Stan have announced the release date for their original film Nitram as Wednesday, November 24th.
Earlier this year, we brought you the news that an Australian film had triumphed at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, with Caleb Landry Jones winning Best Actor for his lead role in Nitram.
The latest contentious drama from Justin Kurzel (he previously directed 2011’s Snowtown), the film is based on the terrible 1996 Port Arthur Massacre in Tasmania, with Landry Jones playing a character inspired by Martin Bryant.
The film arrived in Australian cinemas last week and judging by the reviews, Nitram is quite a harrowing watch.
The AU Review called it a “chilling, infuriating, yet respectful drama”, praising Kurzel and screenwriter Shaun Grant for avoiding sensationalism.
Landry Jones’ central performance came in for a lot of acclaim. The Sydney Morning Herald said his performance “is riveting, suspended between pain and rage, with little self-awareness.” They also said of the director: “Kurzel has a special talent for the dark corners of Australian culture.
Snowtown was a lesson in how to film the unfilmable. Nitram might be termed a lesson in knowing the unknowable. It doesn’t explain the shooter; it simply suggests how such a character might have evolved.”
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In a five-star review, The Guardian highly praised the “intensely disquieting and extraordinary Port Arthur Massacre film”. Their review ended on a chilling note. “Perhaps the ultimate value of Nitram has nothing to do with its qualities as an intensely disquieting tone poem…
Perhaps that value is reflected in its most frightening image – which isn’t of the protagonist looking menacing, or having a fruit cup at the Broad Arrow Cafe moments before beginning his rampage. It is a final text insert stating that there are now more firearms owned in Australia than there were in 1996.”
For those willing to watch Nitram, the film opened in cinemas around Australia not affected by COVID-19 restrictions on September 30th. Whether it will be released in Tasmania is currently still being decided, with respect to the protection of the community. Nitram will then arrive on Stan on Wednesday, November 24th.
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Check out the trailer for Nitram:
