‘Snowtown’

Intense, raw, gritty and based on true events, 16 year-old Jamie finds himself in the thrall of his mother’s new boyfriend and neighbourhood vigilantes.

Life in the margins as Elizabeth (Louise Harris) and her four sons live in run down housing in northern Adelaide. The arrival of her latest boyfriend, John (Daniel Henshall) provides a level of stability and sense of family. But John’s sense of self-righteousness and bigotry influences the boys, Jamie (Lucas Pittaway) in particular as a level of hero-worship develops. As time passes, with the disappearance of several people, Jamie finds himself drawn into the world of violence, retribution and murder.

A dour, bleak feature in director Justin Kurzel’s film debut, Snowtown nevertheless remains a compelling, expressionist menace of a narrative underscored by superb, naturalistic performances.

Rating: 76%

Director: Justin Kurzel (Nitram, True History of the Kelly Gang)

Writer: Shaun Grant (Nitram, True History of the Kelly Gang)

Main cast: Lucas Pittaway (The Faceless Man), Daniel Henshall (The Royal Hotel, TV’s Defending Jacob), Louise Harris (The Turning, TV’s Wentworth)

‘Nitram’

A result of the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, Martin ‘Nitram’ Bryant is listed as Australia’s worst mass murderer. A former convict colony, Port Arthur is a popular tourist destination on the remote south east Tasmanian coast. Bryant ran amok on April 28, 1996, killing 35 people and injuring a further 23.

Written by Shaun Grant (Snowtown, Berlin Syndrome), Nitram looks to the bizarre and disturbed world of Bryant (a wholly convincing Caleb Landry Jones – The Forgiven, Get Out) in the lead up to the tragedy. A loner, mentally unstable with only his parents for support (Judy Davis – The Dressmaker, Ghandi – a stand out), it’s the suicide of his dad, Anthony LaPaglia (Balibo, Lantana) that sends him over the edge.

Choosing to end the film as Bryant enters the Broad Arrow Café at the historic site, director Justin Kurzel (Snowtown, MacBeth) makes a number of assumptions within known facts to provide a fuller characterisation of the killer. Particularly odd is the friendship he develops with the equally lonely heiress, Helen Harvey (Essie Davis – The Babadook, Australia) – with the suggestion that Bryant is responsible for her early death.

As with his earlier Snowtown, Justin Kurzel is not afraid of confronting subject matter, and Nitram sees the tension and known-reveal build in a psychological vice-like grip.

Winner of 8 AACTA awards in 2021 – including film, director, actor, actress, supporting actor, supporting actress and screenplay.

Rating: 79%

‘True History of the Kelly Gang’

A surreal, nightmarish vision of the legend that is Ned Kelly from the outset this is anything but true. Based on Peter Carey’s Booker Prize winning novel, director Justin Kurzel takes even bolder, stylised steps than the author in its telling.

Narrated as a long letter by Kelly (George MacKay) to his unmet daughter, the anachronistic psychodrama chronologically follows Ned from childhood to death by hanging at the age of 25. Yet there’s little in terms of straightforward narrative. Early scenes show the Kelly family targeted and exploited (sexual favours from the Kelly women demanded by Sergeant O’Neill (Charlie Hunnam), Ned himself is sold off by his own mother (Essie Davis). But on reaching adulthood, there’s a significant change in True History of the Kelly Gang. A potentially straightforward and violent ‘western’ becomes something psychologically darker. Intense use of strobe; distant tracking shots of lone horse riders galloping across barren landscapes; disconcerting, waivering homoeroticism; a brazen, occasionally jarring soundtrack of punk to country – all combine to unnerve, to challenge.

It’s beautiful if difficult to watch (the strobe is extremely challenging). But it’s all a little too fragmentary, a little too messy, dream-like and based on the assumption the legend is known by all. Yet, even if this thrilling ride doesn’t ultimately quite make it, MacKay is mesmerising and individual scenes memorable.

Rating: 63%

Director: Justin Kurzel (Snowtown, MacBeth)

Writer: Shaun Grant (Nitram, Snowtown) – adapted from Peter Carey’s novel

Main cast: George MacKay (1917, Pride), Charlie Hunnam (The Gentlemen, King Arthur), Essie Davis (The Babadook, Assassin’s Creed)

‘Assassin’s Creed’

Having extremely low expectations meant that this was not as bad as anticipated! Don’t get me wrong, it’s still bad, wasting the talent on offer, from young Australian director Justin Kurzel through to Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard and Oscar-nominee Michael Fassbender.

An adaptation of a best-selling video game, Assassin’s Creed‘s saving grace is the visually arresting set pieces as we move between 15th century Spanish Inquisition and modern day. But even they wear thin as the taking on the secret Templar society results in confrontation and bloodshed.

Rating: 34%

Director: Justin Kurzel (MacBeth, Snowtown)

Writer: Michael Lesslie (MacBeth), Adam Cooper (Tower Heist, Exodus: Gods and Kings), Bill Collage (Tower Heist, Exodus: Gods and Kings)

Main cast: Michael Fassbender (MacBeth, Steve Jobs), Marion Cotillard (MacBeth, La vie en rose), Jeremy Irons (Dead Ringers, The Man Who Knew Infinity)

‘Macbeth’

This sits up there with some of the very best screen adaptations of Shakespeare’s stage plays. It looks stunning with sweeping Isle of Skye vistas, slow-mo battle scenes, appropriation of figures looming through mist and fog along with suitably dour costuming.

Australian director Justin Kurzel has chosen to make it surprisingly less bloody than anticipated (although this is the Dark Ages – there’s still plenty of it!) and the pace is brisk – it’s almost matter-of-fact in its telling. At the film’s core is a powerful central performance by Michael Fassbender ably supported by Marion Cotillard (La vie en rose, Inception) and a bevy of character actors.

The only thing against it on a personal note is that Macbeth is one of my least favourites within Shakespeare’s canon.

Rating: 67%

Director: Justin Kurzel (Snowtown, The Turning)

Writer: Todd Louiso (The Marc Pease Experiment), Jacob Kaskoff (The Marc Pease Experiment), Michael Lesslie  – adapted from the play by Shakespeare

Main cast: Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave, X-Men), Marion Cotillard (La vie en rose, Inception)