A Few Words About A few words about…™ True History of the Kelly Gang – in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

"What is love? Five feet of heaven in a ponytail

The cutest ponytail that sways with a wiggle when she walks…"

Thanks to Shout Factory, Justin Kurzel's True History of the Kelly Gang has made it to Blu-ray.

Any film that opens with an eagle's eye view of a rider crossing the Australian badlands nicely garbed in a bright red gown, will most assuredly be taking a unique perspective of historical events. And True History doesn't let us down.

With occasionally surreal visions of a gang that chose to fight in women's clothing, and steel armor, some might see it as potentially slightly trans or homoerotic, but I honestly didn't have a clue.

With a bravura performance by George MacKay as Ned Kelly, the film is never less than a disturbing blend of 19th century history bent into the structure of a fevre dream.

Beautifully photographed by Ari Wegner, it's a violent, cruel image of the era, and the treatment of Irish immigrants in Australia by their English "masters."

An interesting filmmaker, with a definite voice, and a film that missed a theatrical because of Covid, which may be the reason why (as reported elsewhere) that the 1.85 ratio slowing crops to 2.35 during the film, arriving on Blu instead.

One thing momentarily took me out of the film, when one of the characters holds what I presumed to be either a Colt Walker or dragoon, and it looked very much like a commemorative model Walker made around 1980.

Those things bother me, like a Jefferson nickel appearing in a scene from another film, that occurred pre-1938.

Image - 5

Audio - 5

Pass / Fail - Pass

Recommended

RAH

 

[moviepas]

Whilst the exploits were in the remote upper bush on Victoria/Australia, the court case and the hanging were in my hometown of Melbourne, our state capital(our state capitals are all in the major, most populated cities of the states unlike USA). The supreme court judge, Sir Redmond Barry, was threatened by Kelly after the death sentence was pronounced, Fate was that Barry died about 5 days later. Barry was the founder of the famed Melbourne University within walking distance to the jail where Kelly was hanged. Kelly was buried at Pentridge Jail, the former name of the suburb of Coburg. In recent years the graves have been cleared and most of the former prison grounds turned into a housing estate. Rumors of one of the Kellys, Dan Kelly, being alive into the 1930s would appear false and he died at the shootout. An early 1930s newsreel of a guy declaring he was Dan Kelly can't be proved and the newsreel is in my collection.

 

[Robert Harris]

Whilst the exploits were in the remote upper bush on Victoria/Australia, the court case and the hanging were in my hometown of Melbourne, our state capital(our state capitals are all in the major, most populated cities of the states unlike USA). The supreme court judge, Sir Redmond Barry, was threatened by Kelly after the death sentence was pronounced, Fate was that Barry died about 5 days later. Barry was the founder of the famed Melbourne University within walking distance to the jail where Kelly was hanged. Kelly was buried at Pentridge Jail, the former name of the suburb of Coburg. In recent years the graves have been cleared and most of the former prison grounds turned into a housing estate. Rumors of one of the Kellys, Dan Kelly, being alive into the 1930s would appear false and he died at the shootout. An early 1930s newsreel of a guy declaring he was Dan Kelly can't be proved and the newsreel is in my collection.

In your opinion, how close (or away from) fact, does the film exist?