Genre: Crime Drama
Director: David Michôd
Starring: James Frecheville, Jackie Weaver, Ben Mendelsohn, Guy Pearce, Sullivan Stapleton, Luke Ford, Joel Edgerton
Running Time: 112 minutes (plus trailers)
"I just want you to tell me"
Up until last year, I had never been a particularly big fan of Australian cinema. Sadly, like many Australian’s, I tended to dismiss local films as being cheap, uninteresting, depressing or guilty of playing up a kind of manufactured national identity that I simply didn’t recognize - in the few Australian films I had seen, the landscape presented was not one that I was familiar with. As my interest in cinema grew however, I began to overcome this prejudice. That’s no to say the stereotypes one might associate with Australian films are entirely unfounded; there still seem to be a disproportionate number of movies set in the bush or the outback. Never-the-less, movies from last year like Mary & Max and Balibo gave me a new found appreciation for this country’s ability to produce well made, unique and engaging films. David Michôd’s Animal Kingdom is another example of just that.
Set against the backdrop of the Melbourne suburbs, and inspired at least partially by real life occurrences in the city’s infamous criminal underworld, Animal Kingdom tells the story of a family of bank-robbers who find themselves fighting a losing war against an equally violent police force, and is told through the eyes of a teenager who finds himself caught in the middle of it all. Josh Cody has lived apart from his relatives for most of his life, but after his mother dies of a drug overdose he suddenly finds himself in the home of his grandmother Janine and her three criminal sons Darren, Craig and Andrew (also known as Pope). In this house, loyalty to one’s family is everything; something that becomes a serious problem for Josh, never truly part of the family to begin with. Although there is a brief reprieve from the violence when our story begins, soon the body count begins to rise again, until the violence and paranoia of the Cody household reaches a point where Josh is forced to decide where his own allegiances lie.
The fact that Animal Kingdom was written and directed by a first time film-maker is nothing short of astounding. One of the key strengths of the movie the perspective from which it is told, through the eyes of a character who, like the audience, has no familiarity with the seedy world he is suddenly thrown into. There is an enormous sense of insecurity; the feeling of living in a house where we do not entirely fit in. As Josh begins learn more about this world, we too begin to understand these people, and in turn are forced to ask the same questions that he does. What would we do? Who would we trust? Fear becomes the chief motivator for everyone; Pope, terrified of death or imprisonment, becomes more irrational and unpredictable with every passing minute, whilst the seemingly harmless Janine proves capable of going to sociopathic lengths to keep her family out of prison. All of this emotion is perfectly realized by Michôd’s steady direction, who translates his script into palpable sensations of panic and dread felt by his characters and the viewers alike.
Enormous credit also lies with the films magnificent ensemble cast, made up of some of Australia’s finest performers. International audiences will be familiar with Guy Pearce (who plays the films one honest cop), but it is Jackie Weaver and Ben Mendelsohn who are guaranteed to be revelations to those unfamiliar with their work. As the paranoid, violent and highly unstable Pope, Mendelsohn is completely immersed in the role of a man who you can never predict, except to say that any time he is on screen, violence is not far behind. Weaver plays a very different type of villain; insidious, calculating, and the all the more frightening because you would never expect it of her. James Frecheville, an unknown even to Australian audiences, is just as strong (if perhaps not quite as overstated) as Josh – although his character has little in terms of range of emotion, Frecheville manages to hold his own and keep the story anchored in the face of the films more grandiose performances (and the same can be said of Pearce’s level-headed Sergeant Leckie).
After taking home the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Animal Kingdom promises’ to be one of the few Australian films to receive distribution around the world. And I for one am glad to know that our nation is being represented so well. If there were one criticism of this film it would be that, as a crime drama, it is somewhat limited by its own genre – there are after all only so many ways to tell a story like this. Yet Michôd's film manages to be a crime drama that is powerful, elegant and grand without leaving the realms of real life behind it. You will understand these characters and choices they make, and you will feel the fear they experience. As the end credits rolled on this film, I couldn’t help but feel an enormous sense of pride. Animal Kingdom is a piece of Australian cinema that breaks the preconcieved perception of the term, and is without question one of the finest films of the year.
Animal Kingdom is in cinemas in Australia now; it will be released in the US on August 13th
Director: David Michôd
Starring: James Frecheville, Jackie Weaver, Ben Mendelsohn, Guy Pearce, Sullivan Stapleton, Luke Ford, Joel Edgerton
Running Time: 112 minutes (plus trailers)
"I just want you to tell me"
Up until last year, I had never been a particularly big fan of Australian cinema. Sadly, like many Australian’s, I tended to dismiss local films as being cheap, uninteresting, depressing or guilty of playing up a kind of manufactured national identity that I simply didn’t recognize - in the few Australian films I had seen, the landscape presented was not one that I was familiar with. As my interest in cinema grew however, I began to overcome this prejudice. That’s no to say the stereotypes one might associate with Australian films are entirely unfounded; there still seem to be a disproportionate number of movies set in the bush or the outback. Never-the-less, movies from last year like Mary & Max and Balibo gave me a new found appreciation for this country’s ability to produce well made, unique and engaging films. David Michôd’s Animal Kingdom is another example of just that.Set against the backdrop of the Melbourne suburbs, and inspired at least partially by real life occurrences in the city’s infamous criminal underworld, Animal Kingdom tells the story of a family of bank-robbers who find themselves fighting a losing war against an equally violent police force, and is told through the eyes of a teenager who finds himself caught in the middle of it all. Josh Cody has lived apart from his relatives for most of his life, but after his mother dies of a drug overdose he suddenly finds himself in the home of his grandmother Janine and her three criminal sons Darren, Craig and Andrew (also known as Pope). In this house, loyalty to one’s family is everything; something that becomes a serious problem for Josh, never truly part of the family to begin with. Although there is a brief reprieve from the violence when our story begins, soon the body count begins to rise again, until the violence and paranoia of the Cody household reaches a point where Josh is forced to decide where his own allegiances lie.
The fact that Animal Kingdom was written and directed by a first time film-maker is nothing short of astounding. One of the key strengths of the movie the perspective from which it is told, through the eyes of a character who, like the audience, has no familiarity with the seedy world he is suddenly thrown into. There is an enormous sense of insecurity; the feeling of living in a house where we do not entirely fit in. As Josh begins learn more about this world, we too begin to understand these people, and in turn are forced to ask the same questions that he does. What would we do? Who would we trust? Fear becomes the chief motivator for everyone; Pope, terrified of death or imprisonment, becomes more irrational and unpredictable with every passing minute, whilst the seemingly harmless Janine proves capable of going to sociopathic lengths to keep her family out of prison. All of this emotion is perfectly realized by Michôd’s steady direction, who translates his script into palpable sensations of panic and dread felt by his characters and the viewers alike.Enormous credit also lies with the films magnificent ensemble cast, made up of some of Australia’s finest performers. International audiences will be familiar with Guy Pearce (who plays the films one honest cop), but it is Jackie Weaver and Ben Mendelsohn who are guaranteed to be revelations to those unfamiliar with their work. As the paranoid, violent and highly unstable Pope, Mendelsohn is completely immersed in the role of a man who you can never predict, except to say that any time he is on screen, violence is not far behind. Weaver plays a very different type of villain; insidious, calculating, and the all the more frightening because you would never expect it of her. James Frecheville, an unknown even to Australian audiences, is just as strong (if perhaps not quite as overstated) as Josh – although his character has little in terms of range of emotion, Frecheville manages to hold his own and keep the story anchored in the face of the films more grandiose performances (and the same can be said of Pearce’s level-headed Sergeant Leckie).After taking home the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Animal Kingdom promises’ to be one of the few Australian films to receive distribution around the world. And I for one am glad to know that our nation is being represented so well. If there were one criticism of this film it would be that, as a crime drama, it is somewhat limited by its own genre – there are after all only so many ways to tell a story like this. Yet Michôd's film manages to be a crime drama that is powerful, elegant and grand without leaving the realms of real life behind it. You will understand these characters and choices they make, and you will feel the fear they experience. As the end credits rolled on this film, I couldn’t help but feel an enormous sense of pride. Animal Kingdom is a piece of Australian cinema that breaks the preconcieved perception of the term, and is without question one of the finest films of the year.
Animal Kingdom is in cinemas in Australia now; it will be released in the US on August 13th
