Blueback

Celebrated Australian novelist Tim Winton is one of those literary figures whose work just never quite seems to translate wholly successfully from the page to the screen. Arguably Simon Baker's 2017 adaption of Breath, may be the exception. But Robert Connolly's Blueback, follows Gregor Jordan's 2020 adaption of Dirt Music, in being a terrific film to look at, whilst simultaneously lacking dramatic heft. And this is despite Winton himself being given a co - screenwriting credit along with director Connolly, whose last film, The Dry, I loved.

The cinematography both above and under the water is exceptional. The acting is competent without anyone particularly standing out. Ostensible lead Mia Wasikowska as the adult Abby Jackson is rarely ever challenged to get out of first gear, as is Eric Bana, in very much a support role as Mad Macka. Radha Mitchell perhaps contributes most obviously in her energetic portrayal of activist mum of Abby, Dora, in her younger years. I personally found the largely classically - inspired musical soundtrack too reminiscent of countless mid twentieth century Disney wildlife documentaries. But the big weakness was rather ironically perhaps considering the screenwriters, the storyline. With just a few exceptions, this is a film in which not a great deal happens during its 100 minute running time, despite constant time shifts and flash backs.

Whereas the mother / daughter* relationship is way overplayed (*In the book Abby is Able ... a boy.) Erik Thomson's "villain" Costello, is so lightly treated and gets so little screen time, we never fully understand the enmity between the Jacksons and him. BTW Abby only seems to have been made female in order to experience an interracial teenage romance, which again, doesn't seem to go anywhere in terms of the general narrative. It just serves as filler content, which didn't appear in the literary source.

It's only fair to add that the film, despite the changes mentioned, does stick very closely to its source material's welcome environmental and domestic relationship themes. Thankfully too, it does manage to coalesce into a genuinely moving climax. It's just that Blueback's storyline unwinds at such a languid pace, there are precious few thrills and unexpected excitements in getting there.

Blueback is a frequently charming and completely inoffensive and wholesome family film. (I have no idea why its Australian Classification is M - mature audiences.) But for this punter, its lack of a genuinely engaging screenplay, made for an overall underwhelming cinematic experience.

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.

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.

Abby, a young woman working as a marine biologist, recalls her teenage years with her mother in Western Australia. She is introduced to the diverse marine life in the bay she grew up in, makes friends with a blue groper and helps her mother fight to protect the bay's marine life from encroaching property developers.

A straight-forward, heart-felt film with a pleasant, leisurely pace about pursuing a passion to protect something you care about, aimed at a young audience. The flash-back narrative structure is nostalgic and makes clear why the adult Abby is working to protect the bleaching coral reef, but it obviates any emotional or dramatic impact from either time-period. The underwater photography of the ocean life, and the actors interacting with it, is very beautifully shot, tranquil and convincing of the film's thesis, to protect ocean life. Though short on depth and complexity the film successfully depicts the simplicity and integrity of spending your life caring for your immediate environment.

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.