Oyster Farmer (2005)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Best movie of this year hands down!

A different way of telling a story

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Australia. The story of a young man who chooses to work on an oyster farm. The work is tough, the hero is penniless. He is desperate to pay for the recovery of his sister injured in a car accident. A very pleasant film to watch. It's about human relationships including two love stories of course. But it's very well played, subtle and... shot in the magnificent wilderness of Australia. Just one thing that you won't find in the movie is native Australians. There's a hint about pollution in the rivers however. The photography is very well executed. Let me give a special mention to the main actor. Watch out for his name in the future. Go and see the movie if you have the possibility. Just don't be fooled by its title. You won't regret it.

This film is set on the beautiful Hawkesbury River near Sydney in Australia. It is about a young city bred man who takes a job at an Oyster Farm so he can be close to his sister who is in rehab. in a local private hospital after an awful car accident. He goes to work for a man who runs a family inherited oyster farm with his crazy Irish father. The son is estranged from his independent wife who is believed to be an "oyster whisperer" by her crazy father-in-law. The young man falls in love with a local girl who is full of secrets and surprises. Her father is the man who cleans the septic tanks ensuring that the river is clean, but he falls under suspicion when he buys a brand new motor for his runabout boat. He makes friend with a group of local ex Vietman vetran soldiers who drink beer and play poker up the river from the local village. I enjoyed this film a lot.

I hope Anna Reevs, the director as well as the writer, takes justified pride in this amazingly wonderful first effort. Because of its class I was surprised to see that it was her debut film-how many others would dream of writing and directing such a superb first effort.I saw this film several days ago in Fremantle and although I had heard from electronic media outlets that it was a very good film, I had no idea, other than the obvious title what I was going to see. The beauty of the Hawksbury was breathtaking and the juxtaposition of that beauty with the basic everyday existence of the oyster farmers presented a compelling contradiction throughout the film.Maybe it's the technical strides that have taken place during the recent past but I am swallowed by the beauty of the cinematography; I am sure Bollinger whose camera work captured every nuance of the natural beauty of this region would tell me that it was his and Reeves' direction that captured the setting and that it had nothing to do with improvements in equipment. Be that as it may, the camera images were beautiful.The actors were on the whole unknown to me but the work they did made a life unknown to me real and more importantly, eminently worth watching. An absolute gem of a movie not to be missed.

Saw this movie over the weekend in New York at the Quad Cinema.One if the best movies to come out of Australia, period. I highly recommend seeing this film. Visually stunning, without being overwhelming, or detracting from the storyline. With the gorgeous Hawkesbury River as her backdrop, Reeves weaves characters vividly to life with the pithy little concerns and subtleties that are so crucial in a movie so delicate. The script is tight and beautifully executed. Compared to other feature directorial debuts this is an incredible piece. As a stand alone work, I think this movie will be looked back on as the beginning of an Australian legacy. Bravo. I hope to see much more from this very talented director.