Black Water - Preview
Preview by Jack Foley
IT MAY bear startling comparisons to 2003 shark flick Open Water but Andrew Traucki and David Nerlich’s crocodile thriller Black Water is still worth catching when it opens in February.
The film is inspired by the true story of two friends who were stranded up a tree in a flooded river, whilst the crocodile that had just killed their friend lay in wait below.
It proved a hit at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, where many critics praised it as a tense, thrilling, adrenaline filled account of a happy family outing that goes horribly wrong. Set in the mangrove swamps of Australia, Black Water features real live crocodiles, used for the first time in a film of this nature, while pitted against them is newcomer Maeve Dermody, who puts in a riveting performance as unlikely heroine Lee.
Grace (Diana Glenn), her boyfriend Adam (Andy Rodoreda) and younger sister Lee decide to take a river tour whilst holidaying in Northern Australia. As they drift into a mangrove swamp their boat is suddenly capsized and Jim, their guide, disappears.
Realising they’ve been attacked by a crocodile, they manage to climb to safety up a tree. But stranded in the flooded mangrove swamp with a hungry croc below, how will they make it out alive?
Commenting after the film secured a UK distribution following its success at Cannes, producer Michael Robertson said: “This vindicates the faith the Australian Film Commission has had in Black Water from the outset. To have achieved a theatrical release in the UK proves Australian low-budget genre can and does sell in overseas markets.”
Certainly, the film is a tense, grimly authentic affair that should, at the very least, become an indie favourite. While comparisons to Open Water are obvious, they’re also unfair, given that Black Water is arguably the better film (marginally), stemming from the fact the characters are more sympathetic and the creature at the centre of it features more prominently. There are several virtuoso moments that will probably lead to people jumping from their seats, or ending up in despair.
Black Water opens in UK cinemas on February 22, 2008.