<b>Toronto is</b> full of unforgettable roles, coupled with the actors' wonderful interpretations, dazzling images and music. "The True History of the Kelly Gang" is a wild hit that takes the audience into a frenzied modern reflection. <b>The story is also one of Australia's most enduring folk legends</b>.
Director Justin Kutzel directed the tough "Snow Town Mania", but the subsequent "Macbeth" failed at the box office, and "Assassin's Creed" was also poorly received.
George McKay plays Ned Kelly
Based on Bit Carey's novel of the same name, the film focuses on the legendary 19th-century figure Ned Kelly. The protagonist is a real jungle thief from the 1850s who became the nation's most wanted man after shooting and killing 3 policemen.
Told through Kelly himself — in the form of a letter to his daughter — full of speed and passion, violence and a visual feast, the story is an <b>Australian Western</b>.
Director Kutzel and cinematographer Wagner avoided the clichés of revealing the vast horizons and scorching suns of the inland world. Instead, the film uses striking images to show how tricky the environment is. A bare forest without leaves, standing like skeletons, to warn humans to stay away. An eccentric horse rider, dressed in a striking red cloak, will gallop along the horizon and leave footprints on the snowy mountains.
Isis Davis as Alan Kelly
One of the cores of the story is Alan Kelly, passionately performed by director Cozer's wife, Isis Davis. Alan Kelly, under unpredictable instincts, did everything in her power to protect her young sons and prepare them for a world of cruelty. She struggled alone under poverty, prejudice and brutal rule – all of which created the legend of Ned Kelly afterwards.
The Kelly family is an Irish immigrant. In real history, Ned Kelly's father was sent to Australia to serve a prison sentence and moved to the colonies with hatred for Britain.
Mom Kelly hated Britain and despised her husband's inability to support the family. She herself will sell herself to a local police officer (Charlie Hannum) to raise her children.
When the young Ned (played by child actor Orlando Schwerdt) rushes out to kill a cow and return home with meat, her mother laughs at her husband and announces that Ned Jr. is the "man of the family".
Soon after he was really the man in the family. His father was imprisoned for theft and died mysteriously in prison. Young Ned becomes an "apprentice" to a man who comes to visit his mother.
Russell Crowe as Harry Ball
The man is named Harry Ball (Russell Crowe), with a gray beard and a huge body that we can hardly recognize. Crowe's performance was best in the years since Gladiator and Raging Sea.
Harry is a "sneaker", a robber. In fact, what Ned learned from him was almost all about how to shoot, rob, and even kill people. At first, Ned tries to challenge fate, but then discovers that he has been "sold" to Harry by his mother.
<b>The casting of the director was very successful</b>, and the adult Ned Kelly, played by the young British actor George McKay, was full of charm and powerfully portrayed a man who fought against fate.
Nicholas Holt's sleek sadistic cop could not have been more vivid. At first, he tries to be friends with the Ned family and seduces Ned's sister. Later, he became the catalyst for Ned to become an outlaw, making Ned feel that he had no choice — the Kelly Gang was born.
The film has a luxurious cast
Director Justin Kutzel gave the film <b>a crazy punk style</b> that complemented the lawless music soundtrack (produced by his brother Gad). Russell Crowe sings a hilarious vulgar ballad in the film, as well as stomping local dances, which add to the climax of the film , the famous Kelly Gang and the police standoff.
The film has garnered enthusiastic feedback, although critics have pointed out that it does not necessarily cater to everyone's taste. But the director <b>did a good job of completing the Australian saga and thinking about what created the myth of this character. </b>
Variety described the film as "charming" and said that George McKay presented the character perfectly and brought his own characteristics. Many actors had played the role before, including Mick Jagger and the late Heath Ledger.
IndieWire commented that "director and screenwriter Kuzel created a vivid and tense history of Kelly's brutal upbringing, thinking about how he transformed into a vengeful beast".