Nitram
MADMANDirector Justin Kurzel's latest few forays into the cinematic medium have been underwhelming. After the director’s infamous underperforming – albeit expertly produced – adaption of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed video game in 2016, Kurzel has retreated to his Australian homeland. First with directing The True History of the Kelly Gang that brought Australia's notorious outlaw to screens, and now looking at a very different tonal national subject: Nitram, a character study of one of the most harrowing and deadliest shootings to ever happen in Tazmania that claimed the lives of over thirty people, injuring dozens more.
As with any format, showcasing such a harrowing and horrific true story such as Nitram comes with a tremendous amount of responsibility and the worry to undermine or even become exploitative to the real word casualties this person caused, and why would this person in particular need the limelight they so demanded with their abhorrent actions, and not, in fact, give the victims the space to talk?
Before the film has even started, there is an issue present of context and controversy that has to be discussed, an element that Kurzel's feature does not heed. To answer the question above, how Kurzel gets around such a depiction is to showcase the subject himself as a victim of sorts, trapped within his own mind as well as the circumstance that befalls him. Again, the controversy this causes is an element that the feature fundamentally can not escape and, ultimately, will have flocks of people push this feature away in an instance. To that degree and to confess, this is a feature that should not have been made.
Quite simply put, on the surface, Kurzel's feature offers to investigate a troubled character in a character study but to get to what answer? After two hours, it turns out it’s gun control. Nevertheless, such an outcome would be an utter mystery for viewers who sit through this travesty until five minutes before the end title cards. It is quite clear that Nitram wants to explore the subject character and showcase the reality without taking it aside, but a mass-murdering psychopath feels a bit icky. Before long, director Justin Kurzel and writer Shaun Grant come to their senses, but ultimately what comes to fruition is a strangely unapologetic study of a despicable human being humanised on screen, with little care for its victims whatsoever and spelling his name backwards for artistic merits as a title is simply not good enough.
Made more problematic for the viewer is that actor Caleb Landry Jones is nothing short of phenomenal. So much so, in fact, that his performance in a character study separated from the context of this feature would be considered academy award-worthy. Landry Jones has always been that actor hiding in the wings of a supporting character, but as of late, he has flourished into a powerhouse, and his performance here is nothing short of such. The range and vulnerability of the emotional palette on show are both immersive and captivating. There is pain and hurt brought to the surface through a child-like and authentic, vulnerable nature – elements that further make this feature all the more problematic within the tone. However, Landry Jones has the viewer twirling at the end of his finger all the way through, crafting a heartbreaking and enchanting depiction of a slow but assured descent into terror.
It must be stressed that Kurzel does have an eye for aesthetics, and while Macbeth would be a positive and The True History of the Kelly Gang a negative in terms of depiction and objective, Nitram is perfectly balanced in the middle. This is Kurzel getting back to basics, and to that degree, this is a feature that does not exceed expectations, albeit never proposes any such specific identity in terms of the cinematography from Germain McMicking or production design from Alice Babidge. Nothing remotely screams or shouts in terms of production that would elevate the material or ultimately echo a tonal voice. Presumably to project normality to the subject himself and his eventual turn to be even more frightening and unexpected in the produced normalcy.
However, again, it comes back to the conversation on exploitation and being tone-deaf. While, yes, that eventual turn from normalcy is devastating. Thankfully, Nitram never fully commits to such a depiction of the violence that unfolded on that day. It seemingly forgets to understand or even give a voice to those who never got to speak to their loved ones again, who never went home that afternoon. Instead, Kurzel and co decide to give a voice to a disturbed individual without an ounce of end product or reasoning, and the question of why must be asked again? Is it the controversy; is it bringing the infamous nature of the subject that needs to be told; is it really about bringing understanding of gun control and laws back to the public? The answer is unknown, because Nitram never really knows itself.
Director Justin Kurzel seems to make all the right moves on paper. He is burned – quite unfairly – in the world of Hollywood and retreats back to his homeland to tell internal and intimate stories, but with each successive picture executes in poor conviction and genuinely dire choices in their respective creations. Begging the question of where Kurzel goes next. If anyone had hope for the director after The True History of the Kelly Gang, little would be left after his exploitative and ignorant feature of Nitram, and sadly so.
