Adapted from Tim Wintons book of the same name (Winton also shares screenwriting credit here), no doubt ocean life and the environment are depressingly pertinent topics these days. Throughout the inevitable rise in interest in him, he has guarded his "Perth was just being bulldozed," Winton says, referring to the many old buildings that were demolished in the 60s and 80s. Blueback was shot on location in Australias pristine Bremer Bay, a picturesque locale with crystal clear turquoise water and sublime ocean views. For 55 days and nights he rewrote Dirt Music, "while my wife looked on, like I was a ticking bomb", he says. 37, the Fremantle-based author has always been an enigmatic figure in Ozlit. about the world I came from, yet were so enthusiastic for the story. Some Blueback fodder that should pique audience interest: Creating Blueback, the hero of the film, was an undertaking. Bana and Wasikowska were fascinated by how the filmmakers used elements captured by a specialized team of underwater camera operators. One day he meets Blueback, the biggest and most beautiful fish he's . And after others told him they were moved to tears by the tale, he thought When the film opens, the adult Abby (Mia Wasikowska), now a professor of marine biology, is at sea on a research boat when she receives word that her mother has suffered a stroke. I think I think Rob has done a beautiful job of capturing a natural environment and emotional environment where you realize that yeah, we do as humans get more out of nature than nature gets out of us, when it is a wonderful place to be. I loved its environmental messaging about saving the ocean, and that it took us to a world that is extraordinary Bremer Bay this little bay at the bottom of [Western] Australia, Connolly, who directed and wrote the screenplay, tells The New Daily. Verified Purchase. It can live up to 70 years. I think there are a lot of examples of incredible women leading the environmental movement at the moment and plenty of examples of men whove done some pretty catastrophic choices on the environment, including our political leaders in this country in the past. 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. of familiarity with yourself. Mia Wasikowska: Thats true. Winton has written about the way the book mirrored subsequent events. People can watch the film and go on an incredible journey to places we went and filmed in. Local arts and culture covered. So I think there is tactically, I think its a its a really good, really good way for a lot of people in that space to use. Longboat Bay is like a paradise because of the crystal clear water, the way that the sun is always up and the different and the unique types of fish that are there. Macka is a small but pivotal role, and one that ends up having a massive influence on Abby throughout the story, but what was it like as performers and audience members to see that dynamic unfold onscreen given that you dont you dont directly cross paths? With the always superb Radha Mitchell doing the heavy lifting as Dora and a deeply likeable Eric Bana, as local rogue and ally Macka, Blueback has talent to burn on screen. The film is heavily anchored in messaging about conservation, the environment and saving our planet in the best way we know how. expected to be read by more than a couple of thousand people, and when you get https://libguides.spx.nsw.edu.au/EnglishYear5. I was only there for two weeks, and maybe you were quite similar? Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning. Eric Bana: We didnt even cross over because of isolation periods, we didnt get to meet on-set at all. Winton's passion for Ningaloo has only grown in the years since the campaign. The film could be described as unflinchingly earnest but in a good way, because its not often these days youll find a movie that doesnt have a cynical bone in its body. Between them, Eric Bana and Mia Wasikowska have starred in billion-dollar franchises, Hollywood blockbusters, Oscar-winning movies, and acclaimed features from some of the biggest and best names in the business, but Blueback sees the duo returning to their roots in a moving independent production shot in their native Australia. We shot in the middle of the pandemic when it felt like any sort of travel was not really allowed, explained Wasikowska. And I was like, Okay, and then the fish kind of got bigger and bigger! and in eighteen different languages.Some of his works have also been successfully adapted for stage, screen and radio. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work. "I was brought up in the suburbs, but it seems in retrospect as if I spent South-East Asian section of the Commonwealth Writers Prize. The training of the cast was so critical. But both the filmmaker and author also wanted to keep the film optimistic to provoke thought and inspire change. children's literature is the little league, adults the big. childhood once available to us. all my time on, around or under the water. The more we're aware and connected to our natural world, the more likely we are to want to partake in its protection. GREG ARCHER is a pop culture junkie. faith against the current in the least religious country in the world has been Blueback is a Young Adult novel by Tim Winton, published in 1997. https://www.penguin.com.au/products/9. BLUEBACK Review January 5, 2023 Written by Dave Griffiths My love affair with the work of Australian author Tim Winton began way back in my first year in High School. When Abel first meets Blueback, Winton writes he was 'the biggest fish he had ever seen. Why indeed? sometimes sulkily terse communiques. Blueback. avoiding or recovering from" and (b) "something I do for myself and because I 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. This article was first published in The Weekend This is his last interview, after two months in Australia promoting his 29th book, The Shepherd's Hut, and flying around the country for a sold-out . And I think that they just did a brilliant job. Much of the story is told in flashback. There is no discernible "Connolly style" in any of his films, just extreme competence, humility and a love of storytelling. Winton's first novel, An Open Swimmer won an award and it marked the beginning of Winton's literature career. There was almost no rewriting, it just came out formed.". Nor is there anything surprising in the fact that his workers are a callous bunch with a taste for illegal spearfishing. The supporting players are given even less to work with. Abel Jackson has lived by the sea at Longboat Bay ever since he could remember. He and his mother have depended . You expect a fish to sort of run away, but the groper is like a dog fish. Blueback Tim Winton 3.93 3,094 ratings285 reviews From the author of the bestselling novel The Riders comes a bewitching fable sure to delight readers of all ages. Because I think as human beings, we do respond to that positivity as well. * making the coastal area they own a National park, stopping deforestation so that industries or parks could not be made; His books have been adapted to the stage and screen, and he's been named a National Living Treasure. It won and Winton has never looked back, winner of the 1981 The Australian/Vogel Award. Tim Winton has published twenty-nine books for adults and children, and his work has been translated into twenty-eight languages. I was so proud of it when I saw it. In the book, for example, Abby is a 10-year-old boy, Abel. He would have discovered an unpretentious This book constantly explores sustainability as Abel and his mother are striving to protect the environment. Blueback was originally conceived as an animated film due to the "state of CGI technology" in the late 1990s, and the risks of having "a big, wild fish" in the water with children. Editon Published June 25th 2014. Abel Jackson's forebears were whalers, his father a pearl- diver whose life was ended by a shark. 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. Mia Wasikowska plays a marine biologist in the latest Australian film about interspecies mateship, which is broadly appealing if a little on the nose. Abel Jackson has lived by the sea at Longboat Bay ever since he could remember. A simple but effective way of saying: she is remembering. As an adaptation comes to the silver screen, he reflects on how the book's protagonist has haunted him all the way to Ningaloo Reef. Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. We had to sort of quarantine because Sydney, or Western Australia, was locked off from the rest of Australia. Blueback stars an animatronic fish but its the humans who are floundering. "I'm in the business of useless beauty," he says. (including five prize-winning children's novels) have been critically and Bana and Wasikowska hadnt seen a Blue Groper prior to filming, in fact. I just love the film. And it was so emotional. lead a Pynchon or a Salinger existence and become completely anonymous. awkward in that I don't know who it's for. Theres Abbys connection to her mother, and, in scenes from the past, the blue groper. Fogg is particularly impressive as teenage Abby, delivering a quietly commanding performance thats utterly convincing in its presentation of a decent, caring young person with (like all teenagers) some hard life lessons ahead. And theres a simplicity in that, that I think just, you know, works well. They do this by: Shallows, won the Miles Franklin Award, as did Cloudstreet "I never had a desire for a public life, never Winton says he gets more fan mail about that book than anything else he's written. 162 Pages. On an idyllic stretch of coast whose waters teem with fish, he lives a simple, tough existence. This beautiful story about a child, their activist mum, a wild blue groper, and the fight to save a reef from commercial fishing operators and developers has now been adapted by filmmaker Robert Connolly (director of Balibo, Three Dollars and The Dry, and producer of Romulus, My Father and The Boys) into a coming-of-age family film for the big screen. I also feel the universality of it is beyond gender. Between 2000 and 2003, he was famously instrumental in the campaign to save Ningaloo Reef from a resort development. Which has tended to obscure the real So yeah, I wasnt as familiar, but I knew Rob had been developing it for quite some time. Abel Jackson lives with his mother, Dora, at Longboat Bay, an isolated stretch of coast whose waters teem with fish. "Our culture is obsessed about belonging, but people haven't grasped the "You find yourself living out things that you've already written; you find yourself inhabiting scenes that you've already imagined and published.". and species have been eroded this century at an unimaginable rate. The teenage Abby (Ilsa Fogg) is the perfect child, intellectually gifted, uncannily calm in a crisis and free of all the stroppiness that punctuates the adolescent years of more credible beings. field-worker in literature's pr harvest. "I've had a great experience working with Tim in the past, and his work, and I feel like this is a novella he wrote over 20 years ago that remains on the school syllabus around Australia and lends itself wonderfully to a screen adaptation," the director said. He's unabashed. yearning for yesteryear perhaps? Winton: an affable, plain-speaking man of unaffected intelligence and deep When out fishing for some abalone with his mother Abel encounters a massive blue groper called Blueback and promises from then on to the protect this beautifulfish. 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. Winton's first novel, an open swimmer won an award and it marked the beginning of Winton's literary career. ", The focus of Blueback is unequivocal - a call to environmental and "Every day was special, his mother always told him this, but it all became much more precious the day he first shook hands with old Blueback" (page 10). The joins feel fluid, sometimes seamless. Abel is a curious and adventurous child, and he spends much of his time exploring the surrounding wilderness and observing the creatures that live there. Until the day he meets Blueback, the fish that changes his life. Tim Winton knew that humans were damaging the sea when he wrote his 1997 novel Blueback, even while he did nothing about it. paid $50,000 for second books ", That's the professional shaking his head in disbelief. And I love the dynamic between between Macka and Abby. "That book just slipped out," he says. So it was it was a bit of a mission to get there. After the ambition of [The bay] is beautiful one day, muscular and tough and visceral another day I didnt want the film to be set in a sweet, nostalgic fishing village, Connolly says. "I am more 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. Winton is clear-eyed when it comes to the urgency of environmental action, declaring that a "clock is ticking" on human existence. Blueback is in cinemas around Australia from 1 January, Irreverent review a Chicago criminal goes undercover down under, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Everything I learned about the ocean was at the end of a spear or hook and I became interested in marine conservation in the early 1990s and got very active. And otherwise, the goal feels like its its not as achievable. "I reckon it took me ten years to not feel bad about doing well.". He laughs, denies he's a romantic. Tim Winton born on 4 August 1960 in Western Australia is a famous Australian author. Teacher preparation: I would recommend Blueback. Helpful. Timothy John Winton (born 4 August 1960) is an Australian writer. He's written bestselling novels for adults and children, short stories, plays, essays and memoirs. A powerful story for generations opens our 2023 season of films under the stars. Ilsa Fogg plays the teenage Abby in Blueback. skin." We see that with the character of Abby and the amazing relationship she has with her mother and how she's bought up, continued Bana. An achingly beautiful story about family, belonging and living a life in tune with the environment, from one of Australia's best-loved authors, Tim Winton. 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. The tale revolves around Abby, a young West Australian child (Donoghue), who befriends a magnificent wild blue groper while diving. But then I've always hated the idea im Winton was born on the 4th August 1960 in Western Australia is a famous Australian Author. Rob made a beautiful choice to make the fish real and mechanical, as opposed to just CGI. Related: Best Mia Wasikowska Movies, Ranked. We need beauty in our lives, so we don't go mad.". 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. he helps his mother each day and loves to dive. disconcerting. 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. So I guess it was a period when I was in my 20s when I wanted to try and capture that.". Connolly and Winton have just found a brilliantly pacy and involving way to make the years pass quickly. "We belong to it, Abel.". The story of Abby, a young girl living with her environmentalist mother on Australia's pristine west coast. Like to send a message to Tim? Did you already know that as well? There are so many different messages in the film, and I loved being a part of it.. Shooting of the 2021 movie adaptation of Tim Winton's novel Blueback is underway in Bremer Bay. secular cesspool, environmentalism. 4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining read with solid message. And the more that we take care of it, the more its a two-way street. was younger and how badly I was paid for my labour - I got $1000 advance for He is also a strong supporter of marine and environmental conservation. Its absolutely stunning; theres absolute magic in it.. Winton has proved a magnet for Australian film-makers. 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