The Well
Directed by Samantha Lang
Stars Pamela Rabe, Miranda Otto, Paul Chubb
Review by Margaret Allan
Announced by the critics as the next big Australian movie, The Well is an intense film whose visual impact and well-crafted imagery reveals more about the nature of the two lead characters than the dialogue alone.
I haven't read Elizabeth Jolley's novel The Well, on which this film was based, but the by the end of the screening, I was curious about the text that formed the basis of the wonderful images produced by Samantha Lang's first feature direction.
The two lead characters are dramatically different in background and temperament, yet a relationship develops as each comes to fulfil a need in the other.
Hester (Pamela Rabe) is a strong, responsible woman of early middle age, raised on the land, who eventually takes over the reins of the family farm when her father dies.
Katherine (Miranda Otto) has entered Hester's life as a household employee, but their initial working relationship quickly evolves first into friendship, then into something deeper. The exact nature of their relationship is never detailed, but the erotic undertones in many scenes are powerful.
An emotionally revealing scene shows Hester watching Katherine on the dance floor of the local pub, at a celebration held by the new owners of Hester's farm. The depth of Hester's attachment to the young and vibrant Katherine is revealed wordlessly in her expression of pride and exhilaration.
Over an indeterminant period of time, the two women seem fulfilled by the relationship, needing no others in their isolated hideaway, cocooned from the world outside, until Hester's thoughts turn to travel.
Financially advised by the family accountant (Paul Chubb), Hester has had her usually steady judgment about money matters upturned by the wildly impulsive and much younger Katherine.
Hester somewhat impulsively decides to sell the farm, buy a smaller cottage, then spend a large portion of the money freed up to embark on a year-long European adventure with Katherine.
Accident changes their plans forever when Katherine runs over a man on the way home from the dance. Hiding their grisly secret by disposing of the body down the unused well on the new property, Hester and Katherine start the dramatic unravelling of the blissful life they had achieved together.
The plot unfolds in a way which is difficult to predict, but it is not just this that makes the film enjoyable and intriguing. As a study of the repressed longing and fulfilment of these women, The Well tells a story of the way in which their lives are changed by the qualities of the other, with first positive, then disastrous, consequences.
The film makes much use of the stark beauty of the Monaro area of New South Wales, and a photographic technique called "bleach bypass" which adds contrast and an eerie effect that subtly enhances the look of the landscape.
Acting performances are uniformly good, with many familiar faces from other Australian productions. With a notable absence of men in the cast and principal crew, including director, writer, producer and cinematographer, The Well is a significant achievement for women in film, as well as for the Australian film industry in general.