|
★★★★★
23 June 2011
This article is a review of ANIMAL KINGDOM. |
By Hemanth Kissoon
“We do what we have to do. We do what we must.” Janine 'Smurf' Cody (Jacki Weaver)
An Australian crime saga, both epic and intimate; Animal Kingdom is a masterclass in filmmaking. Pardon me a moment of latitude to be facetious, think THE SOPRANOS down under.
J’s mother dies of a heroin overdose during the opening scene. It already says so much with virtually no dialogue. J seems spaced out, while torn between watching a game show on television and the paramedics trying to revive his parent. Straight away we see a dopey teenager, someone who cares, a son perhaps sick of his mother’s proclivities, and a person perhaps resigned. This is representative of the whole picture – character and plot developments are setup with economy and verve. Later we see J, his uncle Andrew ‘Pope’ Cody (Ben Mendelsohn), and J’s lovely girlfriend Nicole, interacting (non-)passively all while Air Supply’s 'All Out of Love' plays on the box; in a paradigm that sends chills down the spine.
An Australian crime saga, both epic and intimate; Animal Kingdom is a masterclass in filmmaking. Pardon me a moment of latitude to be facetious, think THE SOPRANOS down under.
J’s mother dies of a heroin overdose during the opening scene. It already says so much with virtually no dialogue. J seems spaced out, while torn between watching a game show on television and the paramedics trying to revive his parent. Straight away we see a dopey teenager, someone who cares, a son perhaps sick of his mother’s proclivities, and a person perhaps resigned. This is representative of the whole picture – character and plot developments are setup with economy and verve. Later we see J, his uncle Andrew ‘Pope’ Cody (Ben Mendelsohn), and J’s lovely girlfriend Nicole, interacting (non-)passively all while Air Supply’s 'All Out of Love' plays on the box; in a paradigm that sends chills down the spine.
|
|
After his mother dies he moves in with his sensual and leonine grandmother Smurf, and we meet his four uncles. J’s mum kept him away from them. They are a family of criminals – bank robbery and drug dealing, which we know of. “Crooks always come undone. Always. One way or another.” states J’s voice over. A narration incongruous with the innocent we watch, who is taciturn, barely enunciating; instead we have an articulate and wise commentator, who is talking with hindsight. Charisma pulsates off virtually everyone in the film except J. He is our entry into this world – a blank canvas whose personality builds before our eyes. This tool has been used innumerable times, but here doesn’t feel tired. The crime motifs (betrayal, revenge, stupidity, lust, greed, corruption, anger, etc.) are also movie staples, but the twists and turns are unpredictable. This is excellent on so many levels – acting, writing and directing, together with a score that lends grandeur and fear to proceedings.
We are in the same thematic universe as a David Fincher or Stanley Kubrick movie, where the forces arrayed against the lead are seemingly overwhelming. J gets sucked into his family’s world, he has a police death squad itching to unleash, a shrewd detective (the fantastic Guy Pearce) homing in on him, and very few people to turn to. The film is not all menace, there is a warmth that also permeates. And this dichotomy is symptomatic of what is explored – the weak and the strong, the innocent and the corrupt. Psychologically intriguing and emotionally devastating, this is a modern crime masterpiece cataloguing human frailty, with rough edges and rawness.
|
|
