Having just watched this mini-series for the 3rd (and possibly last) time, I'm still gob-smacked by how true to life it is. It's not pretty, or nice, or feel-good - it's ugly and violent and brutal and bloody, and to watch the whole 3-and-a-bit hours in one sitting, as I did today, feels a bit like being kicked in the guts by a very big man!! Firstly, there's extraordinary attention paid to detail, with cars, houses, clothes, hair-styles, being true to the 70's and 80's when this true story is set. The outdoor scenes are SO Sydney that you can almost smell the city itself. The story belts along at a pace which requires the viewer to pay close attention.
And then there's the cast: For me, this is Richard Roxburgh's best work ever - he walks, talks, lives and breathes Roger Rogerson, so much so that we dislike him, but have to admire his brashness and even his matiness. Tony Martin's Neddy Smith is very 3-dimensional, and mention must also be made of Gary Sweet as Chris Flannery, and Steve Bastoni as Michael Drury, the straight cop in a barrel of bad apples.
Women play only minor roles in this story, but this is because it's a story of male culture in a male-only world. This is the NSW Police Force which evolved from the early days of the NSW British colony, and as such, I'm sure this mini-series will stand up in years to come as a window into the history of Australian male culture, the culture of 'mateship'. One can be forgiven for making parallels with "Goodfellas", but "Blue Murder" is Australian to the core.
An extremely well made, documentary style series, which packs punches all the way through.
And then there's the cast: For me, this is Richard Roxburgh's best work ever - he walks, talks, lives and breathes Roger Rogerson, so much so that we dislike him, but have to admire his brashness and even his matiness. Tony Martin's Neddy Smith is very 3-dimensional, and mention must also be made of Gary Sweet as Chris Flannery, and Steve Bastoni as Michael Drury, the straight cop in a barrel of bad apples.
Women play only minor roles in this story, but this is because it's a story of male culture in a male-only world. This is the NSW Police Force which evolved from the early days of the NSW British colony, and as such, I'm sure this mini-series will stand up in years to come as a window into the history of Australian male culture, the culture of 'mateship'. One can be forgiven for making parallels with "Goodfellas", but "Blue Murder" is Australian to the core.
An extremely well made, documentary style series, which packs punches all the way through.