When teacher Simon arrives in a small, secluded village to take over the local school, he is surprised to discover that his predecessor has disappeared without a trace - and that nobody seems too concerned about it. As Simon probes deeper into the disappearance, the inhabitants of a forbidding estate called "Summerfield" take on more and more significance.
In the spirit of Hitchcock's thrillers, Summerfield stands original and a cult monument to the great potential of Australian cinema. From the opening scene to close this film is flawless in its execution of a gritty and gripping story that will keep you thinking long after. The setting could not be more perfect, with wonderful use of the Aussie landscape, and both the acting and characterisation is engaging to say the least. A must-see gem of Australian film, and well-worthy of an international name.
A slow burning mystery which haunts. 75+%
This has been on my "To do" list at this site for a while now. It's finally time to cross that off my list now! It may have been as a child that I saw some or all of this movie and the plot reveal near the end has stuck with me all these years. Seeing this movie on the weekend (06/09/2014 > N.B. I'm reposting this from another site today. On the other site my review is dated 07/09/2014) makes me realise that perhaps I may have been too young to watch this film all those years ago...not exactly suitable for a young audience.
The basic plot concerns a teacher called Simon Robinson (played by Nick Tate) coming to an isolated community to replace a teacher called Peter Flynn who has gone missing and left his belongings at the guest house where he lodges. Simon now lodges in the same room. Nobody seems particularly concerned that Peter has gone missing.
For most of the film, nothing much happens, apart from Simon's curiosity being piqued about what happened to Peter. He also gets pulled into the orbit of the family of one his students, Sally Abbott (played by Michelle Jarman). Sally's mother is the elegantly beautiful Jennifer Abbott (played by Elizabeth Alexander). Simon slowly also becomes curious about the Abbott's, who live on an isolated island, with the only entrance being a wooden bridge, which has a locked gate and a sign to keep outsiders out.
For most of the movie, it was tracking to score 70+% but I particularly liked the ending. For some people the leisurely pace may be off-putting. For others, the ending may be too.
The reason why I bumped up my score due to the ending is because it haunted me. The entire end sequence of the movie both answers mysteries and leaves new mysteries to arise. My main question is whether the ending could have been resolved differently or whether something like that was inevitable. E.g. the scene where Jennifer's brother, David Abbott (played by John Waters) calls out to Simon. Was Simon's response leading up to that moment a consequence of him drawing together the issue of what happened to Peter and the position he now found himself in?
There is a resolution to the mystery of Peter's fate. It occurs to me that perhaps the filmmakers wanted the viewer to come to some sort of realisation about what had happened earlier (I also wondered if this related to Sally's father as well). I'm not sure if that is explicated well enough to come into play though. In searching for this title at this site, I was surprised to see a listing for "Secrets of Summerfield: The making of 'Summerfield'" (2005, video). Am definitely curious to see this now, with regard to my own questions about the haunting ending. Hopefully my suspicions can be confirmend (or not!). The existence of this follow up film is good news, in the sense that the original movie must have resonated with people for it to be created.
If you like movies with mysteries, this is definitely worth checking out. The film itself does provide subtle hints and allusions to the mystery.
General observations:
^ I really enjoyed the score for this movie and will try to seek it, but not holding much hope for that! The music was composed and conducted by Bruce Smeaton. The into score has Japanese strings playing, as well as some symphonic instruments. It creates an eerie mood, pensive at times. There is a lovely melody throughout this movie. At times there seems to be a subtle nod to music from a Hollywood movie (I think), which I just can't place...maybe something by Bernard Herrmann?
^ Geraldine Turner has a touch of Gillian Anderson in her looks (obviously vice versa), in the part of the lodge's management.
^ I don't think I've seen the star, Nick Tate, in other Australian productions...what happened to him? Apart from John Waters ("All the rivers run" and "Play school"!), the only other actor I could say I've watched before was Charles "Bud" Tingwell (I'd seen him in the great British children's series "Catweazle"). I think Tingwell may be credited as "Bud" at the start and "Charles" at the end credits! Max Cullen is a familiar name and I've probably seen him before too. The cop in this film looks familiar too, but I probably haven't seen the TV shows where he regularly appeared...probably in the role of a cop too!
^ Not sure that I found Doctor Miller's (Charles Tingwell) revelations always plausible...i.e. often they just seemed to function as narrative exposition more than something that someone in his position would actually divulge. There are two examples of that: what he says to Simon one time, on the beach, and something he tells David at Summerfield.
^ The cop says that "hundreds" of people have gone missing...I really hope he means in the state, not just their locale! Small town and all!
^ Apart from the terrific music, I also liked the hues of the sky at times...but my television isn't the best...perhaps it looks even better on a good screen! There is plenty of 1970's fashions as well...short shorts, shirts etc.
^ Just by the by, you can make out two newspaper headline posters at the milk bar, giving an idea of when it was filmed: The Sun "Fraser clamp_ on Lea_" (hard to read clearly as it is obscured) and the Herald's "Pop man hurt in stage blast"...curious who that was! Viewed from my PVR from a recording made on ABC TV 20/12/2013 at around 12:35 a.m. Running time of 91:25.
This film seems to have been repeated more than once in recent years...which was good for me, seeing as I wanted to rewatch it!