True History of the Kelly Gang (2019)

Directed by: Justin Kurzel | 124 minutes | biography, crime, drama | Actors: George MacKay, Essie Davis, Nicholas Hoult, Orlando Schwerdt, Thomasin McKenzie, Sean Keenan, Earl Cave, Marlon Williams, Louis Hewison, Charlie Hunnam, Russell Crowe, Josephine Blazier, Jacob Collins-Levy, Ben Corbett, Asmara Feik, Claudia Karvan, Markella Kavenagh, Jillian Nguyen

Money is scarce among the Irish Kelly family, who live in the Australian outback of the 19th century. When the family’s father is convicted of stealing a cow and eventually dies in prison, the prospects for a better life are virtually nil. Mother Ellen (Essie Davis) finds it difficult to care for her children and is desperate for ways to earn money. To the famous highwayman Harry Power (Russell Crowe), she therefore entrusts her 12-year-old son Ned, who will serve as his personal assistant. However, Ned soon finds himself in conflict with the law. He is arrested and ends up in prison for several years.

After spending much of his life in jail, the now grown-up Ned (George MacKay) returns home to find that not much has changed. His mother is engaged to a man barely older than himself, his younger brother and his friends take to the thieves every night and the family is constantly harassed by the British overlords. Determined to stay on the straight and narrow, Ned is led back to violence and crime when his mother is arrested. Filled with hatred and anger, Ned gathers a group of rebels to go to war with the British, whom he blames for everything that happened to him. Bloodshed is now inevitable.

Ned Kelly is considered the greatest Australian outlaw of all time. His story has been told countless times on the big screen and was even the subject of the world’s first ever feature film, ‘The Story of the Kelly Gang’ (1906). Big names such as Mick Jagger and Heath Ledger have already played the role of Kelly in the past. Who Kelly now plays is actor George MacKay, in Justin Kurzel’s ‘True History of the Kelly Gang’. After ‘Macbeth’ (2015) and ‘Assassin’s Creed’ (2016), Kurzel returns to Australia with this film to present another dark chapter in the history of his homeland. Kurzel managed to do this well with ‘Snowtown’ (2011), but with ‘True History of the Kelly Gang’ he has less luck.

The first segment of ‘True History of the Kelly Gang’, subtitled ‘Boy’, is the strongest part of the film. The focus of the story is most apparent during this part, as are the characters’ objectives. After this, however, the film quickly becomes overloaded. The addition of some new characters and subplots quickly make the film cluttered. The decision to skip a few years in the story does not work and the film is increasingly provided with an unnecessary voice-over at that point. The most important aspect of the film is Ned Kelly, but the title character also does little good after the first part of the film.

Perhaps the Australian audience will be able to get more out of the film, but for those with little knowledge of Ned Kelly, the film does not offer a clear view of the historical figure. George MacKay is clearly doing his best in the role, but Kelly is simply not interesting as a character here. His transformation from child to adult remains completely out of the picture and as a result you know very little about him as a viewer. His morality also remains unclear. Is he a villain? Is he a misunderstood folk hero? It seems that the film wants it both ways, regardless of the fact that this is inconsistent. ‘True History of the Kelly Gang’ is somewhat kept alive by the acting of George MacKay and Essie Davis, but otherwise the film does little to stand out among all the other Ned Kelly films.