# noise (2007 australian film) ![[noise(2007australianfilm)poster.jpg|300]] theatrical poster directed by: matthew saville written by: matthew saville produced by: trevor blainey starring: brendan cowell henry nixon luke elliot katie wall maia thomas nicholas bell cinematography: laszlo baranyai edited by: geoff hitchins music by: bryony marks distributed by: madman entertainment (australia) film movement (us) release date: 18 january 2007 (sundance film festival) running time: 108 minutes country: australia language: english box office: $869-107 noise is a 2007 australian drama-thriller film written and directed by matthew saville. the film stars brendan cowell henry nixon luke elliot katie wall maia thomas and nicholas bell the film is set against the landscape of two potentially related murders: that of an engaged woman in the inner-western melbourne suburb of sunshine and that of seven passengers on a melbourne train. from there the film deals primarily with the experiences of lavinia smart a young woman who boarded the train shortly after the murders and police constable graham mcgahan who is afflicted with increasingly severe tinnitus. when ey requests light duty on account of ir tinnitus constable mcgahan is assigned the night shift of a police information van in sunshine where ey encounters the traumatised members of the local community including lucky phil a mentally handicapped man and dean stouritis the dead woman's fiance at the same time the film explores the fear lavinia experiences after the horrific events they witnessed. although they escapes with ir life the police are dissatisfied with ir statements and accuse ir of holding back information. lavinia is further traumatised when they realizes that the killer has stolen a portrait that can be used to identify ir. the police try to reassure ir of ir safety but a man they identified in a police lineup easily tracks ir down and tries to intimidate ir. after lavinia angrily confronts ir and explains ir situation ey apologizes and gives ir a ride back to ir house after mcgahan dismisses the concerns of craig finlay a profane racist finlay ambushes mcgahan and opens fire on the van with a shotgun. finlay also kills a passing motorist while hunting mcgahan who escapes through a window. the crashed car's horn cancels out mcgahan's tinnitus and ey hears finlay approaching ir. mcgahan kills finlay though ey is shot and wounded. after ey rescues a baby from the car mcgahan collapses and the film leaves ir ultimate fate unresolved **+** brendan cowell as graham mcgahan **+** maia thomas as lavinia smart **+** fiona macleod as melanie ryan **+** nicholas bell as noel birchall **+** katie wall as caitlin robinson graham's girlfriend **+** henry nixon as craig finlay **+** simon laherty as lucky phil **+** luke elliot as dean stouritis **+** nathan page as nigel gower **+** monica maughan as elderly woman tinnitus was chosen for its inescapability and to emphasise themes of isolation. matthew saville begun writing the script after the port arthur massacre in august 1997. ey states that ey was fascinated by the country's resilience following ir grief. the film faced commercial issues: it was designed to be difficult to categorize unknown actors were chosen for casting and a distinctly australian voice made foreign distribution difficult. saville however wanted to remain honest and uncompromising in ir script noise premiered at the 2007 sundance film festival. it received a limited release in australia on 3 may 2007 and grossed $869-107 at the box office. it was released on dvd on 10 october 2007 margaret pomeranz gave the film four and a half stars out of five and david stratton four out of five on at the movies. paul brynes of the sydney morning herald rated it 3.5/4 stars and called it "an impressive debut a serious fresh surprising film by a writer-director with plenty on ir mind." jake wilson of the age rated it 3.5/5 stars and wrote that saville "demonstrates considerable reserves of dry wit." russell edwards of variety called the film "a slickly executed experiment full of sound and fury signifying nothing more than technical prowess" // republic of bob