A review of the new Australian film “Nitram”
Sadly mass shootings are a common occurrence in the United States, but fortunately Down Under they are rare. This Australian film is based on the worst such incident in the country’s history. It happened in Port Arthur in Tasmania on 28-29 April 1996 when a mentally disturbed loner called Martin Bryant, aged 28 at the time, managed to put together a veritable armoury before murdering 35 people and wounding 23 others.The work has been controversial in Australia on the grounds that it highlights knowledge and notoriety of the killer at the expense of the memory of the victims and the pain of their family and friends.
However, in a sensitive narrative, director Justin Kurzel and writer Shaun Grant attempt to overcome such objections by never fully naming the shooter (although all Australians know his name and the title is simply Martin backwards) and by not showing any of the actual shooting. Instead we are presented with something of a character study superbly embodied by Caleb Landry Jones in a performance that won him the Cannes Best Actor Award.
Furthermore we are encouraged to consider some basic questions: what gun control restrictions do we need and how do we enforce them? what role do medication and therapy have in dealing with mental illness? what is the responsibility of parents, friends and acquaintances in creating or controlling such behaviours?
These, and other questions, around mass shootings and indeed all shootings are not just for Australia where we are told at the end of the film that, in spite of tougher controls, there are now more guns in the community than in 1996. These are questions for Britain (the film references the massacre at Dunblane) and many countries – most notably the US – around the world. In that respect, this film, while uncomfortable to watch, is compelling viewing and something of a public service.