Ned Kelly (2003 film)

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Ned Kelly
Ned Kelly film poster
Directed by	Gregor Jordan
Produced by	Lynda House
Written by	Robert Drewe (novel) John M. McDonagh
Starring	Heath Ledger Orlando Bloom Geoffrey Rush
Distributed by	Focus Features UIP
Release date(s)	27 March 2003 (Australia)
Running time	110 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Ned Kelly is an Australian film directed by Gregor Jordan. The movie portrays the life of Ned Kelly who is a well-known bushranger in Australia. The film is mainly based on Robert Drewe's book Our Sunshine.

1 Main cast
2 Plot
3 Box office
4 External links

[edit] Main cast

Heath Ledger – Ned Kelly
Orlando Bloom – Joe Byrne
Geoffrey Rush – Francis Hare
Naomi Watts – Julia Cook

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The film tells his life as a bushranger in north-west Victoria, where he lived all his life. He, his brother Dan, and two other men — Steve Hart and Joe Byrne — formed a gang of Irish Australians in response to Irish and English tensions that arose in 19th century Australia. The gang robbed a bank and hijacked an entire town for 3 days. They killed three policemen who were hunting them. They then took over a pub in Glenrowan, where they basically held a party, waiting for a train full of police to derail at a part of the track that they tore up. However, a school teacher warned the train, so the gang and all the others in the pub ended up in a shootout with scores of policemen. The endind includes the members of his gang being killed in the gun fight out side of the pub and the trial and hanging of Ned Kelly. This adaption of the Kelly story attempted to water down the historical antagonism between poor Irish and landed English settlers (a core motive of Kelly's discontent) by introducing a fictitious love affair between the outlaw and a rich squatter's wife, played by Naomi Watts. Kelly is regarded by some Australians as a heroic figure and is seen as a real fighter for Australian independence from Britain.