Do you come from a land down under?

When watching ‘Animal Kingdom’ I was struck by how long it had been since I saw an Australian film. Looking back, apart from bits of the overblown ‘Australia’ (a film seemingly made just to employ every Aussie character actor ever), the last Antipodean epic I can recall seeing was ‘Wolf Creek’ from five or six years ago.

This is quite strange when one recalls how highly rated the Australian film industry used to be, with Australian cinema seasons on the BBC back in the 80s and the number of notable Australian actors and directors that are prominent in Hollywood. One can only assume that all the talent upped and went to America, or perhaps more likely, that good films are still being produced there but simply don’t get released in the UK. I remember seeing an excellent thriller called ‘The Hard Word’ in a rainswept cinema in Hervey Bay, Queensland back in 2002 but it never saw the light of day in Britain.

Thinking of ‘The Hard Word’ brings us back to ‘Animal Kingdom’, as I was reminded of the former while watching the latter, not least because of the presence of two of the earlier film’s cast members, namely Guy Pearce and Joel Edgerton. Although both these actors get their names above the title of ‘Animal Kingdom’ they are both supporting parts; Pearce as the one honest cop in the Melbourne police force (you can tell he’s decent by his moustache) and Edgerton as a bank-robbing family friend of the criminal family that forms the centre of this dark, downbeat, but always gripping crime film.

The lead character is J, a monosyllabic 17 year old, who, on the death of his mother from a heroin overdose, is taken under the wing of his decidedly creepy grandmother, ‘Smurf’ Cody. He is quickly introduced to the rest of his estranged family; three uncles of varying levels of aggression and dysfunction. Creepiest of the lot is ‘Pope’, a psychopath played superbly by Ben Mendelsohn, who gets J involved in an ever increasing cycle of violence.

It’s a brutal film, painting a highly negative portrait of one of the world’s most liveable cities, and, although the story loses some of its drive towards the end with one-too-many characters being bumped off leaving the cast somewhat bare, it’s one of the best thrillers to come along in some time. Jacki Weaver received an Oscar nomination for her performance as ‘Smurf’ Cody but acting honours go to Mendelsohn and also to James Frecheville as J, who says little but expresses a lot. Here’s hoping it won’t be another five years for the next Australian film to hit our screens.