MovieChat Forums > Jindabyne (2006) Discussion > metaphor

metaphor

posted 18 years ago by hendem
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The submerged "old Jindabyne" - the township under the water - is a pretty powerful metaphor. But I'm having difficulty seeing exactly how it is being applied in this movie.

Is it referring to the repressed urges, thoughts and desires which are contained within all of us? Does it refer to the things that are thought but left unsaid? Does it refer to the aboriginal community in Jindabyne, who are mostly invisible to the white community?

Appreciate your thoughts.

(For non-Australians, the old township of Jindabyne was submerged when Lake Jindabyne was created in the 60's, as part of the Snowy Mountains hydroelectric scheme.)

[–] theprivateer82 17 years ago

Yes, I believe this movie is filled with metaphor. Both your interpretations could be correct, based on the events of the movie.

Perhaps the old Jindabyne has indeed "risen to the surface" in the movie, in the sense of old attitudes of racism/sexism in Australia - I got the impression that there was a subtle hint of racism to continue fishing - it may not have happened to a white woman or a white man or boy or whatever. I got this feeling because of the visible part of the town in the water very early in the movie, in combination after reading your post.

While I think the movie was thought provoking, it was slow moving, and a little sanctimonious. I'm sick of this white guilt I'm made to feel every time something bad happens to Aborigines in this country, or the next time I have to endure statistics on Aboriginal health. I'm just sick of it.