Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

provided by

This clip shows John (Mark Constable) seeing and speaking to his dead uncle Tom (Don Barker) and being reluctant to inform his wife Emily (Victoria Hill) of his predicament. Trampling through long grass and imagining, or perhaps recalling another time, John catches a glimpse of a man whom he believes is his uncle. Sitting alone at night listening to voices on the radio he appears disengaged from his wife when she tells him that their son wants to speak to him.

Educational value points

• In the clip a number of elements are employed to establish the tone and to place the film in the psychological horror genre. The isolation and desolation of the setting are central to the sense of dread. Iconography of the horror genre is referenced in the presence of the threatening stranger, the gun and the knife. Additionally, there are few characters, also characteristic of horror, and the protagonist is a man who is affected by his surroundings and losing his grip on reality.

• The colour palette contributes to the gothic atmosphere and ominous tone that underlies this clip. The predominantly muted earthy brown colours infuse the scene with a sense of anxiety and gloom, and place the action in a setting that feels haunted and drained of colour and life. The dry whispering grasses and the dingy interior of the house appear to be under a pall, burdened with some unspecified threat.

• The lighting highlights John’s isolation and detachment from reality. Throughout the night scenes John and the man he is convinced is his dead uncle are shown in harsh electric light, while Emily is seen either in shadow or what appears to be softer natural light, perhaps moonlight. The lighting suggests that John has been drawn into something otherworldly or artificial (hinted at by the artificial electric light) and has become removed from Emily.

• The editing within the clip suggests both John’s mental disintegration and a mysterious and violent act. Cutting together the early seemingly disjointed scenes in an elliptical manner (a nonlinear order) and visually linking them to John helps to illustrate John’s mental confusion and his disconnection from reality. Additionally, the cutaway shots of the knife and the gun that follow the appearance of a mysterious man hint at the possibility of a violent act.

• The use of a hand-held camera in the close-up shots of John in the long grass disorients the viewer and creates tension. Presenting John in a tight close-up as he walks deliberately limits the viewer’s knowledge of what is around him. This creates doubt as to where John is and what he is looking at and thus builds tension and mystery, especially when coupled with the sudden threatening appearance of a man stroking a knife and gun.

• The musical score propels the narrative and adds to the sense of dread. The unmelodic whining of the music, evocative of a howling wind, and the turning of an old rusted windmill conjure the idea of an anguished spectre attempting to communicate with John.

This clip starts approximately 56 minutes into the feature.

We see John walking through a swamp full of reeds. We cut to night time — John is looking into the distance. He sees a man with a cowboy hat looking at him from the shadow.
John Where have you been?

John flashbacks to see the same man holding a rifle in his hand in the scene with the reeds.
John Come on, you can tell me. Come on.

John watches the man walk away.

We cut to John sitting down at a desk fiddling with his radio when his wife Emily appears.
John Doll?
Emily What’s going on?
John Oh, nothing. I was asleep.
Emily Listening to the radio?
John nods his head.
Emily Anything else I should know about? Nothing going on in the outside world? Wars?
John Just voices.
Emily Voices?
John Voices in the dark. Just the radio show.
Emily He wants to talk to you.
John Who?
Emily Your son.