It’s hard to believe that it’s been 12 and a half years since the insanely talented Heath Ledger, star of Brokeback Mountain, left us, picking up an Oscar posthumously for his turn as the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Night. A tragedy indeed, but now Sydney cinephiles can celebrate some of his earliest big screen work in glorious 35mm, thanks to Dendy Newtown.
They’ll screen darkly comic, ocker absurd Aussie crime thriller Two Hands on Wednesday, September 9 at 6.30pm. Ledger stars as Jimmy, a club spruiker working in the Cross with big plans to get rich quick. That puts him in the path of mob boss Pando (Bryan Brown), who tasks him with delivering a dodgy $10,000 envelope to an apartment in Bondi. But distracted by Rose Byrne’s Alex, things don’t run exactly to plan, with the money going AWOL and Pando out for blood.
With Jimmy seeking refuge at a mate Dierdre’s joint (Susie Porter), the scene is set for a riotously fun Sydney misadventure lovingly rendered by writer/director Gregor Jordan, who went on to cast Ledger as the infamous bushranger in Ned Kelly. Released in 1999, the same year as Ledger’s breakout hit 10 Things I Hate About You, it’s an absolute hoot and the perfect hump day tonic, though we can’t help but sigh to think what Ledger would have gone on to do given half the chance.
The first in a series of titles yet to be announced, the Dendy Newtown is committed to bringing classic movies to the big screen the way they were intended, big, bold and beautiful in actual, honest-to-goodness film, with all the scratchy, hearty texture they deserve. You can book tickets here.
Want more wild cinematic rides? Check out A Night of Horror Film Festival.
