Mystery Road (film)

Movie
Original title	Mystery Road
Country of production	Australia
original language	English
Publishing year	2013
length	121 minutes
Rod
Director	Ivan Sen
script	Ivan Sen
music	Ivan Sen
camera	Ivan Sen
cut	Ivan Sen
occupation
	Aaron Pedersen : Detective Jay Swan; Hugo Weaving : Johnno; Ryan Kwanten : Pete Bailey; Jack Thompson : Charlie Murray; Tony Barry : Sergeant; Robert Mammone : Constable Roberts; Tasma Walton : Mary; Damian Walshe-Howling : Wayne; David Field : Mr. Bailey; Bruce Spence : Medical Examiner Jim; Jack Charles : Old Boy; Tricia Whitton : Crystal; Siobhan Binge : Tarni; Daniel Roberts : Macca; Samara Weaving : Peggy;

Mystery Road is a thriller directed by Ivan Sen that premiered at the Sydney Film Festival in June 2013 and was released in Australian theaters on August 15, 2013. From June 7, 2020, the film was presented as part of the We Are One: A Global Film Festival .

action

Detective Jay Swan returns home to a small town in the Australian outback. There he wants to solve the murder of an indigenous teenager. The young girl's body was found by a trucker in Massacre Creek in a throat-cut concrete canal on the highway in outback Queensland outside of town. Jay is not fully accepted by his white local colleagues, but has also become estranged from the indigenous community in his absence. Jay has to solve the case alone.

He knows Ashley, the mother of murder victim Julia Manson, and brings the news of her death, but the drug addict doesn't really notice it. His uncle Old Boy tells him what happened to the area in his absence. So there are new drug labs in the area. Julie is also said to have taken drugs, and she is said to have prospered. Sarge thinks the story of girls who prostitute themselves on the highway is a rumor.

From forensic doctor Jim he learns about fibers from a car that he found under the victim's fingernails and details about the murder weapon and then tries to find out in Mick's gun shop whether he recently sold a hunting knife, but can't really help him either. A boy gives Jay a smartphone he found on the street. This belonged to Julia, who most recently spoke to Crystal on the phone, his daughter. He visits Crystal, who lives with his wife Mary, and asks her about Julie and her work on the highway. He offers Crystal to live with him for a few months in order to escape the tense situation at home for a while.

Jay lies in wait. First he observes nocturnal business between cops and a trucker, then there is a strange conversation between Jay and his colleague Johnno on the highway, in which the latter tries to make it clear not to interfere in their affairs. Johnno had been transferred after problems with his old job. In addition to the murdered Julie, several indigenous girls have recently been reported missing. From the young Jasemine Jay learns about the motel "Dusk till Dawn", where Julie is said to have met with men. There he finds out that a certain William Smith had a room there around the time of death and that this guest always wanted the same room during his stays.

He interrogates Pete, the son of Sam Bailey, a large landowner whose farm is near the crime scene. In Pete's police file, he learns of his earlier arrest for drug possession. Jay cannot find the files from the murder case of his former colleague Bobby, who was found in a pool of blood on the highway a few years earlier. Whose widow thinks another cop was to blame for his death. When Jay wants to examine the old, rusty Mercedes of the well-known drug dealer Wayne in the outback, he finds another girl's body. Hidden in an old television in Wayne's apartment, he then finds a large number of parcels that are already missing by the local members of the drug mafia. Through Johnno, Jay sets up a meeting on Mystery Road on Slaughter Hill.

In the outback, Jay and some men involved in drug deals in the small town break out in a shooting

With a loaded rifle and revolver, he waits for the men who come in two vehicles. One of them is masked and checking the goods that Jay brought in a bag. They open fire on Jay and are assisted by Pete, who has targeted him with his telescopic sight from a distance. Jay fires back and receives unexpected help from Johnno, who is also holed up on the rocks in the mountains. They succeed in killing all the members of the drug gang, most recently after a duel with their telescopic sights between Jay and Pete, this one too. However, Johnno was also killed in the shooting. Jay takes a closer look at the dead and their vehicles. His colleague Robbo is hidden under the mask, and in one of the vehicles he finds Julie’s silver chain and the scratch marks she has left on the upholstery. The sun is already setting behind the horizon when Jay drives back into town, straight to Mary and his daughter.

production

Staff and script development

Director Ivan Sen

Directed by Ivan Sen , who also wrote the script, acted as cameraman and film editor and also contributed the film music. The Aussie Western is the director's fourth feature film. No Country for Old Men had the greatest influence on his film , according to Sen. Economic inequality and bad blood within the outback communities form the basis of the film's criminal history. The subject of the film is very personal, as three of Sens's female relatives were victims of unsolved murders, including a cousin who was found dead in a similar way to the young victim in the film: "All the details come from reality," says the director . “And the reality is much darker than what is conveyed in the film. I could have gone much further. "

Cast and filming

Australian actor Aaron Pedersen , who has Arrernte, Ngarabana and Aboriginal ancestors, stars as Detective Jay Swan. Pedersen has played the same role in the television series Mystery Road - Disappeared in the Outback since 2018 . Hugo Weaving can be seen in the role of his colleague Johnno, Tony Barry plays the sergeant and Robert Mammone Constable Roberts. Tasma Walton took on the role of Jay's wife Mary, while Tricia Whitton played her daughter Crystal. The big landowner Mr. Bailey is played by David Field , his son Pete Bailey by Ryan Kwanten. Damian Walshe-Howling can be seen in the role of drug dealer Wayne, Bruce Spence in the role of medical examiner Jim. Jack Charles plays the old man known only as Old Boy, Jack Thompson plays old Charlie Murray, whose little dog was the victim of wild dogs.

The shooting took place in Winton, Queensland, Australia.

publication

The first screening took place on June 5, 2013 at the Sydney Film Festival . The film was released in Australian cinemas on August 15, 2013. From June 7, 2020, the film was presented as part of the We Are One: A Global Film Festival .

reception

Reviews

The film has so far won over 92 percent of Rotten Tomatoes ' critics .

Leslie Felperin of the Guardian writes that Ivan Sen's fourth feature film is reminiscent of old westerns , Roman Polański's Chinatown and other film noir classics , but is still anchored in the dust and dried blood of Australian soil. Even place names, like the film's title, and another location called Massacre Creek suggested a dark history that overshadows the present. The widescreen shots of Sen gave the film a wild size. The film could have been better with a slightly faster pace, but the slow action pays off with a spectacular exchange of fire, in which the distances are so great that bullets need half a second to find their target.