Animal Kingdom (2010)
Animal Kingdom (USA) Directed by David Michod Written by David Michod Starring Ben Mendelsohn; Joel Edgerton; Guy Pearce; Luke Ford; Sullivan Stapleton; James Frecheville; Dan Wyllie; Jacki Weaver; Laura Wheelwright
In recent years, there has, seemingly, been a dearth of meaningful cinema arising out of Australia. One has to hearken back to the 70s and 80s and the films of Paul Cox (a Dutch native), Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) and Gallipoli (1981); and well respected offerings such as Walkabout (1971); The Chant for Jimmie Blacksmith (1976); and Breaker Morant (1980) for a time when Australia was consistently producing relevant films. Though the last decade has brought us The Proposition (2005); Cate Shortland’s Somersault (2004); and Rabbitt Proof Fence (2002), there has been an overall lack of critically lauded films enjoying a life on the US stage.
Australia has continued to turn out excellent actors, of course - their ranks including the late Heath Ledger, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Eric Bana, Toni Collette, Naomi Watts, Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, and newcomers like Sam Worthington and Abbie Cornish. Interestingly, the Aussies have also managed a relatively consistent stream of gritty dramas focusing on crime and drug abuse, with Chopper (2000); Candy (2006); Little Fish (2005); and Gettin Square (2008) some of the more recent examples of the kind.
Continuing in the tradition of his native land’s genre crime output, Animal Kingdom also represents the feature debut from writer/director David Michod, who employs a cast that includes several of the country’s most respected actors. Michod utilizes a background encompassing several documentary shorts to good ends, working from his own minimalist script to tell the story of the bank robbing Cody family.
The protagonist here is young Joshua “J” Cody (age undefined, but seeming to be around 18/19), who, in the opening, loses his mother to a heroin overdose. His blase reaction to watching his expiring/expired mother on the living room sofa gives evidence to the troubled life he has likely led. He naturally calls his closest relative, maternal grandmother Janine, who has been estranged from J and her daughter for a number of years, but is quick to take him in.
Michod doesn’t feel compelled to give us much back story, providing, for example, no information about J’s father, though we do hear the young man’s thoughts in an unnecessary intro voiceover as he speaks with the perspective of having gone through the events that will eventually unfold before us. This is a violent, unsentimental story that relishes the realism and naturalistic acting on display, employing plenty of hand held camera to mirror non-fiction filming.
In actual life, J is barely conversant, delivering mostly monosyllabic responses to the questions posed to him, barely able to confide even the smallest of secrets to doting girlfriend Nicky (Laura Wheelwright). Separated from the tribe though he may have been, he is also well aware of and attuned to the capabilities and unpredictability of his dangerous uncles Barry (Joel Edgerton); Pope (Ben Mendelsohn); Craig (Sullivan Stapleton); and Darren (Luke Ford). Mendelsohn’s eldest brother Pope is particularly psychopathic, with his eerie offers to listen to his relatives problems melded with his ongoing psychological menacing of all involved.
There are Shakespearean themas at work here, including the Oedipal relationship between omnipresent Janine (or “Smurf” as she is called) and her devoted offspring (replete with lingering kisses on the lips). A sickness is present among these people that is never fully explained, but all of the brothers seem in their own way to be suffering from some form of mental illness - at one point, Janine even suggests that Pope should get back on his medication. Barry too is seen taking pills, and the amount of self-medicating going on further elucidates the fact that something is seriously amiss in the blood of this clan.
Guy Pearce, the actor most well known to American audiences, plays a detective here, going about his job methodically, intent on crumbling the family from the base, while members of the bank robbery task force have a decidely more direct approach to eradicating their suspects. Michod refuses too to pad Pearce’s character with additional motivation, showing us only glimpses of his family (underlined by the ominous though not overly aggressive score) and several glances that indicate a hint at a morality which most of the others on both sides appear to lack.
Animal Kingdom represents a well-constructed first effort from a director who clearly aimed to create a quality genre entry, while endeavoring to subvert many of the conventions of the type. At 112 minutes, the film has some pacing issues and may have benefited from some well placed trimming to achieve additional needed fluidity. Though the idea was clearly to avoid standard crime thriller build up and pay-off, the lack of focused narrative drive leaves the piece meandering in the late second and third acts, at the exact point when we as audience get increasingly anxious for unveiling.
A bit too in love with its own aesthetic perhaps, Animal Kingdom nonetheless represents a valiant stab at the kind of spare and tightly controlled crime drama so exquisitely achieved in Jacques Audiard’s A Prophet. One hopes the effort marks the beginnings of what might be an interesting career from a newer director, and perhaps even representative of a new cinematic era arising out of the country from which it was birthed.