AUSTRALIA
In this genre-bending epic, there's something for everyone
by Vishal Verma

A 20th Century Fox release of a Bazmark production, in association with Dune Entertainment and Ingenious Film Partners. Produced by Baz Luhrmann, G. Mac Brown, Catherine Knapman. Co-producer, Catherine Martin. Directed by Baz Luhrmann. Screenplay, Luhrmann, Stuart Beattie, Ronald Harwood, Richard Flanagan; Story, Luhrmann.
 
Starring
Lady Sarah Ashley - Nicole Kidman
Drover - Hugh Jackman
Neil Fletcher - David Wenham
King Carney - Bryan Brown
King George - David Gulpilil
Nullah - Brandon Walters

Technical Analysis
The film begins as a comedy, then changes into a Western, then morphs into a romance, and it finishes as a World War II drama. But in this genre-bending epic, there's something for everyone.

Worn from Hollywood Westerns, war films, love stories and socially conscious dramas where Some of it plays, some doesn't, and it becomes boring, but hang on, the beauty of the film's stars and landscapes, the appeal of the central young boy and, perhaps more than anything, the filmmaker's eagerness to please tend to prevail, making for a film that Indian audience should go.

Whatever the reason, after Moulin Rouge! and Strictly Ballroom, the first few scenes of Australia show that the Luhrmann propensity for overdone slapstick is taking another encore. In this case, as the opening of a sweeping drama of social consciousness, great love and survival against overwhelming odds, the cast’s perfect, the scale is grandiose; scenery is jaw –dropping and production values breathtaking.  This makes this lenthy Australia still quite a fascinating place to visit.

Though the plot is similar to any Barbara Stanwyck-starring Western from the '50s, by way of Isak Dinesen's Out of Africa, Luhrmann goes one step further, infusing the film with a mystical quality that is wholly authentic to this aboriginal land.

Two riveting scenes in which cattle are involved and the delightfully simmering romance between Lady Ashley and Hugh Jackman's drover. We may see it coming, but the first kiss is done in such extreme close-up that every woman in the audience is guaranteed to melt. Most ambitiously, the film addresses of the plight of the indigenous people themselves, the children taken from their parents and forced to live in a segregated limbo (the "Stolen Generations"); a practice that, shockingly, wasn't abolished until the 1970s.

 Then there's Ms. Kidman herself, the Ferragamo Fashion Queen of the Outback. Confirming her status as one of the finest actresses of her generation, her Lady Ashley's voyage of self-discovery is enthralling. Her early attempts to comfort the child are done to an awkward perfection, her rendition of a fragmented refrain of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ (perhaps the most unwilling vocal performance ever filmed) is funny. Kidman needed to carry this film, and she meets the challenge beautifully.

Jackman, playing the wildly independent drover, isn't nearly as complex. He meets the expectations of appearing man-hunk sexy as he goes about the business of living while burdened with an aching heart. Strong performances by Jack Thompson's pixilated accountant and David Ngoombujarra's noble ranch hand add to the film's strengths. Especially noteworthy is Australian actor, dancer and musician David Gulpilil, the aboriginal King George, acting as both the spirit and anchor of the piece.

Score by David Hirschfelder and other hands never stops, while production and costume design by Luhrmann's wife and perennial collaborator, Catherine Martin, are notable without being as dominant as they were in the "Red Curtain" extravaganzas. Pic takes plenty of advantage of diverse natural Australian locations.

On the down side: David Wenham's villainous Fletcher is not allowed to develop a third dimension. Bryan Brown's Cattle King Carney is underused. Some scenes go on too long, over-inflating the drama rather than focusing it. Though there's a double reference to The Wizard of Oz (not just the popular 1939 movie, but Oz as Australia's nickname), the constant allusions to that film become tedious. Lastly, the appearance of WWII in the film's third act seems extraneous, needing a stronger, earlier set-up.

The Story
MOULIN ROUGE's Baz Luhrman and Nicole Kidman team up again for this epic that pays homage to their homeland. In AUSTRALIA, Lady Sarah Ashley (Kidman) is a prim and proper Englishwoman who journeys to in the years before World War II reached the country's shores. She is determined to have her estranged husband sell his cattle ranch to a monopoly-craving businessman named King Carney (Bryan Brown), but when she arrives, Lord Ashley is dead, and her plan to sell the ranch changes when she sees an employee named Fletcher (David Wenham) cheating her husband's business and mistreating a young boy named Nullah (Brandon Walters) because he is of mixed race. Urged on by both pride and a sense of justice, Lady Ashley wants to drive her herd of cattle to Darwin so she can sell them to the troops, but she'll require the help of an independent cowboy (fellow Aussie Hugh Jackman) to get them there.

AUSTRALIA changes genres almost as much as Kidman's character changes from fantastic costume to fantastic costume. The film itself harks back to classic Hollywood, at times resembling essentials such as GONE WITH THE WIND and THE AFRICAN QUEEN. And fans of THE WIZARD OF OZ will enjoy seeing how the beloved film works its way into AUSTRALIA's plot and score.

Verdict
A must for Kidman and Jackman fans. For those who love western romance with some action may enjoy this luxuriously bumpy ride.

Other Credits
editors : Dody Dorn, Michael McCusker; music : David Hirschfelder; production designer/costume designer: Catherine Martin; supervising art director, Ian Gracie; art director: Karen Murphy; set designers : Simon Elsley, Kristen Anderson; set decorator: Beverley Dunn; sound (Dolby Digital/DTS), Reviewed at famous studios, Mumbai on 29 Dec. 2008. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 165 MIN. (English, Aboriginal dialogue). Media relations in India for Fox: Universal Communications.

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