Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

Two Hands (1999)

play Coarse language – high
Email a link to this page
To:
CC:
Subject:
Body:
clip Origami gangster education content clip 1

Original classification rating: MA. This clip chosen to be M

Clip description

Jimmy (Heath Ledger) meets Alex (Rose Byrne) in a pub in Chinatown, but she’s followed by Les (Kiri Paramore), another small-time hood who wants to get on Pando’s good side. Les calls Acko (David Field), who’s out looking for Jimmy. Pando (Bryan Brown) is at home, making paper dinosaurs with his son Jake (Adam Muncu) when he hears they have found Jimmy. Alex and Jimmy have to make a run for it.

Curator’s notes

by Paul Byrnes

The more ridiculous the situation, the more straight and deadpan the acting – an old rule of comedy that Gregor Jordan adheres closely to throughout the film. We know how dangerous Pando is, so the scene of him making origami with his son is beyond incongruous, and yet still believable. Why should gangsters not love their kids? Most films about crime allow no space for this kind of characterisation, because they’re only interested in the elements of character that separate the violently capable criminal from the rest of ‘normal’ society. Two Hands does the opposite – the violent are part of the ‘normal’ fabric of society here. In that sense, it’s less an outlaw film than a domestic comedy, in which violence is a frequent occurrence.

Thanks to the generosity of the rights holders, we are able to offer Origami gangster from the feature film Two Hands as a high quality video download.

To play the downloadable video, you need QuickTime 7.0, VLC, or similar.

You must read and agree to the following terms and conditions before downloading the clip:

australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

  • You may retrieve materials for information only.
  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

All other rights reserved.

ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

This clip is available in the following configurations:

File nameSizeQualitySuitability
twohands3_pr.mp4 Large: 22.4MB High Optimised for full-screen display on a fast computer.
twohands3_bb.mp4 Medium: 10.6MB Medium Can be displayed full screen. Also suitable for video iPods.

Right-click on the links above to download video files to your computer.

Thanks to the generosity of the rights holders, we are able to offer this clip in an embeddable format for personal or non-commercial educational use in full form on your own website or your own blog.

You must read and agree to the following terms and conditions before embedding the clip:

australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

  • You may retrieve materials for information only.
  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

All other rights reserved.

ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

Copy and paste the following code into your own web page to embed this clip: