But theres a twist in the lead role. Neither Mitchell and Wasikowska can do much to enliven dialogue that is more bound up with the life cycle of a groper than the shifting emotions involved in being human. Years later, when Abel is older, he returns to the bay and plays with Blueback again, but when his mother passes away he returns to his studies about the ocean. And then they were about to start theirs. Add to Goodreads. In terms of how it pushed me personally, I got to do a crash course in scuba diving, which I'd never done before. His books have been adapted to the stage and screen, and he's been named a National Living Treasure. Two jam-packed days of conversations with writers you love and others you're going to love, on August 6 and 7 on your radio, online and ABC listen. In the book, for example, Abby is a 10-year-old boy, Abel. Eric Bana: Yeah, its really honest. How can we help the environment? Moving between and integrating these timelines becomes a core structural challenge. Photo: Roadshow, This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google, InDaily uses cookies. Blueback stars an animatronic fish but its the humans who are floundering. children's literature is the little league, adults the big. slight. His reviews and interviews with TV and film personalities have appeared in USA Today Network, Huffington Post, The Advocate, and other media outlets. A simple but effective way of saying: she is remembering. At eight, shes already mastered the art of free diving. "One area is the environment, in giving up certain liberties to deliver The storytelling came via stars Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) and Eric Bana (The Dry, The Forgiven), and a young cast including Ilsa Fogg, Pedra Jackson and Ariel Donoghue. Were working to restore it. Winton spent so many years trying to find a way to finish the story, that some of his children had never seen him working on a different book. A wise exploration of the difference between the acquisition of information and the quest for knowledge, Tim Winton's gem-like ecological fable will warm the hearts of his fans. And otherwise, the goal feels like its its not as achievable. We get so much joy and connection, and from the ocean and from our environment. At 21 he won the Vogel's Literary Award for his first book, An Open Swimmer. Mia Wasikowsa: I think you have to respect the fact that for young people, theres so much anxiety with the world that theyre inheriting, and to offer some positivity and hope is sort of I mean, thats the only otherwise you kind of go, Oh, whats the point? And I feel like thats really important for young people. Thank you to Penguin Books Australia. Abel Jackson has lived by the sea at Longboat Bay ever since he could remember. Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2013. ", He holds little hope for a Canberra-led revival. This film should certainly help in that ongoing fight. ", "I don't think art needs an excuse to exist. Editon Published June 25th 2014. responsive. Ahead of the release, We Got This Covered had the chance to talk to Bana and Wasikowska about the project, the difficulties of shooting on location during the pandemic, their own thoughts on the perils of climate change and much more, which you can check out below. Adapted from Tim Winton's best-selling 1997 novella of the same name, co-writer and director Robert Connolly tells the environmentally-conscious and emotionally-driven story of the unlikely. I also feel the universality of it is beyond gender. in later but at the time it was very, very hard. Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get InReview in your inbox - free . Blueback intertwines three decades in the lives of mother and daughter Abby and Dora. can". promote-and-negotiate overseas tour - but he remains at best a diffident "I feel very specifically that I benefited from growing up where I did, Also, its a role that subsumes itself to the women who drive the story, which I think is also another fantastic quality that he has as an actor.. , Exclusive: Blueback's Mia Wasikowska and Eric Bana Open Up About Their Heartwarming New Film, Two Planned DCU Projects Remain a Mystery, Including James Gunn's Favorite, 10 Gut-Wrenching Movies That Are Too Sad to Rewatch, The Little Mermaid's Live-Action Sebastian Design Revealed in Merchandise - and Continues a Disappointing Disney Trend. Tim Winton is appearing as part of ABC RN's Big Weekend of Books. that writing is (a) "essentially a tedious occupation I spend scads of time And we can see that Erik Thomson is up to mischief even before he turns up in a white suit. We meet the pair when Abby is an eight-year-old, obsessed with diving, then again when she is a teen ditto, just deeper and then with Abby in her 30s or so, working as a marine biologist, when she learns Dora has fallen in ill. It was really wonderful. Overall, you get a sense of how real it all felt when you watch the film and particularly for the cast who had to interact with the fish. In an early scene, after examining a piece of coral, she delivers sad news to fish on her boat: Your home is dying and I dont know how to help. It signposts the film as an environmentalist statement you could describe as a little on the nose, though it (like the Avatar movies) has good reason to be bold with its messaging, given our dramatically escalating climate crisis and a myriad reasons to be concerned about the state of our oceans. Probably towards the end of this year would be a rough guess. Robert. In one scene, adult Abby, during a moment of melancholic reflection, casts her gaze towards sand dunes, before Connolly cuts to teenage Abby walking across them. Blueback is an achingly beautiful story about family, belonging, and living a life in tune with the environment, from Tim Winton, one of Australia's best-loved authors.Abel Jackson's boyhood belongs to a vanishing world. Mia Wasikowska: No, no, no, no, no, you go first! Some Blueback fodder that should pique audience interest: Creating Blueback, the hero of the film, was an undertaking. Oh, this one! Blueback by Tim Winton Year 7 Background Abel Jackson lives for and from the sea. Abel realises his mother is looking older; she asks him does he think she should sell up and he is shocked. And its just, I think its a real triumph, and I think the audience can tell when things are CGI, and theres something really special about about our fish, because its so physically real, and for the cast to be able to interact with it. Mia Waskikowska: Yeah, this was my only pandemic film, actually. The film is heavily anchored in messaging about conservation, the environment and saving our planet in the best way we know how. Winton says he was a little shocked when he learned the lead character was no longer a boy called Abel, but a girl. Blueback is an achingly beautiful story about family, belonging, and living a life in tune with the environment, from Tim Winton, one of Australia's best-loved authors.Abel Jackson's boyhood belongs to a vanishing world. Blueback intertwines three decades in the lives of mother and daughter Abby and Dora. Adapted from Tim Wintons best-selling 1997 novella of the same name, co-writer and director Robert Connolly tells the environmentally-conscious and emotionally-driven story of the unlikely lifelong connection forged by young activist Abby and the titular wild blue grouper, which goes on to inform, inspire, and define her entire life. He forms a connection with a fish - Blueback - while diving. moved by how moved they were by it.." Moved too by the money they offered, And the messaging is very subtle, very organic. Photo: David Dare Parker, [Tim] is just a deeply humanist storyteller its very moving its fun and optimistic, but its also got deep elements about a life lived.. For 55 days and nights he rewrote Dirt Music, "while my wife looked on, like I was a ticking bomb", he says. Like in Connollys previous feature The Dry, theres plenty of air in the frame and space for contemplation. And I think it sort of sends a message that increasing your local biodiversity is almost one of the most powerful things you can do to contribute to the climate. Eric, did you meet the star of the show Blueback at all during your time on set, or was he being a diva and refusing to interact with people who werent direct scene partners? The acting is mostly great, the underwater cinematography is superb and the selection of songs on the soundtrack suggest that Robert Connolly's record collection would be an agreeable place to spend a couple of hours. "far more than for other fatter books". It's pretty special, and it was a great choice on Robs part., I just saw a blue groper 10 minutes down from where I live in the bay there, so they're around, Wasikowska pointed out. Here are a few thoughts for you to think about: Turning lights off in rooms we aren't using, Drying clothes on the line not in the dryer, "Up and down they went hanging on the each breath taking a couple of abalone from each clump leaving the rest to breed and grow". notion that you have to earn belonging, to earn some kind of comfort and ease A feature film adaptation of Tim Winton's 1997 novella Blueback (Penguin) has received production funding from Screen Australia in its latest funding round.. Writer/director Robert Connolly of Arenamedia will work with producers Liz Kearney and James Grandison on the adaptation, which follows a young girl (changed from a young boy in the novel) who befriends a wild groper while diving, and . Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email. Set across three distinct time periods that sees Ilsa Fogg and Ariel Donoghue also play Abby at different points, Bana lends support as the roguish abalone diver Macka, who ends up having a huge impact on the inspiring conservationist. The film drifts around a bit, neither plot-driven nor super stylish, but its a nice, gentle kind of drift. Eric, you of course previously worked with Robert on The Dry which was a massive hit in Australia and has become something of an unsung cult favourite around the world, so theres going to be a lot of people excited for the sequel, if youre not forbidden from sharing any details on that. persuasive effect. Its achieved with elegance; temporal displacements feeling less like flashbacks or flash forwards than different refractions of the same prism. They do this by: is timeless. It could emerge as one of the more embraceable for-the-entire-family films to drop this season. He has been to various countries but now resides back in Western Australia. We meet the pair when Abby is an eight-year-old, obsessed with diving, then again when she is a teen - ditto,. family's - and his own - privacy with zeal. A powerful story for generations opens our 2023 season of films under the stars. I would recommend Blueback. Blueback is an achingly beautiful story about family, belonging and living a life in tune with the environment, from Tim Winton, one of Australia's best-loved authors.. Abel Jackson lives with his mother, Dora, at Longboat Bay, an isolated stretch of coast whose waters teem with fish. BLUEBACK, SAYS TIM WINTON OF HIS NEW NOVEL, is "one of those odd books that just show up". Later he tells me For them, its like, whatever, you're there. I love it. Tim Winton recalls a recent moment when he led his elderly mother to the beach, to help her into the water. If three hours of the new Avatar is more than you can stand, you might find this fable of family and the ocean far more to your taste. He is also a strong supporter of marine and environmental conservation. so that people in need will be clothed and fed? And they are the most full-time writer since 1982, he has remained trenchantly suspicious of the Blueback is an achingly beautiful story about family, belonging and living a life in tune with the environment, from Tim Winton, one of Australia's best-loved authors. READ MORE: * The movies I'm most looking forward to in the first-half of 2023 * I Wanna Dance with Somebody: Phenomenal performances lift Kiwi screenwriter's disappointing Whitney Houston biopic * Top Gun: Maverick, Whina and Moonage Daydream among the films I truly loved this year * The Lost King: Sally Hawkins shines in a breezy, enjoyable and very watchable tale. TIM WINTON'S BLUEBACK AND STAGE 4 STUDENTS Luke Bartolo F inding the right novel for a Year 7 class can be quite a tricky task. And I knew I knew I was determined. Eric Bana makes a regrettably brief appearance as a genial abalone diver who retains Doras friendship despite his delinquency in harvesting a few more molluscs than he should. Wasikowska was blown away by the extraordinary locale, noting Bremer Bays coastal eye candy. 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