The film True History of the Kelly Gang is an exploration of Australian bushranger Ned Kelly and his gang as they attempt to evade authorities during the 1870s.

Inspired by Peter Carey’s Man Booker prizewinning novel of the same name, True History of the Kelly Gang is an epic, fictionalised re-telling of the life of legendary Australian bushranger Ned Kelly. Lauded by critics at the Toronto International Film Festival the film shatters the mythology of the notorious icon to reveal the essence behind his life and forces a country to stare back into the ashes of its brutal past. 

Written for the screen by Shaun Grant (Snowtown) and directed by the award-winning Justin Kurzel (Snowtown, Nitram), it stars a spectacular cast of award-winning Australian and international stars, including BAFTA Award-winner George MacKay, Oscar-winner Russell Crowe, Nicholas Hoult, Essie Davis, Claudia Karvan, and Charlie Hunnam. True History of the Kelly Gang is a tour-de-force of epic filmmaking: a dream, or nightmare, about Ned, his family, Australia, manhood, womanhood, and how hard it is for poor people to escape the class they were born into.

‘This is myth-making, splattered in blood, scored with an electric guitar, and enacted with such brazen bigness that you wouldn't be surprised if the cast assembled for a curtain call at the end.’ – RogerEbert.com

Arrive early to visit the Australians & Hollywood exhibition, which features True History of the Kelly Gang and hear more from one of our talented curators about the film and exhibition. Following the screening, director Justin Kurzel and photographer Matthew Thorne will join us for a Q&A session.

This event is presented in partnership with Canberra Museum + Gallery, currently showing Matthew Thorne: Jingo was born in the Slum. The exhibition features photographs and costumes from Justin Kurzel’s film, True History of the Kelly Gang, alongside Sidney Nolan’s iconic Ned Kelly paintings that influenced the film.

The 2019 release of True History of the Kelly Gang introduced a new generation to the conflicted legend of Ned Kelly who has long featured in the Australian psyche as symbol of anti-authoritarian defiance, fraught masculine identity, and colonial trespass.

Adelaide born artist and filmmaker Matthew Thorne was invited by Kurzel to be present during the filming in Victoria, creating a parallel body of work that is as part behind-the-scenes documentary and part exploration of the Kelly myth. The exhibition also includes Alice Babidge’s costumes from the film, on loan from the NFSA, as well as iconic paintings from the Commonwealth Sidney Nolan collection of which CMAG is the custodian.

Following the screening, director Justin Kurzel and photographer Matthew Thorne will join us for a Q&A session.   

Presented in partnership with the National Film and Sound Archive.

Image:

Matthew Thorne, Kelly with tar in night landscape,2018 (detail)