When Kath Pettingill comes home to find someone's blood and brains spattered all over the carpet, she's absolutely furious. Her vacuum cleaner hasn't worked properly since.
That is just one example of the scrambled ethics of Kath, mother of an entire crime clan, generally regarded as untouchable, but periodically culled in traditional gangland style. More than once, she declares that she has no guilt. When someone has been murdered by the clan, she notifies the victim's family where the body can be found, so they can give it a decent burial, but still manages to pin the blame on someone else. In old age, she herself was held on remand, but a magistrate let her walk, because she was 'showing signs of rehabilitation', if you please! She has now retired to a secret address, and tells our reporter "If you try and find out where I'm living, you'll get it too." So much for rehab.
Heavily into drug-dealing, the clan got into the habit that conventional villains warn you against - getting high on your own product. The result showed up in the random, senseless violence that bedevilled the Richmond district of Melbourne for decades. Until it had to stop. Australians are guilty of loving their Ned Kellys in general, while hating them in particular. When Kath's son Victor lured a couple of rookie cops to their death, there was outrage. That was off-limits.
Only one of the sons, Peter, was available for comment in this video - which might have been quite illuminating if we'd managed to catch a single word he said. He is supposed to be the most violent of the gang, but looks almost apologetic as he mumbles into his chin, looking up at us in a secretive way, which may have had something to do with his 28 years in jail. Other interviewees include the family priest, who tries to take a balanced view of his lost sheep, and Kath's biographer, who sounds even more churchy, assuring us that she's a good, loyal mother, and that we shouldn't write-off the Pettingills as evil. We also meet a young woman describing her violent sexual treatment under kidnap. Her best friend couldn't call her a beaut. Yet in the action scenes, she is portrayed by one of the most glamorous performers I have seen in any Australian production (name not featured, for some reason, in the incomplete IMDb credited cast).