Justin Kurzel is known for ‘Macbeth’ or ‘Assassin’s Creed’, but it is films like ‘Nitram’ that define him as a filmmaker to be reckoned with. A film that recounts the events that made Martin Bryant famous, and that in some way prompted him to commit what is known as the “Port Arthur massacre” on April 28, 1996, in which he is considered one of the worst shootings in Australian history. Unlike films like ‘Elephant’ or ‘Polytechnique’, in ‘Nitram’ we are never shown the “incident” towards which everything is theoretically leading us. It is a prelude during which the causer is followed in the previous days, weeks and even months, without trying to understand or justify it. It is shown and shown to us in a way that can be… objective. As a person instead of as a misunderstood or a monster. Things that unfortunately happen without us necessarily knowing… why. ‘Nitram’ is a solid and robust drama of patient suspense, directed with great mettle and elegance and very well acted by its leading quartet that acts as a suggestive, and at the same time, disturbing prequel that uses in a remarkable way the distressing certainty and the malicious suspense of knowing where everything is leading us. Or the inevitability of an unforeseeable tragedy used as a vital scourge, not as a morbid destiny.
By Juan Pairet Iglesias
@wanchopex
