DIRT MUSIC
***
Director: Gregor Jordan
Screenwriter: Jack Thorne, based on the eponymous novel by Tim Winton.
Principal cast:
Kelly Macdonald
Garrett Hedlund
David Wenham
Aaron Pedersen
Dan Wylie
Chris Haywood
Country: Australia/UK
Classification: M
Runtime: 105 mins.
Australian release date: 8 October 2020.
“‘Dirt music’, Fox tells Georgie, is ‘anything you can play on a veranda or porch, without electricity.’” - Tim Winton, Dirt Music.
As you would expect from the title of Tim Winton’s novel and Gregor Jordan’s film of the same name, music forms an important part of this story about two lost souls finding each other in the vastness of Western Australia, not in the outback but on the coast. And, as is often the nature of matters of the heart, it’s not an easy road they travel. Dirt Music was shot on the Dampier Peninsula in the far north and Esperance and Perth in the south of the state, but it’s the northern scenes that stand out. The land and sea become characters in the screenplay once the action gets to Cape Leveque. The locations are simply stunning.
Georgie Jutland (Scottish actress Kelly Macdonald) is in a fairly frosty relationship with Jim Buckridge (David Wenham), in the fishing town of White Point, north of Perth. Jim’s the big man in town, owner of the largest boat and most of the lucrative crayfish licences, as was his father before him, and he acts like he runs the place. He met Georgie on holiday in Bali but, deep down, he’s still grieving the death of his wife and mother of his two young sons. Georgie comes from a well-off Perth family and she hasn’t exactly been welcomed by the townsfolk, so she’s often left on her own when Jim’s at sea. One morning, while taking an early swim, she spots Lu Fox (US actor Garrett Hedlund) returning from doing a bit of poaching from other people’s craypots. Intrigued, she tracks him down to his rickety shack, where she learns that he was once a ‘dirt musician’ but a terrible tragedy has caused him to abandon playing music. Before long, the pair have begun an intense affair but Lu flees north when he finds out she’s with Jim. It seems that the Buckridges and the Foxes have history, and it’s not pretty.
An Australian/UK co-pro, Dirt Music the movie began when a friend sent English producer Finola Dwyer a copy of Winton’s book and she fell in love with it. She also fell for the character of Georgie because, “She’s a character that we rarely get to see on the big screen,” she explained. “And at Wildgaze [Dwyer and co-producer Amanda Posey’s production company], we are drawn to projects where the stories we want to tell give women agency.” Dwyer approached prolific English screenwriter Jack Thorne to pen the script and then turned to Aussie production company Aquarius Films to partner with her in the project. They then sent director Gregor Jordan the screenplay and he “… was blown away by Jack’s choices. Jack took this epic novel and honed it into a cinematic arc. Immediately I was excited at the prospect of making this film.” The rest, as they say, is history.
Both Macdonald and Hedlund have very good Australian accents, to their credit, because it’s not an easy accent to do well. Even Meryl Streep couldn’t manage it convincingly in Fred Schepisi’s Evil Angels. There’s something about their performances, however, that doesn’t quite fit the text and it’s hard to believe that they are involved in a passionate relationship. They don’t fire and there’s no heat in their affair. Hedlund sings and plays guitar well, though, and is very believable as a member of the Fox family band (with Julia Stone and George Mason). Wenham is always on the mark and is terrific in the not very savoury role of Jim, plus there are some great smaller parts for Aaron Pedersen, Dan Wyllie and Chris Haywood.
In the final analysis, it must be said that Dirt Music is a bit dour, not having the benefit of the beauty, subtlety and depth of Winton’s written words. There’s not enough light in the shade. Where it does win, however, is in its extraordinary settings and it’s worth the price of admission for those alone.
Screenwriter: Jack Thorne, based on the eponymous novel by Tim Winton.
Principal cast:
Kelly Macdonald
Garrett Hedlund
David Wenham
Aaron Pedersen
Dan Wylie
Chris Haywood
Country: Australia/UK
Classification: M
Runtime: 105 mins.
Australian release date: 8 October 2020.
“‘Dirt music’, Fox tells Georgie, is ‘anything you can play on a veranda or porch, without electricity.’” - Tim Winton, Dirt Music.
As you would expect from the title of Tim Winton’s novel and Gregor Jordan’s film of the same name, music forms an important part of this story about two lost souls finding each other in the vastness of Western Australia, not in the outback but on the coast. And, as is often the nature of matters of the heart, it’s not an easy road they travel. Dirt Music was shot on the Dampier Peninsula in the far north and Esperance and Perth in the south of the state, but it’s the northern scenes that stand out. The land and sea become characters in the screenplay once the action gets to Cape Leveque. The locations are simply stunning.
Georgie Jutland (Scottish actress Kelly Macdonald) is in a fairly frosty relationship with Jim Buckridge (David Wenham), in the fishing town of White Point, north of Perth. Jim’s the big man in town, owner of the largest boat and most of the lucrative crayfish licences, as was his father before him, and he acts like he runs the place. He met Georgie on holiday in Bali but, deep down, he’s still grieving the death of his wife and mother of his two young sons. Georgie comes from a well-off Perth family and she hasn’t exactly been welcomed by the townsfolk, so she’s often left on her own when Jim’s at sea. One morning, while taking an early swim, she spots Lu Fox (US actor Garrett Hedlund) returning from doing a bit of poaching from other people’s craypots. Intrigued, she tracks him down to his rickety shack, where she learns that he was once a ‘dirt musician’ but a terrible tragedy has caused him to abandon playing music. Before long, the pair have begun an intense affair but Lu flees north when he finds out she’s with Jim. It seems that the Buckridges and the Foxes have history, and it’s not pretty.
An Australian/UK co-pro, Dirt Music the movie began when a friend sent English producer Finola Dwyer a copy of Winton’s book and she fell in love with it. She also fell for the character of Georgie because, “She’s a character that we rarely get to see on the big screen,” she explained. “And at Wildgaze [Dwyer and co-producer Amanda Posey’s production company], we are drawn to projects where the stories we want to tell give women agency.” Dwyer approached prolific English screenwriter Jack Thorne to pen the script and then turned to Aussie production company Aquarius Films to partner with her in the project. They then sent director Gregor Jordan the screenplay and he “… was blown away by Jack’s choices. Jack took this epic novel and honed it into a cinematic arc. Immediately I was excited at the prospect of making this film.” The rest, as they say, is history.
Both Macdonald and Hedlund have very good Australian accents, to their credit, because it’s not an easy accent to do well. Even Meryl Streep couldn’t manage it convincingly in Fred Schepisi’s Evil Angels. There’s something about their performances, however, that doesn’t quite fit the text and it’s hard to believe that they are involved in a passionate relationship. They don’t fire and there’s no heat in their affair. Hedlund sings and plays guitar well, though, and is very believable as a member of the Fox family band (with Julia Stone and George Mason). Wenham is always on the mark and is terrific in the not very savoury role of Jim, plus there are some great smaller parts for Aaron Pedersen, Dan Wyllie and Chris Haywood.
In the final analysis, it must be said that Dirt Music is a bit dour, not having the benefit of the beauty, subtlety and depth of Winton’s written words. There’s not enough light in the shade. Where it does win, however, is in its extraordinary settings and it’s worth the price of admission for those alone.