2013 (M) Australia 121 min  Dir: Ivan Sen

Indigenous detective Jay Swan (Aaron Pedersen) returns to his small Queensland country town and his first case is the murder of a teenage girl. Having spent a considerable amount of time in the big city, Jay finds himself alienated from both the police, including the Sergeant (Tony Barry) and drug squad's Johnno (Hugo Weaving) and his community, including his own daughter, Crystal (Tricia Whitton) who lives with her mother Mary (Tasma Walton). Though thwarted in his investigations by a lack of cooperation from the locals, and a lack of interest from his fellow cops, Jay gradually unravels a complex crime web.

There's a sense of space and isolation in Ivan Sen's mystery thriller beyond its setting of the middle of nowhere. Aaron Pedersen's detective Jay Swan is an outsider, no longer part of his own Aboriginal community, or a welcome part of the white police officers with whom he works. Jay's solitary work is to work out for what he is searching. The journey that Sen invites us to take is one of discovery, as he metaphorically digs in the dusty earth to find the clues that allow the mystery to be unravelled.. The dialogue is economical, each exchange telling its own story as the different characters are introduced. The constant is the presence of Pedersen's protagonist and the vast, arid landscape with its forked dirt roads, thirsty grasses, wailing dogs, gnarled branches and flame-coloured sunsets that offer a spectacular backdrop before which silhouettes stealthily move.

Pedersen grounds the film and makes Jay Swan a sympathetic character whose own personal wounds from his failed marriage are exposed. Hugo Weaving is a fine presence as the edgy cop who wonders if Jay has ever killed a man; Ryan Kwanten as the roo shooter who can hit his target from any spot and I especially like Jack Thompson as the old codger who says HE does not remember. Each character is a stepping stone to the film's resolution, offering information and colour along the way.

Sen has crafted a film whose pace and action is slow and deliberate, allowing the undercurrent of the tensions to build dramatically over a period of time. His camera work is both creative and unobtrusive. His stated intention of including little music (he wrote the score) is that the dialogue assumes greater importance, allowing each word and exchange to resonate to maximum effect. This works. In true western style, the final shoot out occurs symbolically on Slaughter Hill, which leads off Mystery Road. This is a film to enjoy when you are not in a rush - or if you are in a rush, it will slow you down. Either way, it is well worth the indulgence.   Louise Keller

Mystery Road was the opening night film of the 2013 Sydney Film Festival:     

http://www.sff.org.au/films-container/mystery-road/