novel called "Blueback" was a book I read as a child and I remember enjoying it quite a lot. Director Robert Connolly clearly has talent on directing and camerawork as this movie has really amazing camerawork of the Oceania landscapes and some cool underwater sequences. Each scenes that shows the fishes, reefs and ocean grounds were beautiful and felt like you are inside of the ocean and experiencing it. Unfortunately the film falls onto the example of style over substance as the film carries a disjointed narrative and unreliable structure.

I understand the purpose of each characters arches but the film doesn't do a great job on developing the characters as the characters didn't feel properly fleshed out. The performances were pretty good but they weren't really able to carry the film due to the lack of character development and poor structure of the story. Many themes of environmentalism and save the ocean are explored but Connolly doesn't seem to understand how to approach these topics properly and they fell all over the place. For a children's film, the film does take a very long time to get to the point and from someone who enjoys slow pace films, Blueback doesn't feel very earned.

The runtime doesn't feel justified as there were several moments that felt like filler, some of the dialogue was pretty bad and the disjointed execution doesn't help to make the film interesting. Winton's books are pretty interesting and have chances to be adapted into films but Blueback isn't one of the good adaptations unfortunately. Overall, there are great camerawork and production throughout but the positives are overshadowed by it's negatives.

Rating: C.

Along Australia's vast and beautiful ocean coastline Abby is a marine biologist assessing the health of coral reefs and fisheries. Just when the future for the ocean and its wildlife looks bleak and sad to her, Abby receives an urgent call about the health of her estranged mother, Dora. Abbey's return home brings her back in touch not only with her mom but with her roots and why she chose to study the ocean in the first place. There are flashbacks to when Abby was a girl, first learning to swim and dive with her mom, her inspirational artwork, and a friendly and sensitive blue grouper she once knew. As Abby reforges the connections with her mom, nature, the ocean, and to all their combined wonders, it renews her sense of hope.

The immense blue vistas, colorful coral reefs, and spectacular sunsets of Australia combine with interesting characters and touching relationships both human and animal. "It is a passionate call to arms to save the oceans," said director Robert Connolly who was present at this world premiere screening at the Toronto International Film Festival. Blueback is not preachy and does not take a doomsday approach, but it reveals many of the challenges that oceans face and remedies for a brighter future such as marine reserves and sustainable harvesting. The film is based on a story by Tim Winter, who is popular in Australia. The gigantic blue grouper ("groper" in the Canadian write up about the film, LOL) is a puppet and is not created through computer animation. The relationship chemistry and dialogues are cheesy at times, but overall Blueback is a well-made, timely, and inspiring film.

The foremost criticism of Blueback is the same one everyone makes when they've read the book first: why are some things left out (to save time, supposedly), then other things added in. This is a general thing that's annoying about movies, so not singular to this movie. With that out of the way, it's a pretty good adaptation of Tim Winton's book. It conveys the story accurately, has the main scenes you're waiting to see, has the same message, etc. The cinematography is excellent. Breathtaking natural footage, which really fits with Winton's message, that the ecosystem here is beautiful and should be cherished and cared for. Bravo.

Beautiful Australian drama, based on an anonymous novel, Australia once again starring in beautiful images of its hydro system, and the marine biography, with meticulous and talented photography... And curiously the following year a Blue Grouper known as Gus, who swims alongside divers, was mercilessly killed by a man with a spear who was only fined US$500, a beautiful and necessary film, simple and efficient...

Abby is a child who becomes friends with a magnificent wild Blue Groper while diving. When Abby realizes that the fish is under threat, she is inspired by her activist mother, Dora, and faces poachers to save her friend. Thus begins her long journey to save the coral reefs.