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Two Hands (1999 film)

1999 film by Gregor Jordan

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 27, 2026
Entity authorityQ2699724 ↗
Source-derived summary

Two Hands is a 1999 Australian crime comedy film written and directed by Gregor Jordan. The film stars Heath Ledger as Jimmy, a young man in debt to Pando, a local gangster played by Bryan Brown, and also stars Rose Byrne, David Field, and Susie Porter. It won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Film in 1999. It was screened at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, but did not receive a theatrical release in the United States, where it was instead released straight-to-DVD by Miramax Films on 6 December 2005.

At the ARIA Music Awards of 1999 the soundtrack was nominated for Best Original Soundtrack Album.

Plot

Jimmy is a nineteen-year-old who lives in a run down block of units in the inner suburbs of Sydney. He earns money by working as a barker outside a strip club in Kings Cross with his friend Les, and by partaking in underground fights. However, he aspires to follow in the footsteps of his deceased older brother, Michael, in joining the ranks of the local criminal element led by the charismatic, yet ruthless and feared mob boss, Pando.

While working one night outside the club with Les, Jimmy is approached by Pando with an offer for some work which Jimmy, enthusiastically accepts out of admiration. The same night he and Les are introduced to Alex, the sister of their friend, Rocket.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Two Hands (1999 film)” as 1999 film by Gregor Jordan. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Hands, film and Gregor.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1999, 2005—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1999-07-29. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Hands, film and Gregor providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Two Hands (1999 film)”, the useful work is to connect “1999 film by Gregor Jordan” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2699724. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1999 and 2005.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Two Hands (1999 film)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Two Hands (1999 film) primary sources, Two Hands (1999 film) archive and Hands research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Two Hands (1999 film)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.