Another shot of justice for Ned Kelly
Garry Maddox
Film Writer
Sydney Morning Herald
02 May 2002
source: smh.com.au

Right age and plenty of charisma... Heath Ledger on the set of Ned Kelly

Playing a folk hero is a heavy responsibility for 23-year-old Heath Ledger, writes Garry Maddox.

Director Gregor Jordan knows there's a special responsibility in taking on the Ned Kelly story. Lots of people have told him lately how exciting it is that he is making a new film about the country's most revered bushranger and folk hero.

"Then they look at you and say 'don't f--- it up!"' says the director of Two Hands and the forthcoming Buffalo Soldiers on day two of the shoot in rural Victoria.

"You get a sense that this is a story that is quite dear to a lot of Australians. So there's a responsibility to do it well and to not disappoint people."

All the elements are in place for a terrific go at the story of a legendary outlaw whose armoured battles with the police have been shot many times for the screen since the early silent film The Story of the Kelly Gang in 1906. For starters, there's a healthy $30 million budget. Then there's a blue-chip Australian cast headed by Heath Ledger, who, still just 23, has risen to Hollywood stardom since working with Jordan on Two Hands.

The director believes Ledger, who starred in The Patriot and A Knight's Tale, will be a great Ned Kelly.

"Number one, he's the right age. Ned was 25 when he died. Ned was also a very charismatic guy. When he walked into a room, he'd command attention without even trying. Heath is the kind of guy who just has that thing, too. He has lots of charisma.

"If you want to make a film of this size, you've got to have a star on board. He fits the bill and, as an incredible bonus, he's Australian."

Ledger has been researching Kelly's character so closely he even has a hotel room overlooking the Old Melbourne Jail, where the outlaw was imprisoned and then hanged in 1880.

From his window, he can see the yard where Ned Kelly took his last walk, says Jordan. Ledger plays Kelly over the last decade of his life.

The largely Australian cast also includes Geoffrey Rush, Rachel Griffiths, Naomi Watts and Orlando Bloom from The Lord of the Rings. Their Hollywood wattage reflects what Jordan believes is a unique situation for the country's film industry, with so many bona fide international stars: "As a director, it's a fantastic thing. You can make an Australian film and cast it with stars who are Australian but will potentially take the movie to an international marketplace."

Ned Kelly is the first project for the new Australian arm of Working Title Films, the British company behind Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bean, Elizabeth, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones's Diary. The company's track record for international success and distribution by Universal Pictures will give Ned Kelly an ideal launch around the world.

Executive producer Tim Bevan, who set up Working Title with Sarah Radclyffe in 1984, says Ledger's presence will overcome the average American's ignorance about Kelly. "The UK, New Zealand and Australia are fine. Everybody knows who Ned Kelly was. But you need to put elements into the movie that are going to make it attractive to a broader audience.

"We were lucky to get Heath and... to fill that cast out so that it's sexy and inviting. The equivalent in Britain when we're doing a romantic comedy is if you get Hugh [Grant], try to get Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet as well.

"Then these films begin to feel bigger than they actually are, which is the trick in getting them away outside their indigenous audience."

Bevan refers to Ned Kelly as a western and talks about the importance of audiences being able to place films in identifiable genres. Jordan sees the outlaw's story having the structure of a great myth. "He's a hero figure who stuck up for the underdogs. He was a guy who was picked on and then fought back."

While making a film sympathetic to Kelly, the film-makers are trying to be balanced about his battles with the authorities.

"We try to explain the times and the circumstances as well," says Jordan. "The police were pretty corrupt and picked on Ned until he snapped and fought back. But we try to look at their situation, too: they were basically trying to police a community made up of criminals."