NED

Australia, 2003, 81 minutes, Colour.
Abe Forsythe, Felix Williamson, Damon Herriman, Nick Flint, Josef Ber, Jeremy Sims, Drew Forsythe.
Directed by Abe Forsythe.

Ned is a spoof of the Ned Kelly story. It is mainly silly, undemandingly funny (with a capital U).

The film was written by Abe Forsythe, in his early twenties at the time, after he had made a prizewinning spoof of The Matrix (Computer Boy). It is said that he wrote this screenplay in three weeks.

The film opens in Glenrowan in the present, with tourists visiting the town and capitalising on all the tourist attractions for Ned Kelly. A young boy listens to an old man on a bench (played by the director’s father, comedian Drew Forsythe).

The flashbacks tell the Kelly story – with quite a number of references to the present (including such jokes as dot.com.au). Jeremy Sims is Mr Kelly, a syphilitic farmer who has sold his oldest son to get passage to Australia. Ned grows up in the rubber farm of the family – the father not realising that rubber will not be the future. When he dies, Ned goes on his travels, wanting to be a magician. He encounters a group who rob banks and joins them. By accident, he gets his tin helmet. The members of the group, Steve Hart, Dan Kelly and Joe Byrne, mimic the original members of the Kelly gang.

There are robberies, magic tricks. There is also the local governor, played with camp style by Felix Williamson, with his dumb soldiers in attendance.

If audiences stay with the film, they may find some humour in the spoof. Otherwise, many audiences will probably opt out at the silliness. There are a lot of bodily function jokes as might be expected, and a surprising number of camp jokes which may be rather controversial with the intended audience.

Ned is ignorant of sexual matters – but this is remedied by the end of the film. He finally achieves his success as a magician.

Abe Forsythe was young when he made the film, shows some competence with the film-making, capitalising on a small budget with some lavish sets and costumes. Forsythe can be seen to much better advantage in the miniseries on Kerry Packer, Howzat, where he portrays John Cornell.

The film came out soon after the more serious film version, Ned Kelly, with Heath Ledger.