Animal Kingdom
In a land of such vivid self-expression, the recent crop of Australian movies have been disappointingly sparse in their dialogue. The fashion has been for dark movies with brooding characters, who do not have a great deal to say. The Australian road movie, Last Ride, starring Hugo Weaving (and Lake Gairdner in South Australia), may have been exquisitely shot and acted, but Weaving's damaged outlaw was the strong, silent and occasionally psychotic type. Beautiful Kate, another of last year's critical successes, was a film of rich story-lines but a meagre script. As for Samson and Delilah, the outback love story which was a winner at Cannes in 2009, the point was to explore a largely speechless relationship between two Aboriginal teenagers.
So Animal Kingdom, which has been described as the best Australian film in a decade, is a treat: an Aussie movie oozing with sharp lines, clever turns of phrase and spellbinding set-piece scenes. It is the debut feature film of David Michod, who both wrote and directed it, and has already picked up the dramatic jury prize for world cinema at this year's Sundance Film Festival.
Set in the mean suburbs of Melbourne, it tells the story of a dysfunctional criminal family, the Codys, as they try to outwit the Victoria Police - a force, as depicted here, with renegade officers prepared to dispense their own brutal form of justice. It opens with "J", an awkward teenager who has just arrived home to find Deal or No Deal on the television, and his mother dead on the sofa. She has overdosed on drugs. The film then follows him as he is welcomed, grudgingly by his uncles and over-happily by his grand-mother, into the heroin-peddling gang.
Go see it for yourself - and given its success at Sundance, it will no doubt be screened beyond these shores - but the performances are simply outstanding. International audiences will recognize Guy Pearce, who plays a police detective, but the other homegrown stars are less well -known outside of Australia. They should be, and perhaps soon will be on the strength of their performances in Animal Kingdom. There is Ben Mendelsohn, who plays Pope, the homicidal head of gang. There is Joel Edgerton, who played opposite Cate Blanchett in A Streetcar Named Desire and is a familiar face in Australia. But the stand-out performance comes from Jacki Weaver, one of those Aussie actresses who pops up all over the place, who plays the matriarch of the family - Smurf, a platinum blond whose relationship with her sons borders on the incestuous without actually crossing into it. The New York Times has rated her performance as among the five best of the mid-year releases.
Because it focuses on the Melbourne underworld, Animal Kingdom has inevitably been compared to Channel Nine's ratings winner, Underbelly. But that's like assessing a bottle of Grange, Australia's most collectible wine, against a $A30 bottle of Shiraz.
As we noted in this blog earlier in the year, Underbelly has raised questions about the glamorization of violence If that is truly the case, Animal Kingdom is the gritty corrective.
Given nine stars out of ten by our old friends Margaret and David, the Siskel and Ebert of Australia, it is surely destined to become an Australian movie classic.
I'm 
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~59~RS~)
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Nick, I’m always impressed with the range that the BBC correspondents have to cover from my days of listening to From Our Correspondent on BBC Radio 4 in the Old Country. I haven’t seen Animal Kingdom yet, on your recommendation, I’ll, as they say here, ‘Give it a go’.
In my two and a half years of living in Australia I appreciate the depth and quality of culture here and that often best conveyed by the output from the film industry, rather than the clichéd offerings from the television industry, although there are exceptions there too.
While I was well informed, in a superficial way, of Australian history, geography and society – one doesn’t really get to know a place until you live there - I’ve also noted that there is a predisposition toward the outlaw in popular culture. I have been quite taken by the exception, Arthur Upfield’s, Bony, the half aborigine, half white detective – I’d never come across him before I got here. I’m sure there are others but I’m also sure other people will put me right.
Liked the wine analogy but I can’t afford the 30 bucks for a bottle of wine, I’m still trying to get down to the prices from Sainsbury’s and Tesco’s.
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Nick,
I just watched the official trailer, and let me tell you: I was blown away. This is not the Godfather; this is not the Sopranos. This is a big step beyond into the mind and motivation of crime.
This is wicked, action-backed, but extraordinarily well-acted. I can see why it won Sundance.
Thanks for brining the Masterpiece of "Animal Kingdom" to my attention because here I was thinking it was another Dr. Dolittle kind of thing. Animal Kingdom is all about the human animal - at his best and at his worst.
It's a movie I don't want to miss.
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Sounds like some echoes of chopper reid here? i think aussie films would do well to keep the focus on brooding rather than cliched subject matter. looking forward to Oranges and Sunshine later this year, featuring Weaving and David Wenham - who for those outside australia has done so much more than Faramir...
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I was more interested in Guy Pearce's moustache. How is it that Aussie men can still look tough with a tache when Englishmen just look silly? Do you think it is just a psychological hangover from the hard Aussie cricketers of Dennis Lillee, Allan Border, Merv Hughes, et al?
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I usually make a point of seeing any film that raises questions about the glamorisation of violence.
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Note the spelling of 'glamorisation', in my previous post, Nick. You write for the British Broadcasting Corporation, after all.
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These uplifting productions of the evolution of societies. The way the global economy works on a local scale only less violent.
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Such a pleasant change to see contributors talking about a topic rather than sniping at each other from a keyboard.
Please let it continue.
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I'm not sure workingboy, but I've always associated tashes (and mullets) with rednecks who have no style, maybe that explains it...
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Jacki Weaver was the inspiration for many a nocturnal fantasy when I were a lad ...very sexy but also a very witty and intelligent woman.
good to see she's still on the go. I'll watch out for Animal Kingdom
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#7 so true
Jacki Weaver was a rising star of the 1970s, and she showed her potential as an actor then in the film 'Caddie' along with Helen Morse and Jack Thompson
Probably few now have heard of this film but it was a gem
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Yes!
Normally I would raise an eyebrow at a correspondent offering film reviews, but this is without question one of the best films you will see. It is definitely an Australian cultural experience, but expressed in a way that speaks to universal audiences...
And, the ending, my god...So good.
You must all see this film.
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Nick. This thread is going nowhere fast mate. I’m sure the movie deserves good reviews but another Aussie media thing about criminals? When will this constant parading of genetic traits ever stop? Maybe time to get back to the Julia and Tony show? Or how about Hawkie’s bio, Paul’s millions or Kev’s future. On second thoughts, scratch the last one
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13 PeterD: I agree with you PeteD...and what happened to the John Howard ICC debacle...not a whimper here...not that I'm into cricket, but I know there are many that visit this site that are.
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14 11pete11
I feel really uncomfortable about agreeing with you but ‘yup’, the embarrassing collapse of Jono’s ICC nomination was interesting. Did the Aussies, Kiwis and Poms have their heads where the sun doesn’t shine; pushing for Jono when Indian student customers for tertiary education were getting bashed around in Melbourne.
Some quotes from the Indian media:
"why a museum piece, a symbol of the black-white divide, dare or dream of entering world cricket?"
"racism was always part of the Australian DNA, and the tragedy is you have an ex-prime minister so much defining that racism".
How about putting Kev’s name forward. Knows nothing about cricket but then he got to lead a country for 2.5 years without knowing much about politics didn’t he? Also good at warm and fuzzy talk about the “global brotherhood of man, etc”
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I always find it odd that India, with its caste system can make comments such as the one PeterD posted from the Indian media..."racism was always part of the Australian DNA".
But of more relevance to the issues pete and Peter have raised, though slightly off topic, is that IMHO it was extremely demeaning of John Howard to seek that position in the first place.
As many posters know I am a great supporter of the Commonwealth and see that organisation playing a greater role in the management of this planet by making increased use of it common voice within the United Nations General Assembly.
A position with the Commonwealth Executive, or with the UN is more in keeping with my ideals for how ex-Australian Prime Ministers should seek their employment after their political career...assuming they don't want to fish, paint, write or whatever.
Or, as previously stated, putting their case as to why they should be trusted to be elected as the President of Australia...which would also be "after their political career"...the position being beyond politics.
Animal Kingdom?
Haven't seen the movie yet but the only connection I envisage between Australia and any kind of "kingdom"...IS the Animal Kingdom.
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I think any Australian media reporting...'racism was always part of the.. Indian.. DNA' would result in a public outcry, a backdown and apology
It really is an example of the double standards which exist that such a racist remark can be printed, much less reported. Did the BBC mods also agree with this quote?
The more likely cause of blocking Howard is that he would have wanted to investigate the malaise in international cricket, namely the claims of match fixing. Rather than the gentleman's flannelled fool approach
Regarding Australian films, I also wonder at the current 'criminal genre'. Aussie films had a reputation for self deprecating humour, frankness, the unexpected, and a kind of underlying sweetness, rather than the underworld
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Nice to see the two Pensioner Petes back onboard to turn this thread into another episode of their ongoing struggle. Beats afternoon bingo I guess.
Wollemi you should realise by now that's it's allowable to publish any insulting rubbish about Australians without redress. Anti-Australianism is like anti-Americanism for wimps.
I for one am proud of Australia's rise from convict beginnings but surely even the most blinkered anti-Australian bigot or DNA-obsessed eugenicist can do the sums and see that 80,000 convicts *in total* as opposed to 350,000 voluntary immigrants *per year* in the 1860s, not to mention the overwhelming numbers of immigrants since, represents a minuscule proportion of "Australian DNA".
Having said that, there is definitely a fascination with criminals and gangs in Australian popular culture, and Melbourne in particular, but it's hardly unusual compared with US and the Sopranos, UK and their East End geezer gangsters, or for that matter the Times of India's breathless reporting of Mumbai underworld characters as if they were society figures.
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Sorry, having Wikip'd, it was 165,000 convicts *in total* over 80 years vs 370,000 voluntary immigrants *in 1852 alone*, but I'm sure you get my point
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14 wollemi
It was Australian media reporting or more correctly Australian media reporting what Indian media were reporting:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/indians-blast-john-howard-icc-bid/story-e6frg6nf-122588731682
16 Greg Warner
I agree with you on your comments about India and many other states in the developing world. A better term than racism may be discriminatory social differentiation of which racism would be a component; others relating to ethnicity, religion, family, tribe, social class, etc. The most interesting example of this I’ve seen is the Sunday edition of the Times of India which has a complete section on persons seeking marriage partners. The specifications include all the examples above and more. A common one is to claim or seek someone with a ‘wheatish complexion’. Africans have told me that the heart of Zimbabwe’s problems is that Mugabe’s crowd are from the Shona tribe and their main targets are folks from the Ndebele tribe. My first UN assignment was in Yemen anI was shocked to see that the country was rife with this sort of
I’m not a big Commonwealth fan though. When push-comes-to-shove the only real common factor is that all members started out as British colonies with many different outcomes. I’d much prefer to see an upgraded UN system, starting with a more representative Security Council
As to jobs for ex-pollies, Helen Clarke has long been my favourite Antipodean politician. She is the current head of the UN Development Program, the number three UN job. I think she would make a great UN Secretary General. Of course, there’s the likes of Blair who got completely tied up by the pro-Israel lobby in seeking funds for the UK Labour Party and now he’s supposed to be the impartial Special Envoy for the so-called Middle East Quartet: UN, EU, USA and Russia. The man’s a joke, a bad joke at that.
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9 Bren54
Yes, and amazingly of those 165,000 very few lives were lost enroute, around 300 I believe. Among the many interesting things I learned during a fascinating visit to the Port Arthur site was that transportees were generally well treated and could attend literacy classes on route. The one big exception was the second fleet where the survivors arrived in an appalling state – an early example of contracting out based only on the lowest bid. Those convicts that ‘towed the line’ could also receive training in various trades and were given 20 acres of land after completion of their time. Most probably ended up much better off than if they had spent their lives in the squalid areas of UK cities in the 19th century.
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Do the Aussies on here not like feeling misrepresented in the foreign media? Is it hurting your feelings? Does it make you frustrated and cross? It's odd because the Australian media has no such concerns when discussing other nations, and regularly publishes insulting and patronising articles about India and Indians.
On ocassions it is also perfectly content to publish self-satisfied, misleading, stereotyping, inaccurate, contemptuous pieces with no discernable aim, other than to offend. I've included a link I remember complaining to the Sydney Morning Herald about (supposedly quality newspaper?) but I imagine they must have written me off as little more than a 'whinging pom'.
http://blogs.smh.com.au/travel/archives/2007/02/the_worlds_most_unfriendly_cou.html
Yet here you all are, indignant and embittered because of one little article which isn't calling Australia sunny and lovely.
So, why don't you bat an eyelid when Australia's commentators are discussing seriously the English people's 'born to rule mentality' and 'arrogance' or when your rugby coach declares that everyone hates England, and your papers all agree with him?
Either develop a thicker skin and stop whinging or lobby your own media to leave out the tired, worn out prejudices from the garbage they publish about other nations.
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Sigh, It is a shame to see the 'Usual Suspects' in charge again. This comment thread is supposed to be about an Australian film.
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I'm not sure which "one little article" you are referring to stirling but I work in India a lot and the hate and misinformation campaign against Australia in the Indian media has been constant recently and affects me often in my work.
The kerfuffle in the English press over the rugby coach comments (leading up to a game vs England I recall - what kind of mug would take that seriously?) rests on the mistaken English assumption, no doubt fuelled by Sydney-based correspondents, that a rugby union coach is a person of major consequence in Australia.
Nobody I know had even heard of the guy before that.
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20. At 11:17am on 14 Jul 2010, PeterD wrote: "I agree with you on your comments about India and many other states in the developing world. A better term than racism may be discriminatory social differentiation of which racism would be a component; others relating to ethnicity, religion, family, tribe, social class, etc".
Also agree...it's more than the caste thing.
But what I find the most illogical is..."a symbol of the black-white divide".
For me it is racist in an anti-"white" stance, if I can use that expression, for someone to play the racist card...based on the "black-white divide".
I believe this is a case of the pot calling the kettle white.
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I very much enjoyed Last Ride, dark and menacing though it was. I saw it on the plane back to London from Sydney, and desperately needed to see something happy after it! Beautiful song at the end of it too by The Burning Leaves.
Can't wait to see Animal Kingdom
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I agree with Cainsy. Only the usual suspects could use the subject of a movie review to get on their soap box about something like John Howard being rolled by the Indians about the ICC job. My challenge to Nick Bryant is for him to come up with a topic which keeps the BBC Blogosphere's Aristotles and Socrates' on the subject. I don't think he has a hope in hell as I'm sure they could turn a subject like, say, the price of vegemite, into some type of argument about something like the plight of asylum seekers.
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#27 sydneycynic...are you sure it isn't the vegemite that is attracting them?
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You may be right Greg Warner. But if they are, we will decide who gets to eat our vegemite and the circumstances in which they eat it!
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Pretty big call describing this film as the best Australian film in a decade, clearly whoever made that claim has not seen Wogboy 2.
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Yes sydneycynic, I agree...just trying to combine Vegemite and asylum seekers as you mentioned in your post # 27.
As an Aussie who is often out of the country, I always take a jar of Vegemite with me on my travels.
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