Imagine if he was your son...
What would you have done differently? Where did the authorities fail? And ultimately, how does an obviously NQR individual acquire an arsenal of weapons to exact mass retribution on a world unable and unwilling to cope with, let alone love someone so bizarre and unloveable?
Understandably, even 25 years later, this is an event still too raw for many to stomach. But if cinema shied away from every horrible incident, real or contrived, how many important films would cease to exist?
This is an important, gut wrenching movie tastefully told. Whilst the actions of the protagonist instigated a massive gun buyback and reform in Australia, as the end credits mention, there are now more firearms in the nation than 1996. There is no room for complacency.
The structure of what is already a longish feature doesn't allow room for any victims' stories, a risky move by the producers. Instead, empathy is mainly the exasperated parents' domain, played brilliantly by Anthony LaPaglia and Judy Davis. Basic, well meaning, good people who did their best. However, as is often the case with major catastrophe, a series of sometimes unavoidable sliding doors moments precipitate man made disaster.
Nitram does not excuse heinous actions, instead it cleverly provides space to ponder the cracks in society in which certain people fall down, and as a consequence the multiple safety catches required to ensure another Port Arthur atrocity never happens again. And also the role of the courts in deciphering evil, insanity and mental incapacity, and how to punish accordingly.
There's a few inconsistencies with the true course of events however the most important elements are apparent. In fact complexities of the murderer's perversions and back story left out would have added even greater gravitas to the narrative.
Finally, it must be mentioned, Caleb Landry's performance in the lead role is outstanding.
What would you have done differently? Where did the authorities fail? And ultimately, how does an obviously NQR individual acquire an arsenal of weapons to exact mass retribution on a world unable and unwilling to cope with, let alone love someone so bizarre and unloveable?
Understandably, even 25 years later, this is an event still too raw for many to stomach. But if cinema shied away from every horrible incident, real or contrived, how many important films would cease to exist?
This is an important, gut wrenching movie tastefully told. Whilst the actions of the protagonist instigated a massive gun buyback and reform in Australia, as the end credits mention, there are now more firearms in the nation than 1996. There is no room for complacency.
The structure of what is already a longish feature doesn't allow room for any victims' stories, a risky move by the producers. Instead, empathy is mainly the exasperated parents' domain, played brilliantly by Anthony LaPaglia and Judy Davis. Basic, well meaning, good people who did their best. However, as is often the case with major catastrophe, a series of sometimes unavoidable sliding doors moments precipitate man made disaster.
Nitram does not excuse heinous actions, instead it cleverly provides space to ponder the cracks in society in which certain people fall down, and as a consequence the multiple safety catches required to ensure another Port Arthur atrocity never happens again. And also the role of the courts in deciphering evil, insanity and mental incapacity, and how to punish accordingly.
There's a few inconsistencies with the true course of events however the most important elements are apparent. In fact complexities of the murderer's perversions and back story left out would have added even greater gravitas to the narrative.
Finally, it must be mentioned, Caleb Landry's performance in the lead role is outstanding.