Strewth!
A couple of years back, the FX channel showed an Australian drama called Underbelly . It was a pretty graphic portrayal of Melbourne's real-life gangland wars, events which were indeed so recent as to render the show unbroadcastable in the state of Victoria for fear of it prejudicing trials which were still taking place. Gruesome as some of the events it covered were, the tone of Underbelly was rather odd - light and comical in places, and shot in bright, welcoming colours. Pretty much Neighbours with guns and swearing, as the Guardian noted at the time. The effect, intentional or not, was to make these true events seem somewhat fantastical. Animal Kingdom does not have this problem. David Michod's film (his name has an accent in it which I don't know how to add in Blogger - apols, mate) is a fictional but extremely down-and-dirty portrayal of the same Melbourne netherworld. It also differs from Underbelly by focussing on one family rather than dealing with an e...