Did Rising Water rise to the occasion?

Rising Water

On the 17th of August, the year 11 literature class ventured out to the Melbourne Arts Centre to watch Tim Winton's first play "Rising Water". Set in a Fremantle marina, the play exposer the lives of three Australians who have their quiet marina lives turned upside down by a drunken British backpacker on Australia day. The audience is forced to sit still and listen as the characters bicker and retell the stories of their past. The slow nature of marina life is reflected in the play, causing the occasional snore to come from the back row of the theatre.

The set is one of the most interesting parts of this play. The three life-size boats docked at the jetty and floating on a shimmering blue floor attract the eye and the imagination, even if the storyline does not. We follow Baxter as he tries to avoid awkwardness and life in general. He was once a school principal who found himself the target of wild accusations involving a young girl. Now living alone on the marina, he once again finds his hands full with a young backpacker who makes herself comfortable on his boat. Meanwhile, neighbors Cole and Jackie continue ton live their uneventful lives. Jackie, a lesbian alcoholic in rehab plays a minor role in the plot line and could have been missed. Cole, an ex accountant, lives his simple life, lacking direction and remaining forever where he is.

Overall the play explored the simple lives of an Australian on the marina, however the entire play lacked direction, much like the characters, and the lack of excitement in the plot was much better suited to the elderly citizens in the theatre than the class of teenage girls.

Only the good die young

Come out Virginia, don't let me wait
You Catholic girls start much too late
aw But sooner or later it comes down to fate
I might as well be the one

well, They showed you a statue, told you to pray
They built you a temple and locked you away
Aw, but they never told you the price that you pay
For things that you might have done.....
Only the good die young
thats what i said
only the good die young x2

You might have heard I run with a dangerous crowd
We ain't too pretty we ain't too proud
We might be laughing a bit too loud
aw But that never hurt no one

So come on Virginia show me a sign
Send up a signal and I'll throw you the line
The stained-glass curtain you're hiding behind
(you know)
Never lets in the sun
darlin only the good die young
woah
i tell ya
only the good die young x2

You got a nice white dress and a party on your confirmation
You got a brand new soul
mmmm, And a cross of gold
But Virginia they didn't give you quite enough information
You didn't count on me
When you were counting on your rosary
(oh woah woah)

They say there's a heaven for those who will wait
Some say it's better but I say it ain't
I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints
the sinners are much more fun...

you know that only the good die young
thats what i said
i tell ya
only the good die young, X2


well your mother told you all that I could give you was a reputation
Aww She never cared for me
But did she ever say a prayer for me? oh woah woah

Come out come out come out virgina dont let me wait,
You Catholic girls start much too late
Sooner or later it comes down to fate
I might as well be the one,
You know that only the good die young

I'm telling you baby
You know that only the good die young
Only the good die young
Only the gooooooooooooooood
Only the good die young
Only the gooooooooooooooood
Only the good die young
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooo oooooooooo...

All-time Favourite Movie Scene

My favorite film scene is from the movie 'Never Back Down', and is a fight scene. This scene is filmed with very dark lighting to create mystery and suspense. The camera moves sporadically around the two boys involved and flashes up close ups of faces, arms and hands. The music at this time is very fast speed and causes the heart to race without even seeing the image. The actors portray their characters very well and make the scene believable and very memorable.

The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg ~ Michel Legrand 1964

This film extract is of two lovers and the boy goes off to war and asks the girl not to forget him. The entire film is sung in French which is refreshingly different and amusing. The colours are fairly bland whilst in the cafe before he leaves, this shows their sorrow over him leaving. The image of the girl on the platform as the train moves on is lonely and effects the audience emotionally. This film is touching as you can see their love for each other and how hard it is for the two of them to separate. Overall, I enjoyed this extract because of it's French style.

Bande A Parte ~ Jean Luc Godard 1964

This clip is of a few people dancing in a restaurant in France. The clip goes for 6 minutes and contains no dialogue from the actors, but instead has a narrator commenting on their thoughts every few moments by pausing the action.
The extract doesn't send out a particular point without the context of the entire film, however it captures the audience's attention due to how bizarre the action is.

Superman and Paula Brown's New Snowsuit

This short narrative gave us an insight into the war from a young girl's point of view, showing the innocence lost during this time.
The little girl is safe and secure in her world of innocence, surrounded by her own daydreams. The small girl's world slowly crumbles as she is exposed to images of the war and has all the other children gang up on her after being wrongly accused of pushing Paula into the mud and ruining her new snowsuit. The young girl feels victimized when even her own mother and uncle don't believe her.
The girl's adoration for her uncle is obvious as she looks up to him and enjoys spending time with him. To her, Uncle Frank is superman and is holding her world together.

They're not your husband

They're not your husband

They're not your husband is about a man who is dissatisfied by his wife's appearance and is seeking approval by strangers to improve his own confidence in her looks. The man pressures his wife into losing weight to the point where she becomes ill. His forceful actions are due to his own insecurities with himself and his own social appearance.

The author writes very straight to the point with little fuss over extra details. The repeated use of the word 'said' shows the lack of expression used by the characters, which goes hand in hand with the writer's style. The author writes in a very realistic manner, causing the reader to feel as though the story is real. Whilst the narrative is not dark, the issue is quite confronting and realistic.

Walkabout

Walkabout

Today in class we watched the film 'Walkabout', filmed in 1971.
There is a reoccurring theme of isolation and borders, seen through the images of brick walls and fences. These flashes of plain walls symbolize the characters being blocked in in their world.

Images of legs walking quickly through the streets are impersonal as they don't show faces which doesn't allow the audience to connect with these people. The director has decided to film this in order to show that the main characters are lost in a world full of strangers.

We see the husband and wife stereotypically displayed to the audience with the wife in the kitchen and the husband coming home from work. There is a sense of tension between the two as neither of them acknowledge the other, showing that times are tough and creating conflict within the family.

The labels on the trees also represent how nothing in the world is cometely natural, it is all a show. There is also only a small amount of nature on the windowsill, a poor attempt at connecting with the earth.

Odour of chrysanthemums ~ D H Lawrence

Odour of chrysanthemums 
D H Lawrence

The author describes the surroundings as a very gloomy and run down area. The grass is described as rough, and 'fields were dreary and forsaken'. The description of smoke causes the reader to imagine a dirty place with a neglected appearance. The clanking and stumbling train suggests an unharmonious effect on the town.
In this extract, the miners are portrayed in an impersonal manner.  The mother however is middle class. She wears a white apron and her hair is perfect, she doesn't fit in with this environment. The young boy who is only five, already seems to be effected by the gloominess of his environment as he speaks with a 'sulky voice' when replying to his mother.
The author is sending the message of what life is like for the lower-class people in society. These people feel trapped in their own lives and are resentful of their situations and their environment. The extract explores the idea of raising children in poverty and the struggles these individuals may face.
This extract was written in the times leading up to WWI. These were very hard and poor times for many people. The mechanical and industrial industries were beginning to take over and were being treated as more important than the people of England.

My Reading Journey ~ Emma Mackenzie

My Dad and I used to read this together every night before bed.

I loved the imagination and adventure of this book. 

Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy
 is one of my all time favourite characters. 

I read this book in primary school and felt so emotionally attached to the story line that I have now read it 4 times.

I have always loved the era that this book is set in, and the sisters who would all do anything
for each other made me feel as though I had sisters too.

Snowdrops ~ Leslie Norris

Snowdrops ~ Leslie Norris
The loss of innocence is a major theme in this short story. The young boy begins his day wanting to see the Snowdrop flowers and is then forced to grow up after seeing the confronting image of his beloved teacher, Miss Webster, quivering and crying over the death of her boyfriend.

This young boy is still living in his own fantasy, childhood world and struggles to comprehend the difference between emotional pain and physical pain. His ignorance is visible when tasting cold bacon and being amazed at the difference after only a change in temperature.

Edmund is the same age as the other young boy, however his maturity and worldly understanding separates him from the young boy. Edmund seems to have lost some of his innocence and this is clear through his explanation of the funeral. 

Snowdrops are fragile looking flowers that are actually standing very strong and are battling the harsh winter conditions. In this short story, the Snowdrops are similar to Miss Webster who appears weak, however she is still hiding and holding back large amounts of grief and pain and that takes a lot of courage to stay strong.