Noise (2007 Australian film)

Noise
theatrical poster
Directed by	Matthew Saville
Produced by	Trevor Blainey
Written by	Matthew Saville
Starring	Brendan Cowell Henry Nixon Luke Elliot Katie Wall Maia Thomas Nicholas Bell.
Music by	Bryony Marks
Cinematography	Laszlo Baranyai
Editing by	Geoff Hitchins
Distributed by	Madman Entertainment (Australia) Film Movement (US)
Release date(s)	3 May 2007 (2007-05-03) (Australia)
Running time	108 minutes
Country	Australia
Language	English

Noise is an acclaimed 2007 Australian film written and directed by director Matthew Saville and produced by Trevor Blainey. The film stars Brendan Cowell, Henry Nixon, Luke Elliot, Katie Wall, Maia Thomas and Nicholas Bell. The film's music is by Bryony Marks, and the distinctive sound design is by Emma Bortignon.

Synopsis

The film is set up amongst the landscape of two potentially related murders: that of an engaged woman in Sunshine, and that of seven passengers on a train in Melbourne's inner west. From there, the film deals primarily with the experiences of Lavinia Smart (Maia Thomas), a young woman who boarded the train shortly after the murders, and police Constable Graham McGahan (Brendan Cowell), who is afflicted with increasingly severe tinnitus. Constable McGahan mans the night shift of a police information van in the inner-western Melbourne suburb of Sunshine, where he encounters the traumatized members of the local community. Furthermore, the film explores the fear Lavinia is in after the horrific events she witnessed.

Analysis

Graham McGahan's tinnitus and his duties in the caravan can be seen as exemplifications of isolation. He is emotionally isolated by his tinnitus and physically isolated by being in the caravan. As the director and write Matthew Saville states in an interview with Margaret Pomeranz for ABC's At the Movies, the film exemplifies the Australian character, especially the isolated nature of it. Centred on the grieving community in the western suburb of Sunshine, Constable McGahan engages with the members and begins to realise his potential as a police officer and as a man. The film deals with the concept of tragedy and the response to this whilst exploring the idea of vulnerability, fear and the realisation of personal strength.

Awards and honours

Noise was nominated for several Australian Film Institute Awards: Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay for Matthew Saville; and Best Actor for Brendan Cowell. It was also nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Also, on 22 January 2008, Noise won Best Australian Film in the Australian Film Critics Association awards for 2007.

Miscellany

• The train at the beginning of the film is running on the Lilydale railway line.
• Police information vans are frequently used in Melbourne to solve disappearances and murders.^[1]
• In the final scenes, Graham's girlfriend is playing in the police band at the "Carols at Christmas". This event is actually the Melbourne Carols by Candlelight held each year on Christmas Eve.
• The Melway reference given (53 G11) does not give a location in Sunshine South, rather the location of some streetside shops in Altona Meadows. In fact, there is no suburb "Sunshine South", though there is a Sunshine, Sunshine West and Sunshine North. In addition, there is a Young Street in Sunshine West located near streetside shops.

Box Office

Noise grossed $902,308 at the box office in Australia,^[2].

See also

• Cinema of Australia

References

1. ^ http://www.vicpolicenews.com.au/more-news/5161-mystery-man.html
2. ^ Film Victoria - Australian Films at the Australian Box Office

External links

• Noise
• Noise at the Internet Movie Database
• Noise at the National Film and Sound Archive
• The Age film review
• ABC At the Movies review
• D. B. Starrs (2007) 'Some takes on the meaning of "Noise"'; Metro Magazine(153)