Australia
October 10th, 2009
In the days leading up to World War II, Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) inherits a sprawling cattle ranch in northern Australia and reluctantly joins her rough-riding farmhand (Hugh Jackman) as he drives 2,000 head of cattle across the outback. Along the way, they witness the Japanese bombing of Darwin, which heralds Australia’s entry into the war. Director Baz Luhrmann co-wrote this Oscar-nominated epic that earned kudos for costume design.
Baz Luhrman’s Australia is a grand national epic that fits nicely alongside films like Out of Africa and Gone with the Wind, but it’s a sharp departure from his more famous Moulin Rouge, with an emphasis on beautiful cinematography being the commonality. Set prior to WWII, Kidman plays a British Lady who arrives to check on her husband (a randy cattle rancher), but finds him dead. Instead of selling the place and returning to her stuffy English life, Lady Sarah stays (wardrobe and all) and falls in love with Drover, an authentic Australian cowboy who probably isn’t all that comfortable with the concept of being tied down to house and family. Together they team to save the ranch amidst the backdrop of a world war and the most dramatic cross-country cattle drive in history. If the film had only stopped there, then it might have been a classic from the moment of its release, but Luhrman can’t leave well enough alone, and he seems set on telling us more, and that means only one thing: politics. Australia’s notorious history of mistreating the aboriginal population is well-documented, but Luhrman uses his film to rip open some recently healed racial wounds, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The problem comes in the form of Nullah, a biracial boy who tags along and narrates the film. Nullah is “magical” and sometimes uses his powers to help his companions, but when it fits the story, he’s just a scared little boy. Apparently he represents both the Aboriginal plight and their strong spirit of survival, but the character seems more of a fetish for Luhrman than a fully developed person. The resulting narrative holes left me confused and disappointed. Jackman and Kidman are fine, but I never forgot that they were Jackman and Kidman, both of whom go from acting to posing to acting to posing. Tighter direction might have helped… and maybe a little less magic.
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Categories: Action & Adventure, Drama
