Justin Kurzel is an Australian filmmaker who debuted with the biographical crime drama Snowtown (2011). He was one of the directors who directed a segment in the Australian movie The Turning (2013). He also directed
Michael Fassbender in Macbeth, based on the Shakespearean play of the same name.
Michael Fassbender is Kurzel’s lead actor once again in
Assassin’s Creed (2016).
Early Life
Justin Kurzel was born on August 3, 1974, in Gawler, which is north of Adelaide. He has a younger brother, Jed. Growing up they shared a very competitive relationship and sports was what brought them together. But with age, Kurzel felt quite protective of his younger brother and this is what brought them closer to each other.
Jed was part of a two-man band named The Mess Hall. They are two-piece drums and guitar combo playing out of Sydney. During the initial days when the band had just formed Jed asked Kurzel to direct one of the band videos. Even though he didn’t know the basics of video editing, he took a dip into the deep end. That is when he realised that he was quite good at it and continued making video clips for music videos, some commercials and made his first short film, Blue Tongue (2005).
Personal Life
Kurzel married his wife
Essie Davis in 2002. Essie is an actor who is well known for her portrayal of Phryne Fisher in Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (2012). She’s also the lead in the 2014 horror movie,
The Babadook. They have twin daughters, Stella and Ruby, aged 10.
Kurzel has a younger brother, Jed who is a singer, songwriter and film composer. He is the founding member of the band, The Mess Hall. Jed Kurzel has scored most of Justin's films.
Movie Career
For Kurzel, what began as music videos, small time commercials and short films quickly turned into a love for cinema. Initially, he was sceptical but in time Kurzel was sure of the first story he wanted to tell to the world, a gruesome real-life story set in Australia.
Kurzel brought forth the shocking true story of the notoriously famous Snowtown Murders. It told the story of John Justin Bunting and his accomplices who killed at least 12 people in and around where Kurzel spent his childhood. The movie was named Snowtown (2011) and it won the “Audience Award” at the Adelaide Film Festival where it premiered. It received a Special Mention at the Cannes Film Festival where it was shown at the International Critics' Week. All though it was praised by the critic's world over for it’s brutal yet true portrayal, it was a major box-office failure. But Kurzel’s work didn’t go unnoticed.
His next directorial venture was with an ensemble cast of directors. The Turning (2013) had 18 directors who brought to the big screen as many short stories. It was based on celebrated Australian writer Timothy John Winton's book of short stories named The Turning (2005). Kurzel directed the segment called "Boner McPharlin's Moll". All though the movie was three hours long, it was critically well received.
Kurzel’s followed it up with the critically acclaimed Macbeth (2015), based on Shakespeare’s play of the same name. The movie had critic’s favourite
Michael Fassbender play the titular role while
Marion Cotillard portrayed the role of Lady Macbeth, his wife. The movie was praised at various film festivals for its visual content, the screenplay, the direction and the bloody but brilliant war sequences. Fassbender was particularly hailed for bringing to screen a character who is plotting the downfall of his own King but is also suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Even with all the positive reviews and Fassbender’s star turn, the movie was a box-office failure. But that didn’t deter Kurzel from directing one of the biggest video game movies of all time.
In 2016 Kurzel reunited with Fassbender and Cotillard for the big screen adaptation of
Assassin’s Creed, the hugely popular video game franchise of the same name from Ubisoft. The story follows the centuries old rivalry between two secret societies, the Assassins and the Knights Templar.
Kurzel is working on a film adaptation of the
Peter Carey novel True History of the Kelly Gang (2001). It won the Man Booker Prize for that year and his based on the legendary Australian bushranger and outlaw Ned Kelly. He is also working on the movie adaptation of the Cathy Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy novel, The Siege: 68 Hours Inside The Taj Hotel. The novel is a non-fiction book based on the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks.