Posted: 12/31/2011

The Underbelly Trilogy

(2008-2010)

by Ruben R. Rosario

Now available on DVD from Entertainment One.

Being a native Chicagoan, I always find myself gravitating towards a good gangster film or TV show. It’s just comes with the territory of being able to walk down near the alley where John Dillinger was shot or hang out at the Green Mill, one of Al Capone’s hang outs that just make me connect with anything in the gangster genre. So when it came down sit down and connect with three seasons of Australia’s Underbelly, I can honestly say, it wasn’t that difficult. Taking place between the years of 1976, all the way to 2004, The Underbelly Trilogy covers the criminal underworld in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia. Each season covers very different ground, but all of them are based on real events that have transpired.

In Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities, we get to see how the cocaine trade infiltrated Sydney and Melborne in the 1970’s, by the hands of Robert Trimbole aka “Aussie Bob” and Terry Clark aka “Kiwi Terry”. Seeing these two central characters bringing coke into the equation changes things for crime in Australia and its very well told, but its not the best thing in this season. The one thing that gets me going in this set is what begins at the Great Bookie Robbery. From just this one robbery, with over $6 Million dollars stolen, creates a blood feud, crazed hit men and plenty of other insane crimes that make this season of worth watching. I mean, I loved seeing Clark turn into a monster as he gets deeper and deeper into the drug trade, but seeing the downward spiral that Ray “Chuck” Bennet and the Kane brothers create is just that much more gratifying.

All of these elements sort of lead into the next season, Underbelly: The Golden Mile really well, that take place from the 80’s to the early 90’s. King’s Cross is like the Las Vegas strip of Sydney and shows the various rise and fall of gangsters and corrupt cops that occupy the Sydney suburb. While the first season has its central characters making mistakes that lead to bigger ones, two of the central characters do the exact opposite. John Ibrahim is a young punk kid that thinks he’s invincible, until he’s brutally stabbed in the stomach during a fight. After this, his character arc becomes much more ambitious, as well as very calculated, in comparison to other characters we’ve seen already. The other interesting addition to the Underbelly series this season is the prostitute turned cop, Kim Hollingsworth. Her life is such a roller coaster ride from the very outset when we’re introduced to her and yet, she manages to get her life together and becomes one of the few likable characters in the entire series.

Last, we have Underbelly: War on the Streets, the series that takes place between the mid 1990’s to the early 2000’s. This season deals with the chaos of the Melbourne Gangland killings, between the various crews and families that occupied Melbourne and Victoria. From the very beginning, we’re introduced to “The Black Prince” Alphonse Gangitano and we get to see how dark this season is going to be. While the previous entries weren’t all sunshine and rainbows, War on the Streets presents such bleak outlook because of the sheer level of violence and betrayal that went on during this period. Seeing Carl Williams go against his benefactors, the Moran Family and the Carlton Crew is just downright brutal and deserves to be seen by anyone with a love for the gangster genre.

Entertainment One has done a great job getting The Underbelly Trilogy here, stateside. The sheer fact that all of the events that take place are real, with some of these people still being alive, creates a sense of awe while watching the series and seeing everything unfold. If anyone’s interested in seeing how the criminal underworld got a foothold in Australia, look no further than The Underbelly Trilogy. Highly Recommended!

Ruben R. Rosario is a graduate from Columbia College Chicago with a degree in Audio for Visual Media. He works as a freelance location sound mixer, boom operator, sound designer, and writer in his native Chicago. He’s an avid collector of films, comics, and anime.

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