Ivan Sen's Goldstone: A Taut, Layered Exploration of What Echoes in the Silences

With only five minutes of screen time and two minutes of dialogue, David Gulpilil delivers a powerful performance in Goldstone. When he first appears on screen, Gulpilil sits in a chair out on the dirt. Silent. Poised. Focused. Dapper in black cowboy hat and red shirt buttoned up to his chin to frame his face. Can a face grow into a landscape? Gulpilil’s face is a vortex that draws energy to it, as director Ivan Sen’s camera lingers. As Sen told me in an interview earlier this year, “I don’t gloss past the performance”. He says he gives his actors the time to do what they do, and this is what allows it to be felt by the audience.