"Ned Kelly" (2003) - Gregor Jordan

Another Aussie gen that skipped theatres in North America is Gregor Jordan's "Ned Kelly", the moving account of the infamous Aussie legend. Here is a synopsis from the official website:

"Reteaming for the first time since their breakthrough film Two Hands, director Gregor Jordan and actor Heath Ledger bring moviegoers the true story of their brave and iconoclastic countryman - Irish-Australian legend Edward "Ned" Kelly.In the latter part of the 19th century, Australia is still largely untamed. The former penal colony's first-generation Irish immigrant population lives in poverty. Having already experienced police brutality and the death of his father, bushranger Ned (Heath Ledger) is wrongfully imprisoned on the trumped-up charge of stealing a horse.
Emerging a few years later, in 1874, Ned is hardened but vows to stay straight. Rejoining his widowed mother and younger siblings, he makes money for his family as a champion bare-knuckle boxer. He also toils as a farmhand on the estate of an English landowner - with whose beautiful wife Julia (Naomi Watts) Ned shares a mutual attraction.
But the British colonial system and its Victorian English enforcers remain prejudiced against Australia's working people, and the struggling Kelly family is no exception. When, in 1878, a bullying police officer is rebuffed by Ned's younger sister Kate and targets the family for harassment, Ned and his mother are unjustly charged with attempted murder.

Ned is determined to avenge his family's name and strike back against his people's oppressors. While hiding in the bush, he forms a loyal Gang that includes his best friend and first lieutenant Joe Byrne (Orlando Bloom). A chance encounter with the police culminates in shots ringing out, and three officers are killed. The Kelly Gang is forced to go on the run. They blaze a trail through the Outback, robbing banks to fund themselves as well as to recover immigrants' land deeds, and giving police the runaround. The Kelly Gang's reputation as invincible outlaws grows, as does nationwide support from their immigrant countrymen.

To the masses, Ned is a hero. To lawmen and the establishment, he is the most wanted man in Australia. £8,000 is offered for his capture - at the time, the highest reward the world had known. When the authorities bring in the formidable Superintendent Francis Hare (Geoffrey Rush), and an army of police, with carte blanche to capture and/or kill the outlaws, Ned strategizes a risky showdown at the Glenrowan Inn. It is this event which will seal his fate - and his legend."

Sporting an amazing cast (Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom, Geoffery Rush, Naomi Watts) and based off an aware winning biography, this is not only a must see, but a must own for any history buff with a love for period movies. Two HUGE thumbs up from me!

"The Tomorrow Series" by John Marsden

As a Canadian married to an Australian, I often have the good luck to come across films and books popular Down Under that are hard to find here. One such find was the young adult fiction series "The Tomorrow Series" by John Marsden.

Aussie teen, Ellie and her friends leave home one quiet morning, heading up into the hills for camping trip. Their lives are turned upside down when Australia is invaded during their absence. Through a series of seven powerfully realistic books, you come to know and love the characters as they face the moral and physical challenges of survival and confronting the enemy that stole their land.

While the characters engage in underground warfare, you are never left with a Hollywood-esque sense of the "heroes" bravado. Instead, they struggle with every decision to fight or flee, to kill or be killed. They even consider and acknowledge their nations failure in foreign policy. Neither are they protected from the realities of war, with beloved characters falling along the way.

I was actually surprised that this series is rated for young adults, so mature is the content and issues explored. I am even more surprised that this series hasn't found its way to the best seller list here in North America. It is well worth the work to find and read these great works of Aussie fiction. Check out these and more books by John Marsden at www.johnmarsden.com.

P.S. Marsden has also just started his new series called "The Ellie Chronicles" a post-war follow up that promises to be equally exciting.