Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This clip from a 2004 Australian feature film is divided into three distinct scenes. The first has Jack (Alex O’Lachlan) and Skippy (Jack Thompson) discussing love and life while fishing. A reunited Brownie and Trish (David Field and Kerry Armstrong) are then shown planning to retrieve an oyster lease, and the final scene shows a humorous exchange outside a shed where Brownie offers Jack an oyster lease on the condition he takes Brownie’s troublesome father Mumbles (Jim Norton) along with him.

Educational value points

• The first scene of this clip is an example of how a minor character can enrich the narrative by expanding both the audience’s appreciation of other characters and the setting. Fishing with Vietnam War veteran Skippy provides Jack an opportunity to articulate his feelings, but most importantly provides more information about the members of the river community, suggesting that the river is not just a place to farm oysters but a place to hide from society.

• The Hawkesbury River takes on the importance of a character in Oyster Farmer, providing a serene and peaceful setting against which to contrast the inner turmoil and dramas of the characters who make their living from it. The river itself is present in most of these scenes visually or heard in the soundtrack. Until recently the Hawkesbury was the fourth largest oyster-producing estuary in NSW with 400 ha of oyster leases farmed by 23 permit holders.

• This clip demonstrates how a script can weave several separate plot lines into one overarching story by episodically cutting between them. The first scene centres on Jack, who is possibly falling in love, and Skippy, a Vietnam War veteran. The second scene shows the reconciliation of a couple whose separation is a major plot line, and the final scene provides a humorous solution to the problem of Brownie’s interfering father.

• This clip shows how body language can be used to express the emotional subtext of a scene. Brownie and Trish exhibit their reconciliation by their posture and position. They are holding hands and their legs are touching. The final scene of Jack, Brownie and Mumbles also uses bodies to convey mood; the two men dozing at the table and the dog stretched out underneath convey a sense of heat and exhaustion.

• The controlled, reflective performance by Jack Thompson (1940–) shows the skills of one of Australia’s most experienced and celebrated actors. With little body movement, other than gesticulating almost menacingly with a fishing knife, his character slides disconcertingly from talking about the feeling of being alive that comes from falling in love to ‘the rush’ of killing another human being.

• In 2005, the QX, a single-celled parasite now known as Marteilia sydneyi, attacked the Hawkesbury River oysters and eventually spread to all of the leases around the estuary and its tributaries. Although the film was made before this outbreak, Oyster Farmer premiered at the Sydney Film Festival not long after the parasite was detected in the Hawkesbury, which added publicity and poignancy to the plight of the Hawkesbury River oyster farmers.

• The Australian Vietnam Veterans Health Study found that 31 per cent of veterans reported experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder, 41 per cent anxiety disorders and 45 per cent depression. The impression of underlying anger and intimations of self-harm that are at the heart of Skippy’s character can be read in the context of the difficulties faced by Vietnam War veterans.

• Oyster Farmer (2004) is the debut feature film of award-winning short filmmaker Anna Reeves. The film was written and directed by Reeves, who trained at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. After spending time on the Hawkesbury River and meeting the communities who make their livelihoods on the river, Reeves decided she wanted to make a film about the oyster-farming industry and their vanishing way of life.

Jack and Skippy are sitting on a small jetty on a river, fishing.
Jack Hey, Skip?
Skippy What?
Jack You ever been in love?
Skippy turns to look at Jack.
Skippy No.
Skippy pauses and then looks sheepish.
Skippy Yeah.
He giggles.
Skippy I reckon everyone needs a drama. You know? Makes you feel more alive. Some bastards leap out of planes, some have a real big wedding, some lucky bastards even get laid and some poor fucks…
Skippy picks up a knife.
Skippy …carve themselves up. I reckon you best to know that part of yourself. ‘Cause it’s going to surface sooner or later, isn’t it? You don’t want it to come as a shock, eh? I used to have to kill people to get the rush. Now I’m happy to just go fishing.

Brownie and Trish sit on some old wooden steps by the water.
Brownie I’m going to get that bloody lease back off Johnson.
Trish Which one?
Brownie Up the back paddock. I mean let’s face it, it’s a mess. He hasn’t got a clue.
Trish And you have?
Brownie Too right.
They both smile.

Mumbles and Jack have finished fishing and are sitting outside, both asleep. A dog is also asleep, under the table. Brownie comes over. He begins to make instant coffee with the cups on the table.
Brownie Dad?
Mumbles Huh?
Brownie What would you say if we offered Jack here a couple of those leases up by the escarpment? Only take him a couple of years to pay them off.
Mumbles You don’t mean sublease?
Brownie Why not? He’s a good worker, we got to give him some incentive.
Jack has not opened his eyes yet but speaks, showing that he has been awake and listening to the conversation.
Jack What’s the catch?
Brownie You have to take the old man with you.
Jack Nup. No way.
Mumbles And why not?
Brownie I know. I know it’s a big ask but, look, me and Trish, we’re not going to make it if he’s out there on the barge all day, sticking his nose into everything.
Mumbles I do nothing of the sort.
Jack We’ll have to reconsider if he hasn’t croaked in a year.
Brownie Fair enough. So you’ll do it then?
Jack It’s a generous offer.
Brownie You’re a good man, Jack.
Brownie pats Jack on the chest.
Brownie Knew you wouldn’t let me down. Excuse me gents.
Brownie walks away. Jack smiles to himself.
Mumbles I’m not going to die, you can forget that straightaway. I’m still the head of this family, you hear me?
Brownie doesn’t respond, closing a roller door after him.