JASPER JONES
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When a young white woman goes missing from a small Australian town in the early 1960’s, all eyes turn to the local Aboriginal kid, Jasper Jones.
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Yet despite the title, this is really the story of Charlie Bucktin whose help Jasper seeks because he, Charlie, is the only person likely to believe the outsider. An outsider himself, the boy agrees, yet his promise to Jasper stretches loyalty to family and friends because right from the start, Charlie also knows what’s happened to the girl. What he doesn’t know, is why.
Adapted from Craig Silvey’s acclaimed novel, Rachel Perkins’ gutsy film mostly succeeds in bringing to light the racism, sexism, misogyny and abuse that lay (and probably still lies) just beneath the surface of a more innocent, regional Australia. It raises all manner of uncomfortable ideas that seldom get the attention they ought; therein the power of the book, and the film.
Yet for all the menace inherent in Jasper Jones, there’s a lightness to Perkins’ touch that acts like an anchor, dragging the production back from the abyss it constantly alludes to. There are some very bleak realities in the story that don’t kick nearly as hard as they should, with Charlie becoming more of a young detective than a kid savaged by an ugly, adult world. It’s as if Perkins is trying to protect us from the bitter reality of her own story, and it’s unwelcome.
Nonetheless, she is well served by a robust cast with Levi Miller terrific in the central role as Charlie. Toni Collette as the boy’s mother, Aaron L. McGrath as Jasper and Hugo Weaving in a pivotal role give the film extra ballast. And ballast is what the story runs on with a narrative that presents a coming of age in a set of the worst possible circumstances – abandonment being one of many. While tone is the primary reason that Jasper Jones develops an unfortunate case of the wobbles, it doesn’t undo the production. Here is a good film, just not the searing landmark it could (and should) have been.
// COLIN FRASER
Previewed at QT Theatre, Sydney on 8 February 2017
Adapted from Craig Silvey’s acclaimed novel, Rachel Perkins’ gutsy film mostly succeeds in bringing to light the racism, sexism, misogyny and abuse that lay (and probably still lies) just beneath the surface of a more innocent, regional Australia. It raises all manner of uncomfortable ideas that seldom get the attention they ought; therein the power of the book, and the film.
Yet for all the menace inherent in Jasper Jones, there’s a lightness to Perkins’ touch that acts like an anchor, dragging the production back from the abyss it constantly alludes to. There are some very bleak realities in the story that don’t kick nearly as hard as they should, with Charlie becoming more of a young detective than a kid savaged by an ugly, adult world. It’s as if Perkins is trying to protect us from the bitter reality of her own story, and it’s unwelcome.
Nonetheless, she is well served by a robust cast with Levi Miller terrific in the central role as Charlie. Toni Collette as the boy’s mother, Aaron L. McGrath as Jasper and Hugo Weaving in a pivotal role give the film extra ballast. And ballast is what the story runs on with a narrative that presents a coming of age in a set of the worst possible circumstances – abandonment being one of many. While tone is the primary reason that Jasper Jones develops an unfortunate case of the wobbles, it doesn’t undo the production. Here is a good film, just not the searing landmark it could (and should) have been.
// COLIN FRASER
Previewed at QT Theatre, Sydney on 8 February 2017
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STARRING
Levi Miller
Aaron L. McGrath
Toni Collette
Hugo Weaving
Angourie Rice
DIRECTOR
Rachel Perkins
SCREENWRITER
Shaun Grant
Craig Silvey
COUNTRY
Australia
CLASSIFICATION
M
RUNTIME
105 minutes
AUSTRALIAN
RELEASE DATE
March 2, 2017
Levi Miller
Aaron L. McGrath
Toni Collette
Hugo Weaving
Angourie Rice
DIRECTOR
Rachel Perkins
SCREENWRITER
Shaun Grant
Craig Silvey
COUNTRY
Australia
CLASSIFICATION
M
RUNTIME
105 minutes
AUSTRALIAN
RELEASE DATE
March 2, 2017
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