Mini-series tracing the history of the Kelly Gang, timed to coincide with the centenary of Ned Kelly's execution.
Moran, in his Guide to Australian TV Series, paraphrases co-author Ian Jones's opinion that 'the mini-series was a perfect narrative vehicle for the Kelly story because it allowed sufficient screen time for the full detail and the general impact of the outbreak to be portrayed. The result on air was an absorbing saga that slowly built in intensity until only Ned Kelly was left to face the hangman'.
Moran also notes that screening the last episode on the exact anniversary of Kelly's hanging one hundred years earlier might have been disadvantageous, since this meant the program ran very late in the ratings season. For whatever reason, the program was not as commercial or critical a success as Pegasus Productions' earlier series, Against the Wind.
The Ned Kelly Films : A Cultural History of Kelly History
Bristol
Chicago
:
Intellect
,
2013
7520597
2013
multi chapter work
criticism
'One of Australia’s most notorious outlaws, Ned Kelly lived on the land from the time of his first arrest at age 14, until police captured him and his Kelly gang a decade later in 1880. Immortalized in a series of onscreen productions, he has since become one of the most resilient screen presences in the history of Australian cinema.
'Covering the nine feature films, three miniseries, and two TV movies that have been made about this controversial character, Stephen Gaunson illuminates a central irony: from novels to comics to the branding of the site where he was captured, most cultural representations of Kelly are decidedly lowbrow. But only the films have been condemned for not offering a more serious interpretation of this figure and his historical context. Asking what value we can place on such ‘bad’ historical cinema, Gaunson offers new insights about the textual characteristics of cinematic material and the conditions of film distribution, circulation, and reception.' (Publication summary)
The Ned Kelly Films : A Cultural History of Kelly History
Bristol
Chicago
:
Intellect
,
2013
7520597
2013
multi chapter work
criticism
'One of Australia’s most notorious outlaws, Ned Kelly lived on the land from the time of his first arrest at age 14, until police captured him and his Kelly gang a decade later in 1880. Immortalized in a series of onscreen productions, he has since become one of the most resilient screen presences in the history of Australian cinema.
'Covering the nine feature films, three miniseries, and two TV movies that have been made about this controversial character, Stephen Gaunson illuminates a central irony: from novels to comics to the branding of the site where he was captured, most cultural representations of Kelly are decidedly lowbrow. But only the films have been condemned for not offering a more serious interpretation of this figure and his historical context. Asking what value we can place on such ‘bad’ historical cinema, Gaunson offers new insights about the textual characteristics of cinematic material and the conditions of film distribution, circulation, and reception.' (Publication summary)
