Lawless by Meg Sugden

Lawless is a film set in America during 1931 about 3 brothers, Forrest, Howard and Jack, who stick together no matter what even if there life depends on it, and it does. When Charlie Rakes appears on the seen to kill them for selling alcohol illegally they do anything to keep selling and stay alive.

The story begins with a background opening, we find out where they live, what they do for a living, which is obviously produce and sell moonshine, and we also find that the youngest brother Jack has his eye on a girl that he meets at a funeral. During 1931 moonshine is still illegal to make and sell so the brother sell it secretly at the back of bars and then also deliver to houses to people who are willing to pay. At the current time they are looking for someone to help run there bar where they lived and they end up hiring Maggie, an attractive red head that is bound to cause some trouble later on.


The movie cuts on a few scenes and we see Jack witness Rakes gunning down a man to get information on the brothers, so he gathers up the bullets and takes them too his brothers to show they that someone is after him. Throughout the film there is a lot of speculation that goes around the town about the fact that Forest is immortal as he survived a lot of trauma in the past, this is actually seen as true later on as he survives a lot of things despite the odds. Later on that same day we see Rakes come round the house and beat up Jack to show his family that he can get to them whenever he wants and Forrest, the oldest brother, appears to be disappointed in him; whether this is because he sees the whole family as being invincible, I'm not sure, but he does seem to get annoyed when he's hurt, but at him not at Rakes.

Throughout the film there is the continuing romance sparking between Maggie and Forrest and this is seen more after a man pulls a gun on her in the bar and Forrest beats them up, dumping them outside. But this does not go well for him later on that night, just as hes said goodbye to Maggie for the night he is attacked outside and has his throat slit by the men from earlier. Maggie comes back to tell Forrest that she's interested and ends up being attacked by them as well as Forrest is taken to hospital having survived his injury's.


Now we see the brothers in more trouble then ever as Rakes gets closer to them with every step, especially as the brothers get more cocky and start shipping across the border as well to make more money, and they should have stayed in hiding. But Jack, being the youngest is still quite naive and takes Bertha, the lady he has his eye on, for a drive and shows her the distillery where they make moonshine. Little do they know that Rake's is following them in order to kill Jack. But as they enter the distillery Howard and Cricket, Jacks friend who walks funny after having rickets as a child, come to the rescue only for Cricket to be captures by Rakes and strangled.

As the film comes to a close we see Jack go out to get Rakes for revenge, and his brothers aren't far behind him to order to help. This then leads to a stand off between Rakes' men and the brothers and their friends only for Jack to get shot in the stomach and minutes after Forrest getting shot a number of times in the torso. Rakes starts to run but Jack and Howard track him down and kill him for good before all of them going to hospital.

The film is mainly about the relationships the brothers have. Although they might not get along all the time but when they need to save another brother they come together so easily and nothing will stop them in getting what they want. The interesting part to the story is this part about the brothers not being able to die, which is taken into the story well as you can see how people might think they are invincible, especially Forrest.

Steve McQueens '12 Years a Slave' by Meg Sugden

Probably one of the hardest films to watch out of McQueen's true story tributes, 12 Years A Slave is a powerful and  brilliantly told true story based off the writings of Solomon Northup, a free man making an honest living as a musician. The story then follows as he is viciously sold into the slavery market and taken from place to place working until he can't work no more. The heartbreaking films offers insight into the ways of Americans in the height of the slave industry and shows the horror of just how brutal it was. The pinocle point of the film actually makes us see into the daily lives of the slave trade and how humiliating it would have been on a daily basis and how traumatising it would have been to be beaten for no reason and forced to work as there lives depended on it.

Once again we see Steve McQueen at his finest, proving that he truly is the King of taking a true story and turning it into a wonderful masterpiece of film, and 12 Years A Slave definitely lives up to his reputation. The film has the ability to take you on a roller coaster of a ride, offering scenes of happiness as we see him with his family in the freedom of his life, to being transported on a steamboat to Louisiana, having to change his name and being in cramped and confined conditions. We then feel the heartbreak of what he's actually going through, being torn apart from his family and having to be on his own, sold into slavery and looking after others in the same position around him. Its a tough watch, especially as we see him arrive at the homes of where he will spend the next twelve years

To begin with we see him on Benedict Cumberbatch's estate in which there are many problems but he managed to find a comfortable spot working on the river and providing new ways of farming on the Louisiana bayou, to be rewarded generously with a violin and the chance to play music again. But things start to go wrong, and the overseer abuses him for no reason forcing Master Ford (Cumberbatch) to kick him off the farm and take him elsewhere with great regret. But whilst on the farm we witness probably one of the most powerful scenes in the whole film as we see Solomon (Chiwetel Ejiofor) being hung for his crimes but left with his feet just touching the floor. This then leads to the longest wait in film where we stare at this man being punished for no reason other than being a black man. Watching him struggle to stand while the daily life goes on behind him is so tough and difficult to watch, as nobody appears to care about him which leads to a scene of him struggling to reach the floor that lasts for about 3 minutes, while all the time there is no music, only the sound of pain and suffering. 

When taken to the next farm, is where we are introduced to Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender), an interesting character who takes an instant dislike to him, forcing more pain and suffering for again doing nothing. Again during this time we find it difficult to watch as we start to see the lashings and McQueen does not beat around the bush, as we see not only Solomon get beat, but also a young girl, which is a scene that captivates the audience and shows just how brutal the slave trade actually was, and how everyone just went along with it, because that was hows things where. Each scenes that are set on this farm are difficult to stomach, but this farm also offers the highlight of the film; seeing Bass (Brad Pitt). Bass is a humble worker who is hired to build on the farm with the help of Solomon. They get talking and he reveals that he is a freeman and not a slave worker, he tells him his real name and asks him for his help. As we have already seen previously how help from outsiders can go wrong this does not offer us much hope, but as we see the carriage pull up at the end with Solomon's shop keeper friend in it, we feel so much hope and heartbreak at the same time as we know it is time for him to go home.

The film is definitely one that I would recommend as it is a incredible and heartbreaking story of a man who has every right to be in the world but gets everything taken away from him and beaten just because the colour of his skin. The story is beautifully told by Steve McQueen and couldn't have been told better. Its a whirlwind of emotion running throughout the film and makes you feel everything, which is so difficult to put into just one film. The brutality of some of the scenes would upset even the strongest of stomachs but knowing that he managed to get out of it in the end, means everything as we see him reunited with his family after 12 long, and unnecessary years as a slave.

'The Social Network' by Meg Sugden

The Social Network tells the story of how the company Facebook was founded and the struggle that everyone in the process had to deal with, but not Mark Zuckerberg as all the problems seem to be caused by him personally. As the founder of Facebook we see what he actually had to go through with to get to where he is today in terms of the value of the company and also the dramatic mistakes that he made in the process.

The film begins with Zuckerberg on a date with his girlfriend, and things seem to be a little tense and Erica can barely get a word in edgeways due to Mark's erratic speaking. The way he takes to her is in a very arrogant manner and he doesn't seem to care about her in any way as all he care's about is what he's doing at college and how he has lots of opinions on everything. Minutes later and he is girlfriend-less and angrily he runs home and goes to blog about how much he hates her and begins to publicise how wrong she is as a woman. This then gives him an idea to get all the pictures of girls from the college and make a rating website so that everyone at the college can rate everyone and they can find out how's hottest. This then results in the Harvard network crashing and him getting in trouble for being behind it, but this only makes him more well known throughout the college and soon enough he is approaches by twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and there friend Divya Narendra.

The offer Zuckerberg the chance to work with them on building a website which takes the idea of using the Harvard domain name to create a website that allows students at the college to talk to each other and add them as friends, making it an exclusive club. Zuckerberg instantly agrees but then instantly goes off and creates a slightly different idea and wants to built it with his best friend Eduardo Saverin, a student studying business. He offers him a 70, 30 spilt on the profits and Saverin agrees and give him money to get the company started. Progress quickly begins on the website and soon enough it is ready to be sent live and sent to the college exclusively. It's an instant hit and quickly gets a hundred members. 

During the time of development Zuckerberg was meant to be helping the twins and there friend with there own website, which they could not create without his help as he was creating the code for it. Every time they emailed he made some excuse and it wasn't till the 16th email in 6 weeks that he said the idea wasn't good anymore and backed out, only to continue developing his new website 'The Face Book'.

Things kept proceeding normally and he added new features to the website nearly every day, making improvements and adjustments to make it better, before eventually adding in the relationship status after having a conversation with his ex in a bar. He realises this is what people want, to know everything about others without having to have proper conversations.

Things then appear to get even better for the company as Sean Parker, founder of Napster, comes into the scene and stirs things around with his bolshy attitude and party lifestyle. Zuckerberg realises he needs to go bigger with the company so gladly takes anything Parker says on board but at the cost of other people that he has left behind, but maybe for the better good as the company expands and grows to many other colleges in America and eventually to Cambridge and Oxford in England and the name changes to just Facebook. 

As things seem to be looking up and the company moves to California, Saverin begins to feel left out by the company and doesn't like the idea of it being away from him in California. Eventually he becomes to angry and freezes payments into the company and gets angry with Mark and also his girlfriend. At the same time this is happening the Winklevoss twins and Divya Narendra are beginning to generate a court case against Zuckerberg for stealing there idea and suing him for it. This doesn't not go too well and at the same time Saverin begins his court case to sue Zuckerberg at the same time when he makes the mistake of taking him off the co-founder list and taking his percentage down to 0.03, making him barely part of it.

We see the end of the film as a sort of realism that Mark Zuckerberg should have been nicer to the people around him and used there advice in the production more as he then would not have to have given so much money away in the end in claims. It is a realisation story that kind of has an unusual ending as it makes him a bad person as he was rude to a lot of people along the way, but would he have been as successful if he hadn't? I guess that's a price you have to pay to own a company now worth over 60 billion pounds.

'Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss received a settlement of 65 million dollars and signed a non-disclosure agreement. Eduardo Saverin received an unknown settlement. His name has been restored to the Facebook masthead as co-founder.'

'The Pursuit of Happiness' by Meg Sugden

This true story follows part of Chris Gardner's life, a man who lives in America and is trying to struggle with getting a job, keeping his house and looking after his family all at the same time. We see him go through the most difficult times in his life and all this happens within about 2 years, which is an incredible ordeal to go through. It is heartbreaking to watch as we see him fail at so many hurdles before eventually picking up on everything and gaining a life for himself and son, who is only about 5 at the time.

The story begins with Chris taking his son Christopher to day care, as both him and his wife work long and tiring shifts at different times so they cannot look after him properly. At the school we get our first indication that he wants a better life as we see him arguing with a cleaner about the graffiti of which happiness is spelt incorrectly and does not contain a 'y'. This already starts to give some indication as to what he wants most in life and he is annoyed that someone could misspell something so important. We then see what he does for a living, selling bone density scanners, but this has just caused tension with his wife as he hasn't sold any in months, meaning that they do see eye to eye any more. So, because they they can't pay the rent, afford food and don't get along, things are starting to become difficult.

'It's part of my life I like to call, being stupid.'

A few days on we see him going for a job interview for an internship at a stock brokers, and as he has his scanner with him he decides to leave it with a lady singing on the street, once he's in his interview however he cuts it short as he sees the lady run away with it out the window, so takes the application form and runs after her. The next day we do see him find the lady and take back his scanner, which we find happiness in as he can then go onto selling it, but this again proves tension with his wife as he wasn't meant to come back with any scanners, instead he comes back with two. We then see the disappointment when the only thing his son receives for his birthday is a basketball, and we see the pain as they want to provide better for their son but they know they can't.

In an attempt to best his opportunities to get the internship he finds Jay Twizzle, a stock broker who can guarantee him the job and attempts to wow him by completing a Rubix Cube, something only one man has managed to do yet, as it has only just come out. He's impressed, and gets out of the taxi that they in, without paying and Chris realises he has no money to pay for it; so makes a run for it down to the tube station, only to get the scanner stuck in the tube door and once again loosing another one. By this point he is late home to get Christopher, forcing his wife to miss her shift at work, and loose it, leaving Chris but later on manages to gain custody of his son. 

The fight for survival then continues as we see him land the internship, after a rocky night being arrested for not paying for his parking tickets and despite the state he arrived in for the interview, and things start to look up, as long as they can sell the remaining scanners as he will not get paid for 6 months. Things start to look up for him as we see him coping with his job, and even managing to get the scanner back again, even though it was broken it was still a start. Until the day when he doesn't pay his council tax and they take everything that he has forcing them to live on the streets.

This leads on to us seeing him coping with looking after his 5 year old son at the same time as trying to keep everything together as they stay inside a public loo for the night. The heart wrenching scene in which we see him cry as he doesn't know what is about to happen with his life anymore becomes difficult to watch as we know that this actually happened to someone real, and actually happens to a lot of people of America on a daily basis. The anger and hurt inside of him continues as they eventually get a place in a homeless shelter, providing that they get there on time every day, but he is still trying to manage the internship at the same time so that he can get the job. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

'This little part of my life is called happiness.'

Chris manages to fix the scanner and sell it for about 200 dollars, meaning that they can stay in a hotel for the night and things start to look up even more. Especially as he gets his job. The ending of this film is beautiful and joyful and above anything else brings gladness to everyone watching as we now know that he can live the rest of his life in happiness. 

'After beginning his career at Dean Witter, Chris Gardner went on to found the investment firm Gardner Rich in 1987. 

In 2007 Chris Gardner sol a minority stake in his brokerage firm in a multimillion dollar deal.'

Steve McQueen's 'Hunger' by Callum Brown

Hunger tells the true story of Bobby Sands and how he led the 1981 Irish republican prisoners Hunger strikes in order to defy Margaret Thatcher’s removal of Special Category Status. 75 inmates agreed to the strike and unlike the last hunger strike he lead, this one was to have prisoners start 2 weeks apart to make the death toll last longer. During his strike he was elected into British parliament as an Anti H-Block candidate, after his death a further 9 inmates died before the strike was called off, in the following months the British government granted all the inmates’ demands but without any formal recognition of political status. Bobby Sands died 66 days after starting the strike. The strike consisted of 5 demands. The hunger strike centred on five demands.

      1.    The right not to wear a prison uniform.

2.     The right not to do prison work.

3.     The right of free association with other prisoners, and to organise educational and recreational pursuits.

4.     The right to one visit, one letter and one parcel per week.

5.     Full restoration of remission lost through the protest.

Steve McQueen’s debut feature length film hits hard through its emotional tug and shocking honesty, as we’ve come to know from McQueen, he holds no barriers when delivering the brutal truth. Although there is barley any dialog throughout the film, it doesn’t need it, the story is told through the events that proceed. Whilst the film is admittedly slow, and it takes a good half an hour before meeting our lead character (portrayed by the ever brilliant Michael Fassbender) the time is filled with showing the disgusting conditions in which the prisoners were forced to live in, which is important as we have to learn why Sands is prepared to give his own life, and persuade others to do the same in order to get things changed. The scenes that take place and the violation of human rights are necessary to the narrative, and the film would simply not be as effective without them. The suffering endured throughout the film and the decision to do something about it is why I think it makes great research material for the film I intend to make, not to mention the fact that it is all based upon a true story. Fassbender performance is brilliant as usual, one of the only dialog scenes that takes place lasts a good 25 minutes with only one cut, showing how incredible these actors are. McQueen’s debut is a triumph and besides Tarantino’s ‘Reservoir Dogs’ the best I have seen, although I agree McQueen’s films are simply getting better every time he makes one, with this, Shame and 12 Years a slave being his only feature lengths to date he has an incredible run so far, and a portfolio any director would envy.

Ridley Scotts 'American Ganster' by Stuart Brown

A very brutal opening quickly catches viewers attention were a man is burnt alive and shot multiple times. This quickly sets the scene of the type of gritty, hard hitting violent film we’re about to see. 

Set in 1970’s America, following the death of Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington)’s employer and mentor, Lucas takes his place and starts collecting heroin directly from his source in the east, cutting out the middle man and producing a cheaper, and purer product on the street. But we see as the more money and power he gets the more ruthless he becomes, shooting people at point blank in broad daylight in the middle of a busy street, clearly to establish his name as a feared and respected one in the drug world. But as time passes Lucas’ power seems to be getting more and more to his head becoming ever more stressed, violent and intimidating even to his family members.

The story also follows honest and loyal cop Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe), and his struggle perpetuate drug dealers in a corrupt police force. Due to his honest reputation, Richie is given the opportunity to set up his own narcotics task force, taking a collection of honest cops to attempt to clean the streets. Noticing this new Lucas character emerge in this underworld, Roberts turns his investigation towards Lucas, who has crooked detective Trupo (Josh Brolin) pestering him for a higher bribes and attempting to intimidating him with the power of his badge.

With outstanding performances from the steller cast, Ridley Scott’s tense true story uses memorable characters with strong motives and morals to create an atmospheric, piece and is very realistic and effective. Though I personally find this film fairly slow, there’s no denying the talent within the film makers and actors within. The film seems to pick up pace when our lead characters seem to start interacting with each other’s lives, creating excitement, uncertainty, tension and confrontation as it starts to become, although a true story, completely unpredictable.

Once Roberts leads a team to intercept Lucas’ next import, the film reaches its peak, with the sequence in my opinion being the highlight of the film.  The first time the two lead characters meet is done beautifully, with the editing being the most effective element, cutting between the police’s raid of Lucas’ properties and Roberts slow walk, without dialogue, and both characters seem to immediately understand each other. This process is repeated when Roberts interrogates Lucas as the film cuts between the court room, the interrogation, Lucas giving up crooked cops, and the current news. 

American gangster is a  very well constructed film, with the acting, direction, script and editing standing out as the films strong points. As ever though, it is made even more powerful because it was a true story, and the text that fades in and out of the film’s final moments emphasise the scale and effect Roberts investigation and prosecution of Frank Lucas had on the agency and the Justice system.  

Frank Lucas was sentenced to 70 years. Authorities confiscated 250 million dollars of Lucas’ assets in US and Foreign banks. Roberts and Lucas’ collaboration led to the convictions of three quarters of New York Cities Drug Enforcement Agency. Thirty members of Frank Lucas’ family were convicted of drug trafficking and sent to prison. Richie Roberts quit the prosecutor’s office to become a defence attorney. His first client was Frank Lucas. Due to Lucas’ cooperation, his 70 year sentence was reduced to 15 years. He was released in 1991.

The Soloist by Callum Brown

The Soloist tells the true story of the journalist Steve Lopez and Nathaniel Ayers, Ayers is a homeless man with an amazing talent, he plays both the violin and Cello amazingly, however Ayers is also an undiagnosed paranoid schizophrenic. Making Lopez’s mission to help him very difficult. It’s a story of friendship more than anything else, and opens our eyes to how many homeless people live in Los Angeles and how hard their lives are.

As Lopez tries relentlessly to help Ayers, getting him an apartment, Cello lessons, even a concert, Ayers’ unpredictable and often violent nature takes a hold on their relationship, both actors (Robert Downey Jr and Jamie Fox) deliver stella performances but its Fox’s performance as Ayers that really makes the piece heartfelt. The film often uses sound in imaginative ways, combining it with surreal imagery to display Ayers’ love for Beethoven, the director has a unique take on the representation of music and what it means to Ayers, and uses it as an almost godly power that he reaches for and is desperate to understand, Ayers’ personality switches from lovable and gentle, to surprisingly violent in the slightest second and displays the effects of schizophrenia amazingly mostly through sound and these drastic changes of emotion.

Downey’s role as the hard working friend of Ayers is were what we relate to in this film, nobody could Blame his character for leaving Ayers at anytime due to his erratic and sometimes selfish behaviour, but instead of giving up he always seem to find a way to help Ayers in a way that he understands. The film always keep with its realistic tone but can often be shocking, the street ‘Skid Row’ is done with extreme realism and can often be seen as enjoyable or frightening, yet always feel like the same place, and we never doubt that all these people call it home.

The film gets many things right, and everything seems understandable and genuine, but I never got a strong feeling of emotion throughout it, which I was surprised at, as I love Downey as an actor, and find addictions and illnesses like Schizophrenia really interesting, so I don’t quite know what it was missing for me to really like it. The fact that it is a true troy is interesting, but nothing really amazing comes out of it, there’s a homeless man with an amazing talent who’s given many chances but it never really comes to flourish, it all seems rather disappointing but then again sometimes films based on true stories will be, as if they changed things, they would loose the essence that makes them intriguing.

Deadwood - By Callum Brown

Deadwood is a western T.V series based in the real-life town of deadwood, and based on the journals written by the people who lived there, the characters and events that take place are all shockingly true, with lies, betrayal, double crossing and violence filling the screen with a Shakespearean-esc dialect its truly a work of art, to believe that these lives were true and people suffered as much as they did at the time is astonishing, starring Timothy Olyphant, Ian Mcshane, Powers Booth Keith Carradine and John Hawkes this is as superbly acted as you’d expect, and one of the main features that awoke me to the beauty of the genre.

One of the mot interesting facts about the show is the truth and brutality behind it, full of rich and exiting history such as the death of Wild Bill Hickok, the real Calamity Jane, and ruthless Al Swearegen and more legends of the west. Below is the real newspaper from the town featuring some of the characters, which shows how accurate they made everything look visually, and explains in detail the death of Wild Bill by Jack McCall , which the show desists.

Unfortunately the show was cancelled and the plans for two T.V movies never came to flourish, with the burning and re-building of Al’s saloon (The Gem Theatre - left) still to tell, and how after the second burning he left for San Francisco only to be found dead and penniless beside the road. This show not only captivated me through the characters, language, excitement, and violence, but mostly through the fact that it happened, some of the facts that the show didn’t tell because it was simply too outlandish, such as when the sheriff Seth Bullock split the town in to two parts with a line (literally) one for a lawful side, and another for the outlaws. The show not only captivates this history but also makes deep characters, but is not afraid for comedy relief such as with the pig-farmer Mr Whu. Despite many fires destroying most of the town, it is still standing and can be visited today.

But back to the show, with so mush still to tell it was a shame about the cancellation, but what is left still stands as one of the best dramas I’ve had the pleasure of viewing, the realism displays hard hitting facts and whilst being fluent in a old language, it never get too hard to understand, the budget is low but never seems it, besides the construction of the town and costumes there’s very little that is needed, as the whole show is set there, it never get over the top with action and always maintains its realistic and honest soul that makes it what it is, I wish to see more westerns back on our screens but not only that but ones that are based on true stories, the 1800’s west was s fasanating and exiting it seems a waste not too, and with latest masterpieces such as True Grit, No County For Old Men, Deadwood, and many more I think its about time to bring back westerns, even if films like The Lone Ranger and Cowboys And Aliens do require modern takes to turn this endangered genre into blockbuster material.

Ned Kelly by Callum Brown

Ned Kelly is the true story of the Irish family living in Australia during the late 1800’s and the story of injustice done to his family, and how he took the law into his own hands, declaring war of the Victorian Police, some consider Ned Kelly to be a murderous villain whilst others believed he was a folk hero to the likes of William Wallace. This makes his complete backstory somewhat unclear, however the facts mostly display Kelly as the film represents him.

The film stars the late Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush and Naomi Watts, the story shows the unlawful treatment of what was soon known as ‘The Kelly Gang’ from many previous brushes with the law, what drove Kelly into hiding was the Fitzpatrick incident. After a brawl in a pub after the officer was acting drunk and disorderly, the officer later went to apprehend Kelly, and when his mother asked for a warrant, which the officer did not have, only a telegram, which would not suffice, and after the officers many advances of Ned’s sister, the officer was asked to leave, after the officer had refused to leave the premises despite Kelly not being present Dan Kelly took the officers gun and forced him to leave, when arriving back at the station, the officer told of how Ned Kelly had shot him. This forced Kelly into hiding and after thinking the Victorian police would never believe his story, after the police arrested his mother in hoping it would force Kelly out of hiding, Kelly declared war of the Victorian police, which ended in the 4 members of The Kelly Gang donning home-made armour in order to fight off more than 100 officers as his hostages had time to flee, Ned Kelly was eventually apprehended and hanged for his crimes. The film is told from Ned Kelly’s words and perspective weather it was what really happened or not.

(Left: The Kelly Gangs armour on 
display in Melbourne Goal, Ned Kelly's armour is on the far right. Right: a police officer dressed in the Kelly armour just after the battle.) Weather the events that takes place are true or not, and weather Kelly’s side of the argument is the true one, Ned Kelly is still one of the most interesting and influential people in human history, and his fight for survival is an amazing achievement. His story is equal to that of Robin Hood except Kelly’s is true, I am surprised not to hear more on Ned Kelly, as his story is one of incredible suffering from the people who are supposed to be here to protect, I am always astonished by the amazing stories that come from the 1800’s but this is one I find truly astonishing and saddening. The fact that they made home-made armour to fight off a small army of corrupt government officials sounds like something from a modern superhero movie like Iron Man, but this man actually did it. The film is an emotional tale of a mans struggle to fight injustice, the score for the film adds another layer of depth, but what makes this piece more harrowing is the untimely death of Heath Ledger and how the internet lit alight with the score from this film, and especially Bernard Fanning’s ‘Shelter for my soul’ soon became Ledgers tribute.