THE LEGEND OF BEN HALL
***
Director: Matthew Holmes
Screenwriter: Matthew Holmes
Principal cast:
Jack Martin
Jamie Coffa
William Lee
Joanne Dobbin
Adam Willson
Erica Field
Country: Australia
Classification: M
Runtime: 139 mins.
Australian release date: 1 December 2016
Likened to the legendary American outlaw Jesse James, Ben Hall was a notorious Australian bushranger who, along with his gang, wreaked havoc on the outback highways and byways of NSW in the 1860s. Matthew Holmes’s second feature film, The Legend of Ben Hall, is an ambitious attempt to follow the last nine months of Hall’s life on the run and is considered an accurate portrayal of the period, revealing the relationships he endeavoured to maintain under extremely harsh circumstances. It is also a film about betrayal.
We meet the very watchable Jack Martin (making his feature film debut here) as Hall just when he’s setting up his own gang, having parted ways with the infamous bushranger Frank Gardiner. He teams up with old friend John Gilbert (Jamie Coffa) and they set out to rob coaches transporting passengers and cash between rural towns. Soon they also enlist the help of a ‘novice’, John Dunn (William Lee), creating a formidable trio who are both feared and revered by different sections of the bush community. But the hold-ups also reveal the true nature of the highwaymen - while Hall is keen not to get blood on his hands, Gilbert is manic and full of bluster and bravado, and Dunn is insecure and nervous. It’s a volatile combination. Hall is obsessed with the welfare of his son Henry and kidnaps him from his estranged wife ‘Biddy’ (Joanne Dobbin), who’s left Hall for another man. It’s not too long, however, before young Henry is returned to the bosom of his mother and it’s during this period that the violence escalated. The slaughter of two policemen during two separate robberies provoked the NSW Government to pass a law declaring the gang as ‘outlaws’ and therefore liable to be shot on sight, by anyone at any time, so Hall makes plans to flee the country.
Holmes’s screenplay reveals an emotional side to Hall, encouraging the audience to feel some empathy for the man, but somehow the script lacks the passion it needed to convey the full force of this yarn. The battle scenes are quite graphic, the production design is particularly strong, and the action is supported by a fine score. Both Martin and Lee give solid performances, but Coffa’s weird characterization of Gilbert is almost farcical at times. There’s quite a lot to like here, but a harsh edit would have benefitted The Legend of Ben Hall considerably. As it stands, it feels like a curious throwback to the 10BA films of the 1970s.
Screenwriter: Matthew Holmes
Principal cast:
Jack Martin
Jamie Coffa
William Lee
Joanne Dobbin
Adam Willson
Erica Field
Country: Australia
Classification: M
Runtime: 139 mins.
Australian release date: 1 December 2016
Likened to the legendary American outlaw Jesse James, Ben Hall was a notorious Australian bushranger who, along with his gang, wreaked havoc on the outback highways and byways of NSW in the 1860s. Matthew Holmes’s second feature film, The Legend of Ben Hall, is an ambitious attempt to follow the last nine months of Hall’s life on the run and is considered an accurate portrayal of the period, revealing the relationships he endeavoured to maintain under extremely harsh circumstances. It is also a film about betrayal.
We meet the very watchable Jack Martin (making his feature film debut here) as Hall just when he’s setting up his own gang, having parted ways with the infamous bushranger Frank Gardiner. He teams up with old friend John Gilbert (Jamie Coffa) and they set out to rob coaches transporting passengers and cash between rural towns. Soon they also enlist the help of a ‘novice’, John Dunn (William Lee), creating a formidable trio who are both feared and revered by different sections of the bush community. But the hold-ups also reveal the true nature of the highwaymen - while Hall is keen not to get blood on his hands, Gilbert is manic and full of bluster and bravado, and Dunn is insecure and nervous. It’s a volatile combination. Hall is obsessed with the welfare of his son Henry and kidnaps him from his estranged wife ‘Biddy’ (Joanne Dobbin), who’s left Hall for another man. It’s not too long, however, before young Henry is returned to the bosom of his mother and it’s during this period that the violence escalated. The slaughter of two policemen during two separate robberies provoked the NSW Government to pass a law declaring the gang as ‘outlaws’ and therefore liable to be shot on sight, by anyone at any time, so Hall makes plans to flee the country.
Holmes’s screenplay reveals an emotional side to Hall, encouraging the audience to feel some empathy for the man, but somehow the script lacks the passion it needed to convey the full force of this yarn. The battle scenes are quite graphic, the production design is particularly strong, and the action is supported by a fine score. Both Martin and Lee give solid performances, but Coffa’s weird characterization of Gilbert is almost farcical at times. There’s quite a lot to like here, but a harsh edit would have benefitted The Legend of Ben Hall considerably. As it stands, it feels like a curious throwback to the 10BA films of the 1970s.