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NED'S FULL
METAL JACKET FITS HEATH -|- 28 November, 2001
It's good
to see an Australian starring in the latest film of the Kelly tale, writes
Garry Maddox.
Ned Kelly has fascinated film-makers for almost a century. The country's best-known outlaw has been shot more times - by a camera at least - than probably any other Australian.
Now it's Heath Ledger's turn to don the armour.
Way back in 1906, one of the world's first feature-length films was The Story of the Kelly Gang. The actor playing the bushranger reputedly deserted the set after a few scenes and was replaced by a series of understudies. But given that their faces were hidden beneath armour much of the time, that didn't seem to matter in the silent film.
Long-forgotten actors such as Godfrey Cass, Hay Simpson and Bob Chitty played Kelly in other early versions. Even up to the '30s, they were seen as so subversive that authorities were still banning bushranger films.
Better known was a young Mick Jagger in English director Tony Richardson's lame Ned Kelly in 1970. About the same time, there were reportedly three other Kelly films planned.
More recently, John Jarratt played him in the mini-series The Last Outlaw, Yahoo Serious starred in the comedy Reckless Kelly and Alex Dimitriades almost had a shot until Michael Jenkins's Fanatic Heart ran into financing problems two years ago.
Ledger, the star of Two Hands and A Knight's Tale, will play the bushranger in director Gregor Jordan's Ned Kelly, which is due to start shooting in rural Victoria in April. It is based on Robert Drewe's novel Our Sunshine.
Producer Nelson Woss, an Australian based in Los Angeles, optioned the book after Irish screenwriter John McDonagh sent it to him. He describes it as "an underrated masterpiece".
With the backing of the new Australian offshoot of Britain's Working Title Films, of Four Weddings and a Funeral and Bridget Jones's Diary fame, Ned Kelly will have a "studio-sized" budget.
Woss says the bushranger's continuing appeal to film-makers reflects his place in the nation's psyche. That's also shown by the popularity of Sidney Nolan's renowned paintings and the bushranger's appearance in the Olympics opening ceremony.
"He was a naturally gifted outlaw whose relevance as a symbol is more important to Australians than his criminal record. Kelly has generated more stories than any other Australian. People love to talk about him, whether it's a film, book, a conversation around the bar or a TV special. I remember they retried him on 60 Minutes one year. For whatever reason, he inspires stories."
Film-makers have a special affinity for the bushranger.
"He's a guy who bucked against the system, who stood up for what he believed in," Woss says. "When you work in film, you're constantly trying to go against the grain."
As it did in the late 1960s, the story of a wild young bushranger who donned armour to challenge the authorities has been attracting other film-makers. Producing Ned Kelly with Woss is Lynda House, who at one stage had plans for another film about the bushranger, Outrage.
Irish director Neil Jordan, best known for The Crying Game and Interview with the Vampire, has bought the film rights to Peter Carey's Booker Prize-winning novel True History of the Kelly Gang. While it was difficult to track the status of the film yesterday, it is thought to be at least a year away from production.
Woss regards the Neil Jordan version as "friendly competition" but believes that given Kelly's relevance to Australians, it's important the story be told by an Australian director, cast and crew. "The English had a crack at it with Tony Richardson and Mick Jagger. I'm glad we're going to have a crack at it ourselves. But at the end of the day, there might be enough room for two films."
What distinguishes his version from the others is "the lyrical soul of the Robert Drewe book".
Vicky Harper, an agent with HLA Management, also had Heath Ledger in mind when she sold the option to the Carey novel. While she is mystified about why it happens, Harper is struck by how often film-makers are interested in the same idea.
"There was a spate of Daisy Bates
projects in development years ago. When Jane [Campion] was doing Portrait
[of a Lady], Merchant Ivory was working on one at the same time."
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