Article by Cameron Spink

While Animal Kingdom is basically devoid of morality it does display a great insight into the humanity of man. Animal Kingdom tackles human nature at its barest and the result is a gritty movie that ticks all the right boxes.

As a critic of Australian films Animal Kingdom is a breath of fresh air. The plot and characters of the movie are based on real-life people and events but it takes a cinematic approach with the sort of attitude “just because we can’t confirm it happened, doesn’t mean it didn’t”. Much of the drama of this film centres around historical speculation and, as such, this movie can only be treated as a movie. Despite this, Animal Kingdom offers diverse characters in the Melbourne gangland jungles in a movie not dissimilar to The Departed.

The movie centres on 18 year old Joshua ‘J’ Cody (James Frecheville) who gets thrust into his mother’s gangland family after she overdoses before the first scene. The Cody family consists of leader and J’s uncle Andrew ‘Pope’ Cody (Ben Mendelsohn), his drug dealer brother Craig (Sullivan Stapleton), younger brother Darren (Luke Ford) and caring mother Janine ‘Smurf’ Cody (Jacki Weaver). All three brothers participate in all sorts of criminal illegalities as they flaunt Melbourne authorities with great disregard to anyone’s well-being. Also in their gang is Pope’s partner-in-crime Barry Brown (Joel Edgerton).

Despite being hounded by cops waiting for the slip-up the Cody criminal gang do not seem to realise the ramifications of their actions until Barry is murdered by corrupt members of the Police's Armed Robbery Squad in a metropolitan grocery store’s carpark. From this point on the movie focuses on one idea: retribution. Because the Police killed his best mate Pope reports a stolen car in Hawthorn and lures two young and naive police officers into the trap. This is undeniably the climax of the movie despite the fact that it occurs in the first half of this gripping film. As the two police officers edge towards that abandoned car all the viewers hold their collective breaths waiting in dread for the trap to spring.

This is not the only time that the audience fells emotional attachments to the characters on the screen. In one scene Craig Cody's terror while getting pursued by police transcends the screen and one can’t help rooting for him despite his past indiscretions. And then there is the emotional attachment one feels with the protagonist J who, for most of the movie, looks shell-shocked and desensitised to the violence occurring around him. Partway through the movie we are introduced to Senior Detective Leckie (Guy Pearce) who offers J a chance out of the web of deception.

There are very few innocent characters in this movie. All the Cody family are criminals to some extent, their lawyer Ezra White, is power-hungry and stoops to very dirty tactics to keep potential witnesses quiet. Then there is the overwhelming number of corrupt cops. There are two executions by Victorian Police Force members in this movie with a third attempt on J.

Perhaps the most stunning thing about this movie is the historical accuracy in which it portrays the events surrounding the actual Walsh St shootings on 12th October 1988. Indeed two police officers Tynan and Eyre were actually lured to their deaths in retribution for the police shooting of one Graeme Jenson (his name changed to Barry Brown in this movie) the day before. There can also be further parallels between real-life characters and those of the Cody family in the movie. Pope is analogous to Victor Peirce. Craig was on the run in Bendigo when the police caught him (much like Jedd Houghton) and J compares to Walsh St police informant Jason Ryan. Having written a Masters essay on these devastating events of the 80s I was pleasantly surprised that the movie stayed true to key historical turning points while filling in the gaps, with some artistic licence, left by Victorian Police Force omissions.

Ben Mendelsohn is the show-stopper in this movie. His ominous presence is what makes the Cody family work as a legitimate criminal family syndicate. While he seems to be the more reactive than strategic mastermind there is no doubting that he is top of the food chain. His sinister “I just want you to talk to me” lines are delivered many times through-out the movie and he makes the spine-tingle with his deadly glare. The other great performance is from Jacki Weaver who brings Smurf to life. She, at times, seems the loving parent but when her boys are in danger she suddenly becomes a whole different animal.

Animal Kingdom is the directorial debut for David Michôd and he handles it with aplomb. The movie has a foreboding style to it that, while overwhelming at times, keeps a steady tempo. The drama in the movie allows it to say something really profound and the action maintains the frenetic pace. The scenery is rough, the mood sober. While this movie mirrors actual events in Melbourne in 1988-1989 it is not specified when it is set except somtime in the undefinable past. We do get some inclination of further Australian tributes when, in the opening scene, Andrew O’Keefe is heard hosting Deal Or No Deal and later scenes with the Melbourne skyline seen from the room of a hotel.

As a Christian I find myself critical of the excessive swearing and drug use. Not to mention the sick retributive violence. However, this does not detract from the movie or from the fundamental message “there are consequences to retribution”. This movie is not for the faint hearted, or for the young. It encompasses dark themes of hate and isolation. The strong survive and the weak die, this is life in the “animal kingdom”. Yet one can't help breathing with the characters, shuddering in their deaths. For it is not only the strong who live in this realm.

4.5 stars