JimCarmichael Anna Reeves' feature debut, Oyster Farmer, is an Australian film with a strong sense of place and an elusive sense of identity: it sets up a series of expectations about what kind of film it will be, then regularly sidesteps them.Its setting is the Hawkesbury River, on Sydney's outskirts, and a small community of oyster farmers: at its centre is a young man, Jack (Alex O'Lachlan), a stranger to the district who keeps to himself his reasons for relocating to this idyllic location. We see him, in the early stages of the film, committing a crime in an inventive fashion, and using some novel props. At first it appears the film might be heading in the caper movie direction, but it soon shifts gear.Jack works for an elderly man, Mumbles (Jim Norton), and his son Brownie (David Field). Brownie's wife Trish (Kerry Armstrong) has left the marriage, but stays committed to oyster farming, an occupation that runs in the family: "I could shuck before I could walk," she tells an intrigued Jack.Trish, working another oyster farmer's lease, has a more mystical approach to the management of molluscs - she sings to them. Brownie, cranky and competitive, treats this suggestion with contempt. Yet, since her departure, he seems to have lost his touch: his oysters are spawning prematurely.Meanwhile, Jack has met a beautiful, young, local girl with a weakness for expensive shoes, Pearl (Diana Glenn), to whom he is immediately attracted. But he becomes suspicious of her - he has his doubts about almost every new person he meets on the river, for reasons connected to the proceeds of his crime.Jack encounters a number of characters: Trish, with whom he shares a scene fraught with sexual tension; Slug (Alan Cinis), the local sewage collector, with whom he has a simmering, hostile relationship; Skippy (Jack Thompson), a volatile yet meditative Vietnam vet who lives in seclusion; the testy Brownie; and the philosophical Mumbles.Writer-director Reeves uses the setting of river and bushland in a consistently lyrical fashion, as she moves from one eccentric character to the next, building up moments of drama, comedy or tension, then letting them subside as stories drift. To some extent, its shifts in tone and sense of incompleteness can be seen as a function of Jack's imperfect understanding of the community: things are never as they first seem to him, and his expectations are regularly confounded. But the film seems a little cautious and underdeveloped; there's something intriguing but also frustrating about its quietly episodic, insistently understated approach.

aquamum 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.

butterfly24 There was a certain degree of anticipation for this movie for me, since I live in the area where most of the movie is set. And after being part of the experience - drinking at the pub with some of the stars, and watching the film crew in action, it certainly didn't disappoint!! It's not every day that you watch a movie on the big screen set in your own suburb, recognize the faces of locals who have bit parts, and feel a great sense of pride in the beautiful scenery that you have come to know so well... it's a bit surreal.... I'm not sure if I would have enjoyed the movie quite so much if it wasn't set in my home town, but nevertheless, the story was pleasant enough, the characters were likable... some may find it a little slow and tame, and the plot was a little disjointed, with not a great deal of drama or suspense or even character development.The general consensus of my neighbours who have seen the film is that the true star of the movie was the Hawkesbury River.

ptb-8 Finally, after the Oz film production industry of the past 18 months being all at sea and in the doldrums, comes a trip up the river instead that produces a film akin to a welcome breath of cinematic fresh air. OYSTER FARMER is a visually spectacular and humorously wry drama of intermingling relationships among local eccentrics and family dissent throughout the muddy mangrove oyster lease businesses on the Hawkesbury River on Sydney's northern fringe. It is a great setting for an easily enjoyable tangle of wants yearnings - and some survival - in a closed community gingerly accepting one 24 year old man finding his place in the world. As with many genuinely warm and often quite funny successful Australian films, we are presented with beautiful locations, dry humor, some hilarious sight gags, an undercurrent of mistrust and begrudging affection, and ultimately, common sense to be happy with one's lot. Previously unseen actor Alex O'Lachlan is the handsome main focus (in a Ramon Novarro way) and it is his journey we enjoy, visually and romantically as he meanders through a community of antsy couples and family jousting, hermit men and railway line-riverbank oldies all living in grubby slap-board shanties on stilts. It has a languid pace, a lot like the river itself but all the deep-water undercurrents of this type of drama also are relevant. Produced by master craftsman of Australian cinema Anthony Buckley, his films are often identifiable by their breathtaking location photography and family dramas set around a tough but troubled industry. See 70s box office champions like THE IRISHMAN, or CADDIE, or classic TV epics like POOR MANS ORANGE or HARP IN THE SOUTH or recently, THE POTATO FACTORY. His celebrated 1960s career in editing Michael Powell classics like the recently restored AGE OF CONSENT are a testament to his success in that if you see his name on an Australian film it is of a consistent standard and a uniquely heartfelt theme. New director Anna Reeves who also wrote the OYSTER FARMER script is to be applauded in that her story and inventive direction allows the pace, characters and scene to be completely satisfying experiences for the viewer. OYSTER FARMER is the film that in 2005 has reinvented the independent film industry in Australia and now in its second week of release is proving to be a major success. A character story rather than an action drama, OYSTER FARMER reminds us of Brit pix like LOCAL HERO or quiet bayou dramas of the deep south in the US. Well known acting faces like Kerrie Armstrong (see LANTANA), regular nugget David Field (not unlike England's Robert Carlyle) and veteran Jack Thompson (see BREAKER MORANT or Sunday TOO FAR AWAY) add the acting strength necessary to keep the characters and interaction interesting. Armstrong's on-board first aid to O'Lachlan provides startling personal physical closeups appreciated by the gasping crowd at the session I attended. New big screen actor Diana Glenn is the film's other main focus. She was previously seen briefly in SOMERSAULT and on TV in the angst series SECRET LIFE OF US. The widescreen photography and dreamy locations suit her quite compelling blue eyed beauty as a riverbank muse with an character-bending shoe fetish. The sight gags involving Smokey, her delinquent dog are genuinely hilarious. She is extraordinarily good looking and perfectly cast. The sex scene on a shady jetty with Alex O'Lachlan is a widescreen zinger. Some perplexing editing in the first couple of reels still puzzle me but I have a sneaking suspicion reels 2/3 at Cinema Paris at Fox Studios in Sydney were in the wrong order. Typical of that cinema. Good facility and hopeless presentation.. It is a testament to this well crafted film that even if I did see some of it in the wrong order, it did not mar the overall experience.OYSTER FARMER is a type of quiet humorous Australian drama we make well in this country and is it a relief to see this film lead the way out of the flat box office run of 2004/5. Interestingly it has taken newcomer writer director teaming with a statesman producer to achieve this success. Much like the casting too. Of particular note is Brit old timer Jim Norton whose hilarious turn as Dad almost steals the film. Local critics have welcomed this film and you should too, especially if you are an International audience.