Review: Luhrmann's ‘Australia’, an epic worth a watch

‘Australia’, as a movie from Baz Luhrmann, who has given such treats as ‘Moulin Rouge’, seems a jot under edited.

Spicezee Bureau

‘Australia’, if taken as an ode to the scenic country, is a job well done. As a movie from Baz Luhrmann, who has given such treats as ‘Moulin Rouge’, this work seems a jot under edited. As a love story also it fails by Luhrmann standards, but wins for the sheer artistry of embracing grand old-school melodrama while slamming racist old-fashioned politics. Deliberately anachronistic in its heightened style of romance, villainy and destiny, the epic lays an Aussie accent on colourful motifs drawn from Hollywood Westerns, war films, love stories and socially conscious dramas.The story starts just before World War II, in September 1939, when English aristocrat Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) arrives in Australia to deal with her husband`s presumed infidelity. She finds her husband, who was running cattle ranch ‘Faraway Downs’ there, murdered. Despite hating the land, she decides to save the ranch with the help of Drove (Hugh Jackman), a rugged Aussie cowboy who`s himself an outcast due to his friendliness toward Aboriginals. A fancy dress ball provides the platform for official racism and disapproval of the likes of Nullah (Brandon Walters), an 11 yr old orphaned Aboriginal kid, who is also the narrator, Drover and even upper class Sarah, who by now is determined to adopt Nullah. Shadowing them is Nullah`s grandfather, King George (David Gulpilil), a mystical practitioner of traditional ways who provides the film with its strongest link to the continent`s native inhabitants. Each time Gulpilil appears, he makes his presence felt. To save the ranch, Sarah has to drive 1,500 head of cattle to the Darwin port, where the Australian military will purchase them. Then a dramatic stampede quickens the pace, and we get a campfire interlude that ignites the inevitable between the Drover and the now loosened-up Sarah. Romance soon blossoms. Then the Japanese invade Australia. Bad guys, King Carney (Bryan Brown) and Neil Fletcher (David Wenham), try to thwart her, and Nullah must be protected from officials determined to send him to Mission Island, where half-caste boys are detained. Put in broad, simple strokes, and with characters that are archetypes rather than credible, Luhrmann makes very clear everything the audience needs to know. The cinematographer has taken full advantage of it being an outdoor movie, and the beautiful landscapes make you want to plan your next vacation in Oz. It was one of Luhrmann`s best ideas to make the film`s narrator the prepubescent Nullah, who not only observes the vast sweep of the story but also provides its fulcrum. The beauty of the film`s stars (the flawless Kidman skin and that tight Jackman physique) and landscapes, the appeal of the central young boy and, perhaps more than anything, the filmmaker`s eagerness to please make the general audience go for the flick, even if they`re not swept away. Three cheers are well deserved here.