The Australian filmmaker Justin Kurzel known for titles such as Snowtown, True History of the Kelly Gang, and Nitram would not take a simple documentary approach for his first film. In the same way, his portrayal of Warren Ellis, who played with the Dirty Three as well as Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, is highly dynamic, starting with a hazy shot of a field similar to the ones featured in his other narrative works. The film transforms into a work with dynamic, organic energy in the best way possible it feels like the film is shifting and undulating right before our eyes.
That music is a vital constituent wasn’t a surprise either. On several occasions the frame bobs around the subject in a swaying motion as he conducts a one-man hoedown, shredding at his violin with fire-on-the-mountain energy and panache. As if he were a middle-aged Johnny from The Devil Went Down to Georgia, using his bow and strings to rip shreds off Lucifer. Ellis has an intriguing presence and a compelling mien: the face and hard-earned reflections of an introspective man who has been to a lot of places, done a lot of dope, and learned a lot of lessons.
The first thing that strikes one about Ellis Park is the beautiful sprawling rainforests and stunning setting which evokes a munificence that makes more sense when Kurzel reveals that the titular location is an animal sanctuary in Sumatra, Indonesia which rehabilitates injured animals and releases them into the wild or gives them a dignified end to their life. Ellis co-founded the sanctuary with animal rights activist Femke den Haas who is a main character in the film and whose team also operates the Sumatra Wildlife Center located on a renowned smuggling corridor for wildlife contraband.
The film’s animalistic and philanthropic aspects remain on the fringes for quite a while until they come into sharp focus during the deeply emotional cathartic final segment where Ellis goes to the park named after him. When he does get to the park, it feels like a culmination of sorts, rather than fulfilling some narrative checklist. The musician has a lovely moment when he sets free some rehabilitated birds to their natural habitat.
Kurzel’s mastery comes through in how he refuses to take on any sappy sentiments. The sanctuary’s most adorable resident, an armless monkey named Rina, provided us with some face content and serves as an illustration of the phrase it factor which is used to describe someone who draws attention, but here applies to animals.
The more than adequate parts of the movie give glimpses into the life of Ellis and his environment, none of which are forced. It has a road trip component, as Ellis’s character portrait comes alive by traveling to key milestones in his life, which includes Ballarat where he spent some time with his parents and shares this bizarre dream-like episode of a clown’s collage in their backyard. Other documentaries would be marking the highlights saying THIS WAS HIS CHILDHOOD! in big letters while here Kurzel feels his way through what can be likened to a beautifully overgrown garden, at times getting lost amidst the details but managing to turn around.
Ellis Park moves to a strange and interesting melody with circular and circuitous motions. Nick Fenton (who also cut True History of the Kelly Gang and Nitram) deserves praise for creating wonderfully intuitive rhythms. For me, the entire film exists with the shadowed mist-covered mountains that appear early in the film. The mountains are shrouded in mist and appear to be loomed over at the mid-section, the mid-section calls the film towards something enormous and relentless. Several components of Ellis’s vocation, Den Haas’ activism, and the tale of the havens could serve as a focal point for the entire docuseries. This is true, but it is still pleasing to witness them drawn to the same setting, interconnected by the design of life, the craftsmanship of art, and happenstance. This film will stay with you.
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