COFFIN ROCK

Australia, 2009, 92 minutes, Colour.
Robert Taylor, Lisa Chappell, Sam Parsonson, Terry Camilleri.
Directed by Rupert Glasson.

A brief, rather modest Australian drama that turns towards the thriller genre, with a touch of horror, in the last twenty minutes.

The South Australian coastal setting is particularly well shown, the beaches, the isolation, the factories. A middle aged couple, Rob and Jessie (Robert Taylor and Lisa Chappell) want a child but Rob seems to be sterile. They are awaiting test results. However, this leads to some tensions between the two.

The main moral of the story is that a moment's stupidity and irresponsibility, especially a drunken experience, can have dire consequences for more than those immediately concerned.

This aspect of the plot is not an unfamiliar one. Jessie lapses momentarily with an itinerant worker, Evan (Sam Parsonson) and becomes pregnant. There are the usual fears, concealments, confiding. The difference is that Evan is mad, a stalker, wanting Jessie to go away with him. It is easy to see how the film moves into thriller at the end as Evan manifests more madness and violence.

No particular reason for seeing it, but, of its kind, it is quite well done.

1.A modest thriller? Personal drama?

2.The coastal settings, the sea, the shore, the beaches, the rocks? The isolated town? The factories, homes? The countryside? The roads? A realistic atmosphere? Musical score?

3.The title and the tone?

4.The basic plot, familiar? The sterile husband, the woman and her wanting a child, the family tensions, the mysterious stranger, the drunken mistake, the consequences?

5.The first hour as a drama: establishing the characters of Jessie and Rob? Rob, his age, fishing on the beach, relationship to the others in the town? His love for his wife? Going into the city for the tests? His wife, her life in the town? Research? The bond between the two? The growing tensions, the dance, waiting for the results, the drinking?

6.Evan, his being in the office of the company for testing? Looking at the documents? Going to the town, getting a job, the chance meeting with Jessie? His working in the factory? His approach to Jessie, sympathy? The dance? The sexual encounter? His reaction, possessiveness? The revelation of his madness, talking to his father on the phone, the cut phone? His imagination? The flashbacks and his father’s treatment? His death? His growing madder, pursuing Jessie, her reluctance? The growing violence, with Jessie’s friend, battering her? The man in the car, killing him? Abducting Jessie? The crash, Jessie pushing the car over the cliff, his return and his attack? Rob saving Jessie? The portrait of somebody mad?

7.Jessie, in herself, a strong woman, love for the child, in the street rescuing a runaway child? The fear of the results from the company? Hiding the results? Testing for pregnancy? The dance, drinking, with Evan, being seen? Her pregnancy, her worries, concealing the truth, asking Rob not to tell everyone, his telling people, the party? Confiding in her friend? The dealing with Evan, his stalking her, his odd behaviour? The final revelation of the truth? In the car, with Evan, the brake and the car going over the cliff, the attack, her rescue?

8.Rob, the not knowing the results, happy with the pregnancy, telling everyone, the celebration? The finding out of the truth? His reaction, going away? Seeing Evan, the confrontations? The chase? Rescuing his wife?

9.Evan, his behaviour in private, the caravan, sitting outside? His plans, urging Jessie to go away? The confrontation with Jessie’s friend, his brutality?

10.On the boat with Rob, with Tony, Tony and his taunts, Evan throwing him over? The reaction against Evan and ousting him?

11.The background characters, Tony, the boat, the factory? The men of the town, the bar? Some knowing what happened, some not?

12.Life in a small town? A stupid mistake? Drunken? The consequences and the dire repercussions?