THE OYSTER FARMER

Australia, 2005, 86 minutes, Colour.
David Field, Kerry Armstrong.
Directed by Anna Grieve.

This is a small-budget feature that both surprises and pleases.

North of Sydney, in the Hawkesbury River area, there are communities which depend on the river, some of them oyster farmers. Small dramas take place. The farmers are dependent on their skills as well as their hunches about the weather and the river. The markets process and sell their produce. Marriages break. Outsiders come in for casual work. The locals are sometimes suspicious, sometimes welcoming.

David Field plays an oyster farmer who has fallen out with his wife, Kerry Armstrong. His work is hard slog. She works on intuition. This has damaged their marriage, especially as he is so preoccupied with his work. They have a son. He also has a father who looks on and makes wise comments. Into this world comes a young man from Sydney caring for his sister who is ill after an accident. He needs money for her operation.

Nothing particularly startling. However, the characters are well drawn and well played. The attention to detail, especially for the oyster farming (offering audiences more than they ever need to know), creates an authentic atmosphere. The mundane details of interactions, friendships, flirtations, suspicions, fights, jealousies build up a picture of a community that rings true. There is also a robbery and its aftermath (with ironic poetic justice) that gives some edge to life in the community.

The Hawkesbury looks beautiful, providing a striking setting for these small dramas.

1.A small Australian drama? Ordinary people? Daily lives? Choices? Moral choices?

2.The use of the Hawkesbury River, its beauty, the land and waterscapes? The oyster beds and the oyster farms? The piers and docks, the works, the markets? People’s homes? An authentic and realistic atmosphere? Semi-documentary? The musical score?

3.The title and its application to the central characters? To the oyster farmer, to his wife, to Jack? To the farmer’s father?

4.The glimpse of working life on the Hawkesbury, the detail of the oyster farming, the labour involved, the difficulties, the attention to detail about caring for the oysters, heat and shelter? The risks? Farming oysters according to abilities and skills – and the value of intuition?

5.Jack as the focus of the film? The title with reference to him? His background, aged twenty-four, work in the city, casual jobs? New at the oyster farm? His relationship with his sister, her health, his caring for her, his promising to get the money? The encounter with Pearl, the sparring relationship, falling in love? The farmer and his employing him, the work, the father and the talk? Jack and his making mistakes? The planning of the robbery, the assault of the men, getting the money, putting it in the box, in the post? His going to the post office, his anxiety, the offhand attitude of the staff, the old postie – and then the delivering of the parcel, his heart attack, the mail going in the water? The search? The futility of the waterlogged envelopes? Feeling that he had failed his sister? The farmer and his wife, their separation, his meeting with the wife, the frank talk, comfortable with her, the issue of the bath? Her dilemmas? The detail of life in the town, going to the bar, Pearl and the relationship with the sewerage collector, the fights? His plan? The gathering of the oysters? The old father, the shredding of the notes? The father giving him advice? His desperation? The prospect of staying, his decision to leave? In the train, talking with his sister, the decision to return? His being welcomed? Another chance?

6.The sketch of the sister, the background of the accident, her disability, her need for medical help, the need for money, Jack and his decision to help his sister? Her letting him go back?

7.Pearl, belonging to the environment, the meeting with Jack, the boat? Their talking together, the growing relationship, the visits, her advances? Her story, the sewerage collector, the child? Their clashes? The sexual relationship? Everybody knowing? The future – and Jack’s return?

8.The oyster farmer, the title as applying to him? Middle-aged, in himself, the hard work, the leasing of the fields? His hopes? The workers, the interaction with Jack, with his father? The separation from his wife? Meetings with his son? The wife and the rivalry in getting the oysters, her intuition? His sexist attitudes, the expectations on his wife, especially staying at home? His father’s criticism and his reactions? Taking on Jack, exasperated, changing attitudes? The meeting with his wife, their talking, being together? The night together? The judging of the oysters, his success and his winning? His decision about his father, wanting Jack to take him? Letting Jack go, the return? His relationship with his wife and son?

9.His wife, in herself, the experience of fifteen years, the different issues, her wanting to work, her husband and his old-fashioned ideas? The issue of the bath? Her talking to Jack? The reconciliation, the blindfold and the opening of the bath, her delight, her father-in-law and his making it? The reconciliation, the competition and the win?

10.The farmer’s father, his age, mental abilities and forgetting, the experience of work? The plans, that Jack should take him on? His shredding the money, giving advice to Jack?

11.The details of life in the town, the workers, the market, the bar, the fights?

12.Jack and the robbery, the quick execution of it, seeming success? The accident of the heart attack? The police and the interview and the questions?

13.A glimpse of ordinary working people and their troubles? A slice of life?