''Mad Bastards'' is a 2011 Australian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

written and directed by

Brendan Fletcher Brendan Fletcher (born December 15, 1981) is a Canadian actor. He first gained recognition as a child actor, winning a Leo Award and being nominated for a Gemini Award his acting debut in the made-for-television film ''Little Criminals''. He ...

. Set in the

Kimberley region The Kimberley is the northernmost of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is bordered on the west by the Indian Ocean, on the north by the Timor Sea, on the south by the Great Sandy Desert, Great Sandy and Tanami Desert, Tanami deserts ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, the film uses mainly local

Aboriginal people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

in the cast, and draws on their stories for the plotline. It is Fletcher's debut film and it premiered at the

2011 Sundance Film Festival The 27th annual Sundance Film Festival took place from January 20, 2011 until January 30, 2011 in Park City, Utah, with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah, Ogden, Utah, and Sundance, Utah. The festival opened with five screenings, one from each c ...

Plot

Years ago, TJ abandoned his wife and son, and as time passes his conscience tells him it's time he began facing up to his responsibilities as a father. TJ is an Aboriginal man living in Western Australia and has a weakness for alcohol and a habit of getting into fights. TJ's son Bullet is nearly as troubled as he is; at the age of 13, he's already been arrested for

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

, and instead of serving a sentence in a

juvenile detention In criminal justice systems, a youth detention center, known as a juvenile detention center (JDC),Stahl, Dean, Karen Kerchelich, and Ralph De Sola. ''Abbreviations Dictionary''. CRC Press, 20011202. Retrieved 23 August 2010. , . juvenile det ...

home, he is released to the custody of Elders. Bullet is not anxious to reacquaint himself with TJ, but both realise they need to settle their scores with one another, and Bullet's grandfather Texas steps in to help.

Cast

* Dean Daley-Jones as TJ * Lucas Yeeda as Bullet *

Karla Hart Karla Hart is a writer, film-maker, dancer, actress and director and has been the event co-ordinator for Wardarnji Festival 2011- 2015, is currently the Drive time presenter for Noongar Radio which broadcasts in Perth Perth is the capi ...

as TJ's sister *

Alex Lloyd Alex Lloyd (born 19 November 1974) is an Australian singer-songwriter. Four of his albums, ''Black the Sun'', '' Watching Angels Mend'', '' Distant Light'' and ''Alex Lloyd'', released between 1999 and 2005, made the top ten on the ARIA charts ...

as Musician * Douglas Macale as Uncle Black * Patrick McCoy-Geary as Bullet's mate *

Kelton Pell Kelton Pell is an Aboriginal Australian (Noongar) stage, TV and film actor, best known for his role as the court liaison officer, Sam Wallan, in the SBS legal drama '' The Circuit'' set in north-western Australia. Pell is from Western Australia. ...

as Mad Dog *

Alan Pigram Alan Pigram is an Australian musician and songwriter. He has been a member of Scrap Metal and The Pigram Brothers. Career Along with his brothers Stephen and Phillip, Pigram was a founding member of Scrap Metal. Together they toured nationally ...

as Musician * Ngaire Pigram as Nella * Stephen Pigram as Musician *

Greg Tait Greg Tait is an Indigenous Australian actor, and musician. He is also a former policeman who sits on some Indigenous committees. His acting credits include the role of Texas in the award winning 2011 film, ''Mad Bastards'', ''Satellite Boy'' and ...

as Texas * John Watson as Bush Camp Elder

Production

Director and scriptwriter Brendan Fletcher, usually based in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, wrote the film in collaboration with the lead actors, who were local Indigenous people, and John Watson, an elder of the Jarlmadangah people. The storyline was developed from the true stories of local Indigenous people of the

, where the film was shot.

, a Gidja man was a reformed young offender who became a policeman, was given a leading role. The film was co-produced by musician brothers

and Stephen Pigram, who also provided an original score and performed in the film, along with

David Jowsey David Jowsey is an Australian film producer, co-founder of Bunya Productions. He is known for producing many films made by Indigenous Australian filmmakers. Bunya Productions' co-owners are Indigenous filmmaker Ivan Sen, and Jowsey's wife Gree ...

and Fletcher.

Ngaire Pigram Ngaire Pigram is an Australian actress. For her performance in the second series of '' Mystery Road'' she was nominated for the 2020 AACTA Award for Best Guest or Supporting Actress in a Television Drama. Other screen performances include ' ...

, Stephen's daughter, played the female lead role.

Reception

''Mad Bastards'' received positive reviews from critics and audiences, earning an approval rating of 88% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

. Michelle Orange of SBS gave the film three stars out of five. She observed that the "over-reliance on score sets up an avoidant rhythm that begins to feel like a lack of narrative confidence." However she also points out that "Fletcher’s atmospheric approach is not without moments of emotional power, and the raw, unyielding landscapes of Northwestern Australia are framed to resonant effect."

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mad Bastards 2011 films 2011 drama films 2011 directorial debut films Australian drama films 2010s English-language films Films about Aboriginal Australians