Events leading up to the 1996 Port Arthur massacre on Tasmania in an attempt to understand why and how the atrocity occurred.Events leading up to the 1996 Port Arthur massacre on Tasmania in an attempt to understand why and how the atrocity occurred.Events leading up to the 1996 Port Arthur massacre on Tasmania in an attempt to understand why and how the atrocity occurred.
- Awards
- 19 wins & 23 nominations
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- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAccording to director Justin Kurzel, Texan actor Caleb Landry Jones worked on his Australian accent while in quarantine after arriving in the country, by watching re-runs of 1990s episodes of Hey Hey It's Saturday (1971), Neighbours (1985) and Home and Away (1988).
- GoofsEarly in the film when Martin and his mother browse at the Surfboard shop a passenger train is visible passing in the background. There are no passenger trains in Tasmania unlike in Geelong, VIC where the movie was shot.
- Quotes
[Spoilers]
Nitram: Why didn't you cry?
Mum: What?
Nitram: When the police found him, you didn't cry. How come?
Mum: Just because I don't cry doesn't mean I'm not hurting.
Mum: What about you. Why didn't you cry?
Mum: Do you even miss him?
Nitram: No.
Mum: He really loved you.
Nitram: Not enough to stick around, though.
Mum: Yeah, he was so unwell.
Nitram: So?
Nitram: Everyone else feels shitty all the time, walks around feeling fucking sad. Why couldn't he?
Mum: I don't know
Nitram: If anyone should have walked into that dam, it was me. I'm the one no-one listens to. I'm the retard.
Mum: Oh, don't say that.
Nitram: You and dad would always argue about it, wouldn't you?
Mum: No, we didn't.
Nitram: Slow means the same thing, mum. You're not different than all them kids who call me Nitram at school.
Mum: Well... that's not true. I'm your mother.
Nitram: No.
Mum: Yes, I gave birth to you.
Nitram: Sometimes I watch myself. But I don't know who- who it is that I'm looking at. Like... I can't get to him. If I could- I could just change him so that he was like everyone else, but I don't know how. So instead, I'm- I'm here. Stuck here... like this. Eating this shit. Talking to you all because I'm not a coward like him.
Mum: I really- I don't- understand what you're... talking about.
Nitram: It doesn't matter, mum. Neither do I.
- Crazy creditsEnd credits read "On April 28th 1996, thirty-five people were killed and another twenty-three wounded in Port Arthur, Tasmania. The lone gunman was sentenced to thirty-five life sentences. The events of that day resulted in an overhaul of Australia's gun laws and the introduction of a National Firearms Agreement. The reforms were agreed to in twelve days. Over 640,000 firearms were bought back by the government and destroyed. No State or Territory has been fully compliant with the National Firearms Agreement. There are now more firearms owned in Australia than in 1996."
- ConnectionsReferenced in Lezruk (2021)
- SoundtracksThree Little Maids
Written by W.S. Gilbert & Arthur Sullivan (as A. Sullivan)
Performed by Elsie Morison, Jeannette Sinclair, Marjorie Thomas The Glyndebourne Chorus (as Glyndebourne Chorus), Pro Arte Orchestra of London (as Pro Arte Orchestra), Malcolm Sargent (as Sir Malcolm Sargent)
Licensed courtesy of Warner Music Australia
Whereas most movies close with actual footage or photos of the true people involved in biopics this film opens with real life TV footage of Martin in a burns unit, as a child, after an incident involving fireworks in the 1970's and sets the macabre tone for what is to follow in one of the world's deadliest shooting sprees.
While not an entirely accurate biopic it is a confronting and deeply disturbing one dealing with the subject matter of Australia's worst mass murderer.
Texan actor Caleb Landry Jones spent his Covid Quarantine time on arrival in Oz studying the Aussie accent by watching countless local Soap Operas including "Home and Away" and "Neighbours"...it worked.
For his portrayal of Bryant, Jones won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor and is serious Oscar bait.
At times his performance reminds me of Joaquin Phoenix in "Joker", where the deadly menace lies just beaneath the surface in his smile and his eyes.
Kurzel's own wife Essie Davis plays Bryant's love interest/friend Helen Harvey (heiress to a share in Tattersalls).
This movie asks the question could she have been his first victim.
If so the body count is even higher, because even his own fathers suicide looks suspiciously like murder.
Maurice Martin is wonderfully acted by an overweight Anthony LaPaglia, while his wife Carleen is marvellously brought to life by Judy Davis (no relation to Essie).
It's a movie that highlights mental health issues in our community without making you feel entirely sympathetic for Martin.
He was famously diagnosed with Asperger in prison.
"Nitram" is a truly creepy, horror film in the truest sense of the word because what happens is horrific, but we are spared any blood and gore on the big screen.
Children and adults are cruel, but none of it excuses what happened at Seascape B&B or Broad Arrow Cafe on April 28, 1996.
The good news is Martin Bryant is serving 35 life sentences concurrently plus 1,652 years, without parole, to be served for the term of his natural life.
The bad news is that despite reformation to gun laws in 1996 under the John Howard Government, in Australia today there are more guns than ever in circulation.
This could happen again, unless something drastic is done to control gun ownership.
Everyone must see this movie to understand the events leading up to one of the most heinous crimes in Australia and how we can stop history repeating itself not only in Oz but everywhere.
- waltermwilliams
- Oct 14, 2021
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- 惡的序章
- Filming locations
- Geelong, Victoria, Australia(Location)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross worldwide
- $418,828
- Runtime1 hour 52 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.55 : 1