Jasper Jones
Jasper Jones, the film adaptation was released in 2017 and directed by Rachel Perkins. It is a fascinating film that overtly takes the form of a mystery but whose subtext bristles with uncomfortable aspects of the Australian psyche. Although, this discomfort centres around issues of race, it is not limited to that with values of family, sexual taboos, marriage and adolescence all explored as part of its underlying themes.
Jasper Jones, the eponymous character is of mixed-race heritage, half indigenous half white who is suspected of involvement in Laura Wishart’s disappearance. To exacerbate matters, Jasper, fearing the worst decides to skip town and go into hiding. He only surfaces to contact Charlie Bucktin, a school peer with whom he has had minimal contact but whom he places his utmost faith. Through Charlie we get a world of 1960’s small town Australia; cosy yet insular, peaceful yet dissatisfied, inviting but prejudiced.
The film is really Charlie’s and he shines as a beacon for what the town of Corrigan might come to be and perhaps more broadly the country itself.
A murder mystery it may be but only superficially. The real substance of the film lies in all the complexity of its relations; familial, social, racial and romantic. It is the pulse that governs the township of Corrigan’s flow, it’s rhythms and currents and prove vital to the effectiveness of the film. Jasper Jones is a terrific film, rich in characters, complex in themes and unflinching in its exploration of provincial mid twentieth century Australian lives.
Rosh
Format
DVDs
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