Animal Kingdom

Still in a daze from having seen Animal Kingdom , a pic about Melbourne’s crime world in the Eighties, even though it’s set in the present day. It’s core event is loosely based on the Walsh Street police killings in 1988. The South Yarra crime scene has moved to Hawthorn, but it still has a Holden Commodore sitting abandoned in the middle of the street. It’s a disturbing film for many Melburnians, but worth watching for the haunting performances of Jacki Weaver and Ben Mendelsohn. And for a less “Tourism Victoria” picture of Melbourne. Rather than a city of trams and trees, we see shipyards, servos, suburbs, and lots of Holdens.

At one point the protagonists need some where to talk in public, without being seen by anyone they know. The audiance bursts into laughter when they move into the National Gallery of Victoria , which gets a nice hero shot of its mousehole facade. Director David Michôd must have a thing for arches, as the only other glimpsed building is the Northcote Bowl . I won’t give the game away, but its a fitting scene for a building that’s just been approved for demolition. It may also be the last time we get to see it.

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Posted by Peter on 04.06.10 in films