Reviews page
Australia - 2008
Just before the beginning of World War Two, Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman), a dainty and prim English rose, makes the long journey to Australia to take charge of her late husband's million-acre ranch, and must work together with a local drover (Hugh Jackman) to move her fifteen-hundred cattle across the vast expanse of the Northern Territory to Darwin before the famed cattle baron King Carney (Bryan Brown) can cement his monopoly and win the army's contract to supply beef to the troops.
It seems like a fairly straightforward tale, but the film also deals with a shameful part of Australia's history: the forcible removal of mixed race Aboriginal children from their mothers and their subsequent upbringing in the care of Christian missions who educated them to become servants for white people. In Australia Lady Ashley becomes fiercely protective of a young mixed race boy who lives on her estate. Nullah (Brandon Walters) lives in constant fear that the police will come and take him away, and he's right to be anxious because his father, the villainous Neil Fletcher (played with relish by David Wenham), will do anything to acquire power, wealth and revenge for his humiliation at Lady Sarah's hands. In addition to the two main story threads, the film also details the bombing of Darwin by the Japanese, as Lady Sarah, the Drover and Nullah get caught up in the attack and its aftermath.
There's a lot going on in Australia, and the film's 165 minute running time reflects its scale. Crucially though, it doesn't feel like a slog. There is a point where things seem to be wrapping up nicely and everyone will live happily ever after, but then it veers off into a somewhat unexpected direction (unless you've seen the trailers) as the action moves to Darwin, the bombs start dropping, and you realise that there's nearly another hour to go. While this section struggles to match the breathless excitement of the big cattle drive, the emotional ante is upped considerably and by the time the credits roll we've become more involved in the characters and story that the extra time feels worth it, necessary even.
Kidman's Lady Sarah goes from comical killjoy to tender surrogate mother as she learns to love and respect the land and its people, while Jackman's Drover is a no-nonsense manly man whose relationship with Sarah and the bond he forms with Nullah bring out a softer side of him. Both leads fit their roles perfectly, while Brandon Walters shines as the film's heart and soul, and the audience's guide through the story, the twelve-year-old newcomer giving a natural and assured performance.
Australia is such a mixture of genres that while some people will delight in the embarrassment of riches on offer, others might feel a little bombarded. It's a Western, a romance, social drama, war film, culture clash comedy... It's the kind of film that you can either wallow in or recoil from, depending on your taste and probably depending on how you feel about Baz Luhrmann. Love him or hate him, you cannot deny that he puts his heart and soul into his films, labouring over each one sometimes for years. With Australia, Luhrmann has created a heartfelt love letter to his own country that both celebrates its glories and confronts its demons. It captures the imagination whilst still engaging the mind, and that is to be applauded.
by Catherine Leopold - 2008-12-29
Baz Luhrmann's fourth film in sixteen years is an epic, sprawling affair set in his homeland Australia. It's had decidedly mixed reviews in the press, and will be sure to divide audiences just as much as his previous work. This is cinema on a grand scale, not just in the majesty of its locations or the pairing of two of Australia's biggest stars, but in its audacious mishmash of genres and the scope of its story-telling.Just before the beginning of World War Two, Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman), a dainty and prim English rose, makes the long journey to Australia to take charge of her late husband's million-acre ranch, and must work together with a local drover (Hugh Jackman) to move her fifteen-hundred cattle across the vast expanse of the Northern Territory to Darwin before the famed cattle baron King Carney (Bryan Brown) can cement his monopoly and win the army's contract to supply beef to the troops.
It seems like a fairly straightforward tale, but the film also deals with a shameful part of Australia's history: the forcible removal of mixed race Aboriginal children from their mothers and their subsequent upbringing in the care of Christian missions who educated them to become servants for white people. In Australia Lady Ashley becomes fiercely protective of a young mixed race boy who lives on her estate. Nullah (Brandon Walters) lives in constant fear that the police will come and take him away, and he's right to be anxious because his father, the villainous Neil Fletcher (played with relish by David Wenham), will do anything to acquire power, wealth and revenge for his humiliation at Lady Sarah's hands. In addition to the two main story threads, the film also details the bombing of Darwin by the Japanese, as Lady Sarah, the Drover and Nullah get caught up in the attack and its aftermath.
There's a lot going on in Australia, and the film's 165 minute running time reflects its scale. Crucially though, it doesn't feel like a slog. There is a point where things seem to be wrapping up nicely and everyone will live happily ever after, but then it veers off into a somewhat unexpected direction (unless you've seen the trailers) as the action moves to Darwin, the bombs start dropping, and you realise that there's nearly another hour to go. While this section struggles to match the breathless excitement of the big cattle drive, the emotional ante is upped considerably and by the time the credits roll we've become more involved in the characters and story that the extra time feels worth it, necessary even.
Kidman's Lady Sarah goes from comical killjoy to tender surrogate mother as she learns to love and respect the land and its people, while Jackman's Drover is a no-nonsense manly man whose relationship with Sarah and the bond he forms with Nullah bring out a softer side of him. Both leads fit their roles perfectly, while Brandon Walters shines as the film's heart and soul, and the audience's guide through the story, the twelve-year-old newcomer giving a natural and assured performance.
Australia is such a mixture of genres that while some people will delight in the embarrassment of riches on offer, others might feel a little bombarded. It's a Western, a romance, social drama, war film, culture clash comedy... It's the kind of film that you can either wallow in or recoil from, depending on your taste and probably depending on how you feel about Baz Luhrmann. Love him or hate him, you cannot deny that he puts his heart and soul into his films, labouring over each one sometimes for years. With Australia, Luhrmann has created a heartfelt love letter to his own country that both celebrates its glories and confronts its demons. It captures the imagination whilst still engaging the mind, and that is to be applauded.