1917's George McKay is Australia's famed 19th-century outlaw in this re-telling of the life and times of, alongside Russell Crowe, Nicholas Hoult and Charlie Hunnam. Directed by Justin Kurzel (Snowtown), and based on Peter Carey’s Booker Prize-winning novel.
"Outlaw Ned Kelly lived only 25 years, but it was enough to write his story into Australian legend. The subject of countless books, songs, and other lore, he has become a near-mythical figure in the mould of Jesse James or even Robin Hood...
"Kelly (George MacKay) grows up in an already rebellious Irish immigrant family, regularly bristling against the outback justice imposed by local police. Over time, he falls under the influence of Harry Power (Crowe), a true bush-ranger with little regard for colonial authority over the wild territory where he operates. Each encounter with the law pushes Kelly further and further into a dedicated life of crime. Soon enough, he's gathered a gang around him to help with the horse thieving and shootouts, and many Australian settlers are applauding his exploits. It all builds to an epic final showdown." (Toronto International Film Festival.
A sharp bolt of electricity directly into the heart of this well-worn legend... So entrenched in Australian folklore is the story of Ned Kelly and his spectacular showdown with police in Glenrowan that the lines distinguishing fact and fiction are almost now beside the point. It is in this spirit that Justin Kurzel’s fourth feature True History of the Kelly Gang kicks off from the outset.
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Poor Ned Kelly. First they hanged him, then cut off his head and let medical students souvenir bits of his body. Then the film-makers arrived to chew on his bones. Every generation since 1906 has had a go at his corpse, starting with Charles Tait's The Story of the Kelly Gang, one of the first feature-length films made anywhere in the world. Few have done him any favours, preferring the legend over the intelligent, articulate man who penned the Jerilderie Letter.
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A near-incoherent ensemble piece that squanders an enviable cast — which is studded with hip rising stars like lanky Brit Nicholas Hoult (The Favourite), Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit), and Kiwi country singer Marlon Williams (A Star is Born) — it's the latest in a long line of films to take aim at Ned Kelly, only to glance off his armour, barely leaving a mark.
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This is Ned Kelly via punk rock, Derek Jarman and avant garde theatre, and fact-checking has no place in this inventively loopy psychodrama.
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After multiple failed attempts to capture the legend of Aussie outlaw Ned Kelly on film, Justin Kurzel's enthralling, unruly vision finally gets it right.
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The Robin Hood-like renegade hero of the Antipodean common man, Ned Kelly gets a ripping reinvention in director Justin Kurzel's feverish punk Western, a raw rebel yell of a movie that combines visceral violence with a kind of delirious, scrappy poetry.
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Turns out to be an at-once straightforward and intriguingly unintuitive take on the life of the famous bushranger and Australian folk hero.
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An immersive inquiry into how much truth even matters when parsing the lasting impact of a legend.
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The problem of parsing Ned Kelly's story is at the centre of this film. To watch it, you have to brace for impact.
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It's gritty and grimy, but surprisingly funny too, and cinematography superstar Ari Wegner does an excellent job in providing a real sense of the unforgiving landscape.
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