Limbo

Front Row at the Movies by Shirrel Rhoades

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Coober Pedy is a small town in South Australia, about halfway between Adelaide and Alice Springs on desolate Stuart Highway. It is known as the “opal capital of the world.” The name Coober Pedy comes from the local term “kupa-piti,” which translates to “whitefellas’ hole.” – referring to surrounding the opal mines.

The town is known for its below-ground dwellings, called “dugouts,” housing designed to protect residents from the scorching daytime heat. Many of the 1,566 inhabitants prefer to live in these caves bored into the hillsides, sanctuaries that remain at a constant tolerable temperature while the scorching outside desert heat exceeds 104°F.

Filmmaker Ivan Sen (“Mystery Road,” “Goldstone”) is himself an indigenous Australian. As founder of Bunya Productions, he has directed over a score of feature films and documentaries, all based on Australian and Aboriginal themes.

His 2023 film “Limbo” – currently playing at Tropic Cinema – is a crime drama that explores the 20-year-old unsolved homicide of an Aboriginal girl.

We meet Travis, a flinty, burned-out cop, who becomes caught up in this mystery when his car breaks down in this remote outpost. He tracks down the missing girl’s now-adult siblings, who are wary to talk with a white man. Nevertheless, we watch as Travis (played by Simon Baker) shifts from reluctant cop to someone swept up in unpleasant truths about the unjust treatment of Aboriginal Australians.

Something of a one-man band, Ivan Sen wrote the script, directed and produced the film, did the stunning cinematography himself, edited the film, and even scored the music.

Ivan Sen wrote the script based on his experience with the town, fascinated by its underground dwellings and unusual culture.

He deliberately shot the film in black and white because of the large expanses of pockmarked white ground at Coober Pedy, a lunar landscape that provides a dramatic backdrop for this low-key missing person drama.

Sen says, “When I write a story, everything grows from the location – the characters, the visual style, the camera style, even the editing. That Coober Pedy location has 6 million holes in the ground created by the newcomers to the land, after colonization … This otherworldly feeling is present within every frame of the film, and Travis who finds himself in this landscape is like a space traveler.”

As The Hollywood Reporter described it, “With its strikingly cinematic locations and Sen’s expressive use of the widescreen frame, ‘Limbo’ sneaks up on you, leaving a haunting impression.”

Variety called it “outback noir … as hard-boiled as the ground is hard baked.”

You will remember Simon Baker from the popular seven-season CBS TV series “The Mentalist.” Although born in Tasmania, he grew up in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia.

Baker says of “Limbo”: “What I like about the film is that it sits in the gray. In a way, Travis is trying to redeem himself. The idea that he has self-isolated through his own traumas made it easy for him to access this story of this family being isolated through the neglect of the justice system and him being a part of that neglect as well … In essence, they help save him, and they show him a sensitivity and an openness and a generosity and a kindness, and he projects that back on to them. I liked the idea of all these broken people reaching for something.”

“I often talk about how the justice system and its relationship with Indigenous Australians is reflective of the wider society of Australia,” says Ivan Sen. “Last year we had a national referendum allowing Indigenous people to be recognized within our constitution. It was a met with a resounding ‘no.’ ”

Baker chimes in: “That’s really the essence of what the film is about. What is justice for First Australians subjected to a long, violent, and protracted colonization? And still, in 2023 we vote against a referendum suggesting that Indigenous Australians should be enshrined in our constitution and have a voice to speak on their behalf for themselves in parliament.”

Ivan Sen sums it up: “When you make art about this stuff, hopefully, it does go on to have some influence.”

A mystery with a message.

Email Shirrel: srhoades@aol.com