A slice of folklore in 'Ned Kelly'

Ned Kelly

Director: Gregor Jordan

Cast: Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom, Naomi Watts, Geoffrey Rush, Rachel Griffiths.

Cert: 15

When the Irish were shipped to Australia towards the end of the 1800s, they were met with the same levels of prejudice and disdain from the already settled English as they had experienced back on home turf.

Hence the inevitability that was Ned Kelly - the son of a deported Irish sheep-stealer and Australia’s most notorious villain. Gregor Jordan’s film picks up Kelly’s life from the age of 16 when he was wrongly convicted of horse theft and jailed for four years. Subsequent victimisation at the hands of the local police force turned Kelly to a life of crime. If he was gonna pay the price, he may as well make it worth his while; Kelly and his gang embark on a wild spree of shoot-outs and robberies, with the authorities in hot pursuit in a bid to foil the gangs’ destructive trail once and for all.

The story has all the ingredients of a rollicking cops and robbers flick or classic Western. The difference is this is real; this is a slice of folklore that, so far, hasn’t been given the big screen telling it deserves (remember Mick Jagger’s woeful attempt?). With a masterful cast, Heath Ledger, in particular, is superb in bringing the eponymous legend to life - and gritty cinematography, director Jordan must take the plaudits for bringing together this dark moment in his home country’s history and doing so in an entertaining and compelling way.

Star Rating: 3/5