“Animal Kingdom” Star: View of Melbourne Criminal Life Is on (Bloody) Target

When American viewers take in the stunning back and forth between Melbourne cops and criminals in the Aussie film "Animal Kingdom," it might seem a little out-there. Especially for place most Americans think of it as a quaint tourist destination.

But Ben Mendelsohn, who stars as the head of a Melbourne crime family in the gritty drama, hails from those parts and remembers the 1980s crime setting in which the movie is made. He insists it carries the emotional truth of the disturbing time.

"This is extremely emotional stuff and it's very, very close," Mendelsohn, who was born in Melbourne, tells PopcornBiz. "This is why this is such a great achievement."

Mendelsohn even insists that the Armed Robbery Squad depicted in the film, which has now been renamed, had a fearsome reputation for taking criminal matters into their own hands.

"A section of that squad were, how you'd say, very pro-active in their police work," he says. "Melbourne has a history of incredibly virulent gang-battling over the years."

In the movie, Mendelsohn plays the increasingly unhinged and hunted official head of a crime family dealing with vigilante cops and a changing criminal world.  Guy Pearce plays one of the few cops who seems to be playing the war out by the books.

When presented with the idea of the movie seeming to echo the 1920s American gangster-era, Mendelsohn agrees it is not far from the point.

"It's an interesting comparison, the wild west or the 1920s," he says. "It's a little bit about what happens when things get unhinged. We're talking about 25 years ago this kind of stuff was going on."

The main thing that brought the end to the of this violent cop-gangster war was not attrition, but the changing criminal world.

"Back in the day, the armed robber was your sexy criminal. They were the head of the animal kingdom of crime," he says. "But technology has made it harder and harder for armed robbery to be a criminal enterprise long term."

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