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Many newcomers in the film industry are often told not to overreach, and stick instead to manageable plots. This results in the usual types of films being produced over and over again.
James wakes up from prison and the first thing he does is searches for the corpse of the kid he was accused of killing, all for the sake of the boy’s mother and himself.
Scicluna, like many talented people, has set himself on a perilous course because of his now dark and sinister first feature, where he shows how much risk there is. There is no question people told him this was one of those projects you do not make because it is uncommercial which it is. My guess is Grant had known that he wasn’t getting a second chance so his chances on this one have skyrocketed. Therefore, he has created something unique and deeply moving.Â
When in Sydney, Scicluna was raised in the Blue Mountains, which is a National park, and one can easily imagine the amount of times he must have been warned to ‘be careful’ around the Colo River. It does not matter where the Yarra River is located for our purposes, the Downriver film was shot there. What is significant is that the river is lovely and terrifying at the same time, beautiful yet ominous.
Australian cinema is preoccupied with the perilous scenes of untouched beauty. Ten years ago Ray Lawrence had already made Jindabyne, a short film depicting a chilling attitude of some men who went fishing despite discovering a corpse in a river. Grant Scicluna’s tale complements Lawrence’s story, but takes a different twist and makes a grander concept it starts off with a missing corpse.
Identifying what kind of risks I mean can be tricky, like introducing a character and having them branding a barbarous murderer that the scene identifies your protagonist is a killer is a risk on its own. To highlight my point, let me recap the story of James (Reef Ireland) a juvenile delinquent. A guardian took him into a facility where a distraught woman (Alicia Gardiner) was looking for a certain answer. Assuming every set up has some sort of a conclusion, I am now in quest of his son’s remains. What did you do with him?
Yes, you guessed correctly. It was indeed James who had killed a child near a river while he was at the age of 10. Although, he wasn’t the only person there; but he was the only one that had to spend years in prison. Now out of prison, James has returned to the trailer home next to the river only this time he is armed with questions. Kerry Fox, playing James’ mother, does not allow him nor his absent father to reside at her new home. She intends to aid him, but is terrified at the same time.
James is homosexual. The majority of the main characters in the film are homosexual as well, such as Anthony (Tom Green), who may have been one of the boys who struck victim, and Damien (Charles Grounds), quite literally, the boy who lived next to the trailer. Admittedly, the homoerotic gazes within the story make the assumption that gay people are not only what they do, but a deeper meaning to their being.
But, the homosexuality does offer some contribution to the setting and the activities that unfold. But the homosexual crime still does not add up, There is the additional challenge some may pose, stating, there is already an ample amount of hate crimes as is, and not to mention stories depicting young boy gay murderers.
Scicluna is careful with these treacherous subject matter. It does clarify that action is character definition, and what orientation doesn’t matter. And, no one anticipates, for instance, black cinema to remain preoccupied solely with negative characters.
That argument is not particularly popular, but it is a tangent. The most difficult thing to achieve is also the most gratifying there, that is, in such a manner that character development is well considered the most and natural, alongside a suspenseful and moody atmosphere. There is impressive tension in the movie from beginning to end due to the astounding performances of the three young men.
Some veteran actors, like Robert Taylor as Paige’s love interest and the infrequently seen Helen Morse as a hermit woman, contribute to what is a very harsh tale. These movies about the killing of a child, even the classics like Mystic River, are always difficult.
In contrast to the other works, Down river’s narrative is filled with gaps and missing spots, but that hardly matters. One may ponder their sanity in such moments of expecting panic. It boils down to one not expecting perfection, in contrast, Downriver transports us to places where few movies have dared take us before now, that is exciting.Â
Scicluna Call Out, claims that it is a detective novel in which the detective turns out to be the murderer a clever twist, but true. It is a tale concerning redemption, subterfuge, and the shadows lurking at the end of the sidewalk. The comparison with David Michod’s Animal Kingdom and Justin Kurzel’s Snow town is quite relevant. These films are blunt, unforgiving, and accusatory. Is there a new Australian Gothic cinema movement or not?
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