Noise
Afflicted by tinnitus (a constant ringing in the ears), police officer Graham McGann (Brendan Cowell) is yearning for peace. If his partner is correct, and sound is a reflection of itself, then perhaps the incessant noise in McGann’s head is a sign of his need to re-examine his life.
As a partner, he seems somewhat uncommitted to the woman he lives with: they seem, for the most part, to be living parallel lives. As a policeman, McGann is dissatisfied and lackadaisical, and tries to use his physical problems to get some form of compensation from his employers, after a dizzy spell causes him to fall.
His boss (perhaps already aware of McGann’s half-hearted attitude towards his job), treats his compensation claim dismissively, assigning McGann to a relatively passive and mundane job. McGann finds himself working as part of a team who mans a caravan that has been set up as part of an investigation into a grisly murder, which may, or may not, be linked to a mass killing some days earlier.
McGann’s interaction with the locals demonstrates on a micro-cosmic level, how these violent crimes have rippled through the community, while also giving us a glimpse into the apathetic, laconic character McGann has become. The question subsequently shifts from “whodunnit”, to “what will become of our anti-hero”.
This is quite a compelling film. However, viewers glued to their seats awaiting a resolution to the crimes that impel the story, are bound to be disappointed.
The photography, while very good, is very dark. Possibly, the darkness is a mechanism used to make the audience feel claustrophobic. For the duration of the film, the audience is trapped in a world which can’t be seen clearly, much like McGann’s experience of the world is obscured by the incessant ringing in his head.
There are some implausible events in this film, sufficient enough to be frustrating, especially in light of the film’s apparent “realness”. That may be a pitfall of directing a film that one has written, though both are done quite well overall in this case.
Despite smatterings of sardonic humour that are so typically Australian, the film manages never to be parochial. It’s certainly not one of those: “aren’t Aussies down-to-earth, unthreatening and adorable” films, and for that alone, this film deserves commendation. The cast is consistently good, though sometimes the “realism” seems a little pushed to the edge. Brendan Cowell gives a standout performance as McGann.
The Australian film industry can, and should, be producing mature, realistic and challenging films, rather than rehashing and relying on its loveable larrikin cachet (the hallmark of good – but not great – films of the nineties). In that regard, love it or loathe it, Noise is a promising feature debut.