Ned Kelly is a 2003 bushranger film based on Robert Drewe's 1991 novel Our Sunshine. Directed by Gregor Jordan, the film's adapted screenplay was written by John Michael McDonagh. The film dramatises the life of Ned Kelly, a legendary bushranger and outlaw who was active mostly in the colony of Victoria. In the film, Kelly, his brother Dan, and two other associates—Steve Hart and Joe Byrne—form a gang of bushrangers in response to acts of police brutality. Heath Ledger stars in the title role, with Orlando Bloom, Naomi Watts and Geoffrey Rush. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $6 million worldwide.
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Plot
After saving a young boy from drowning and being awarded a "hero sash" at the age of ten, Ned Kelly grows up in the colony of Victoria where he was born. The son of a Catholic Irish settler, he lives with his widowed mother Ellen, his younger brother Dan, and his two younger sisters Kate and Grace. Ned's best friend Joe and Dan's best friend Steve are also often at the house. One day in 1871, when Ned is 17 years old, he sees a white mare grazing alone. He rides it into town to impress a local girl named Jane. He is arrested, charged and convicted, and imprisoned for stealing the mare. But it was stolen by Wild Wright, an acquaintance.
