(film only review)
Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) travels to Australia at the beginning of World War II to take her husband to task who spends more time on his farm Faraway Downs there than at home in England - philandering in her opinion. When she arrives she finds him dead, however, ... Read review
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Production Year: 1993 - Drama - Director: Jane Campion - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Harvey Keitel, Anna Paquin, Sam Neill, Holly Hunter, Genevieve Lemon
Advantages: grandiose photography, heartwarming, sentimental story Disadvantages: neglectable
...Ashley (Nicole Kidman) travels to Australia at the beginning of World War II to take her husband to task who spends more time on his farm Faraway Downs there than at home in England - philandering in her opinion. When she arrives she finds him dead, however, obviously murdered by an aborigine. She learns that the most powerful cattle baron of Northern Australia steals her cattle with the help of her foreman, they also plan to take over her land. ... ...me. I've never been to Australia and will never go there, at least not in this life, nevertheless I've recently become a kind of expert on Australia (the country) as I attend a seminar at uni with the title 'Modern Australia, History and Politics' to keep the grey cells active. I'm full of theoretical insight now and I wanted to get some images to match, especially from the Outback where the film is mainly set.
Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) travels to Australia at the beginning of World War II to take her husband to task who spends more time on his farm Faraway Downs there than at home in England - philandering in her opinion. When she arrives she finds him dead, however, obviously murdered by an aborigine. She learns that the most powerful cattle baron of Northern Australia steals her cattle with the help of her foreman, they also plan to take over her land. She sacks her disloyal employee but then realises that the only way to avoid financial ruin is to drive her 1,500 cattle to Darwin across hundreds of miles of Outback territory and sell it there.
With whom - now that there's nobody left to organise this? She's able to persuade Drover (Hugh Jackman), who was sent to welcome her and drive her to the farm, to help her do this together with two Aborigine men, an Aborigine woman, a drunk and a half caste boy. When they arrive in Darwin, the town is bombed by the Japanese forces.
I'd read a lot about the film and thought it might appeal to me. I've never been to Australia and will never go there, at least not in this life, nevertheless I've recently become a kind of expert on Australia (the country) as I attend a seminar at uni with the title 'Modern Australia, History and Politics' to keep the grey cells active. I'm full of theoretical insight now and I wanted to get some images to match, especially from the Outback where the film is mainly set.
What comes to my mind when I think of Australia is first and foremost the size of the country; how can a director convey this? Lady Ashley asks Drover how long it will take until they'll arrive at the farm and the answer is, "We've been driving on it for two days already." The number of square miles is mentioned but I couldn't get it while watching the film, in a review I read that Faraway Downs has the size of the American state of Maryland. I did some checking and can tell you that Wales and Northern Ireland together have roughly the same size as Maryland. The mind boggles.
And the nature of the Outback! I think I didn't know what 'barren' means until I saw this film, miles and miles of dry grey-brown soil with some meagre plants interrupted by stretches of desert. But the mountain range gave me the creeps, too, I was stiff in my seat when the camera (Cinematography by Mandy Walker) zoomed to the edge of a cliff and into an abyss.
You may think that I mistook Australia for a feature film from National Geographic, I didn't, but I want to stress that I'm satisfied with the landscape angle and got what I expected for the price of my ticket.
I was also curious to see Nicole Kidman who, believe it or not, I had never seen in a film before. As an ardent reader of newspapers and magazines I knew about her, of course, it's hard not to come across her in the gossip sections. What had escaped me, though, was how divided the public opinion is concerning her acting abilities, I learnt this when I checked some reviews. Some people love her, others write, for example, "The most overrated actress ever", " . . . ruins every film", and concerning the film Australia: "Nicole Kidman drifts about like a lost porcelain doll" (TIMESonline).
Well, I think she's perfect in the role of the English aristocrat, yes, she does drift about like a porcelain doll, why not? Before she arrived, she didn't have the foggiest idea what the country would be like and during her first days she has no words for the horrors she encounters, she can only "Ooooh" and "Aaaah" helplessly. It would have been nonsense if director Baz Luhrmann had engaged a gross, earth mother type of actress, wouldn't it? If he had, there would have been no tension between the lady and the stockman Drover.
Drover is a drover (my source tells me that Australians are not known for their originality when it comes to names), in Australian slang he'd be called a larrikin or Ocker, a fair dinkum Aussie bloke, meaning a rough men's man. But he's not completely one-dimensional, he's got an unhappy past that gives him some depth. The more his soft side comes to the surface, the less ladylike and aloof Lady Sarah Ashley becomes.
What can I say about Hugh Jackman, the Sexiest Man Alive in 2008? Well, he is no George Clooney, is he, but when he lathers his half-naked body by the campfire at night and then pours buckets of water over himself, many a female spectator will think that she wouldn't push him from the edge of her bed should he ever appear there. I think he plays Drover convincingly and the chemistry between him and Kidman works.
Now, apart from the vastness of the country, could we see the film as a typical pioneer drama as we know it from the West of the USA? No, Luhrmann has firmly grounded the story in Australia and its history by introducing the problem of the Stolen Generation. Nullah (Brandon Walters), a half-caste boy living on the farm is in constant fear of being taking away by the police and sent to a Christian missionary institution. Between 1910 and 1970 half-caste children were forcefully removed from their families under the Aboriginal Protection Act, the idea was to maintain white racial purity by permitting white admixtures to half-castes and to thus eventually eradicate all native characteristics by the fifth or sixth generation. This is the darkest chapter in the recent Australian history and what it means to the people concerned comes over well in the film.
Brendon Walters, the boy playing Nullah, irritated me, he's too small for his age. Hugging Nicole Kidman, he reaches her waist, when I saw this, I assumed that he was about eight years old. But he reacts in the way of an older boy, I read that he's 13 years old. The discrepancy between his size and his behaviour puzzled me throughout the film. Wherever Nullah is, his maternal grandfather isn't far away. He's played by David Gulpilil, according to my source the Aborigine actor who's been called for decades whenever an Aborigine has been needed in an Australian film.
He's taught his grandson magic rituals some of which we can see work wonders. They add a mystic, fairy tale element to the story. We shouldn't try to analyse them, but take them at face value. The whole film has a fairy tale element, of course, like all films of this genre. Luhrmann wants to see Australia in a line with Out of Africa and Gone with the Wind. Does anyone ask if these films are realistic? They must be over the top, the story, the landscape, the actors, the sentiments must be grandiose, one size bigger than strictly necessary. A certain kind of kitsch and cheesiness goes with the genre. If you know that you can't stand such films, stay away from them, if you know what you're in for, you'll enjoy the spectacle.
I think I've made it clear that I like the film, however, I've given it only four stars. The reason is the soundtrack (music by David Hirschfelder). I'm not interested in music and usually don't notice the soundtrack, if I do it must be extraordinary one way or the other. The bombardment of Darwin at the end of the film is exaggerated, it's an orgy of destruction which goes on too long and seems to take place for its own sake, it doesn't add anything vital to the story. I found this annoying but what nearly hit me out of my seat was the music accompanying the carnage: a choir of shrill women's voices singing (shrieking) for minutes!
This film is deffo not for the small screen, so Mr and Mrs Potato, get off your couch and trot to a cinema where it is playing, but only if you're morally stable. I do love the site IMDb! "Some passionate kissing. A woman is shown in her nightie. **Sex is implied**. " Also, "1 use of the f-word." Don't say afterwards you haven't been warned.
Advantages: A Film of Great Beauty and Style like the Hollywood Oldies Disadvantages: None
Anyone who has visited Australia will be aware of its very strange landscapes which have been depicted in films like Peter Weir's, Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Last Wave. Baz Luhrman's (Moulin Rouge) latest film about his native country seems to express the same sentiment; Australia is a complicated continent, a land of strange powers that captivates and haunts its inhabitants and visitors. You could say that Luhrman's epic film which is ambitious ... ...Ashley and she comes to Australia from England to check up on her husband who owns a cattle ranch in the northern area of Australia, called Faraway Downs. Sadly, Lady Ashley finds her husband dead and the circumstances look somewhat suspicious. The ranch is in trouble and is about to be taken over by a rival in the cattle market. To keep her husband's ranch from going under in the competitive beef market she hires the help of a handsome, cattle driver ...
Praski 21.04.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Australia (DVD)
Advantages: Breathtaking scenery, fantastic acting, great story. Disadvantages: None
...Lady Sarah Ashley travels to Australia in order to retrieve her husband who was supposed to be gone only long enough to secure their financial future by selling off Faraway Downs, a cattle station he owns. Suspecting that he hasn’t returned to England because he’s cheating on her, she ignores his missives telling her to stay put in England, and travels to Australia where she is met by her husband’s drover… who is aptly nicknamed Drover... and arrives ... ...husband who has been killed, supposedly, by an Aboriginal healer/magician.
Inheriting the cattle ranch, she has every intention of selling it to the local cattle baron, King Carney, and abscond it back to England, but then she meets Nullah, the grandson of the Aboriginal healer/magician who supposedly killed her husband, and is told that the administrator of the cattle station, Neil Fletcher, has been stealing some of her cattle by driving it onto ...
GoFigure 12.10.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Australia (DVD)
Advantages: Excellent story, acting adn amazing scenery Disadvantages: May be too long for some
...The film is set in Australia in the early 1940’s and stars Nicole Kidman as Lady Ashley who is a posh English woman. She goes out to Australia to find her husband who is working at their cattle ranch. When she arrives she is met by Drover, played by Hugh Jackman, who s to escort her to the ranch but the pair do not see eye to eye and she thinks he fancies her. When they arrive at the ranch Lady Ashley is shocked to discover her husband is dead and ... ...setting for the film was Australia and wow, the scenery was amazing. We had so many shots of the outback and they were all amazing and I just hope that one day I will get to see this for myself. The film was set in the early 1940’s and I thought that the costumes and scenery all fitted well with this year and a lot of time and effort was taken with all of this. The effects in the film were all very good but I think there were a few weak ones towards ...
sewbizzie 18.08.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Australia (DVD)
Advantages: Fab acting, cast, brilliant story Disadvantages: none
...English aristocrat who travels to Australia to pursuade her husband to sell Faraway Downs and return to England. When Lady Sarah arrives in Darwin, Lord Ashley has sent a man known as The Drover to meet her and escort her to the station. Upon her arrival at Faraway Downs she finds her husband has been murdered and she has inheirited the cattle station.
Lady Sarah is preparing to sell the Station to her late husband's competitor, King Carney but ... ...2 breaking out.
I found Australia a real treat it, I love it when a film surprisies me and this film had got a bit of something for everyone, love, war and betrayal. It great I highly recommend it.
Awards
Satelitte Awards:
Auteur Award – Baz Lurhmann Outstanding New Talent – Brandon Walters Cinematography – Mandy Walker Visual Effects – Chris Godfrey
Art Direction & Production Design – Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy
St. Louis Film Critics Awards:
...
hollywoodmum 11.04.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Australia (DVD)
Advantages: Great scenery, characters Disadvantages: A bit long
...budget film about life in Australia in the 1930’s. It is in reality a love story set against a time of war in Northern Australia. I love this time in history and seeing the events unfold in a wonderous country, I think, was really special. I always think of Australia at that time as still being quite rural and unsettled in parts and life must have been very interesting and dangerous for inhabitants there. I think this makes for a really good setting ... ...sees Lady Sarah travelling to Australia to attend to a cattle station, Faraway Downs that her husband (deceased) had purchased. She is transported to the land by an independent cattle drover who is known by the name of Drover. Drover is played by the lovely Hugh Jackman, Nicole’s love interest in the film. I liked the chemistry between the two although at times you would think they would never end up together as they are two completely different ...
Spottydog11 06.11.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Australia (DVD)
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Advantages: Fantastic comedy as well as beautiful scenery of Australia Disadvantages: Not so good if you dislike swearing
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Contains one use of strong language, moderate war violence and injury
Video Category
Feature Film
Country Of Origin
Australia
Plot
In the seven years since the release of MOULIN ROUGE, director Baz Luhrmann has had time to craft this epic action-romance set in the first half of the 20th century. He reunites with Nicole Kidman, who stars as an English beauty trying to save her Australian ranch by teaming up with a cattle driver, played by Hugh Jackman.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
20TH CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT; CINRAM LOGISTICS
A fine romp, epic in both ambition and visuals […] terribly entertaining (Time Out London, 18/03/2009)
Visually arresting […] ambitious […] grandiose […] full of spectacle (USA Today, 18/03/2009)
DVD Description
MOULIN ROUGE's Baz Luhrman and Nicole Kidman reteam for this epic that pays homage to their homeland. In AUSTRALIA, Lady Sarah Ashley (Kidman) is a prim and proper Englishwoman who journeys to Australia 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 (courtesy of Luhrman's wife and collaborator, Catherine Martin). The film begins as a fish-out-of-water 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, especially for fans of Jackman. The actor has rarely looked better, and there's plenty of opportunity for him to show that he can be an action star as well as a romantic lead in the mould of the Golden Age stars. 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.
![Australia [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/82342028.jpg "Australia [DVD]")
![Panorama Australia [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/75073604.jpg "Panorama Australia [DVD]")
![Western Australia [DVD]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/104192199.jpg "Western Australia [DVD]")
