I enjoy writing about all sorts really. I love travel and am pregnant at the moment so expect a lot ...
I enjoy writing about all sorts really. I love travel and am pregnant at the moment so expect a lot of baby reviews to come. I also post on Dooyoo under the name Whizz11
Member since:07.09.2007
Reviews:401
Members who trust:43
An Epic of a film.
How to you go about making a film about a whole country? That was probably what Baz Luhrmann thought when he took on the task of Australia, the big 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 and the scenery of this film to me was an absolute triumph.
Baz Luhrmann has directed Nicole Kidman before in Moulin Rouge and they worked together on this film too. I have heard mixed reviews about Nicole in this film. Her character is an interesting one. She plays Lady Sarah Ashley, an English women and a rather eccentric one at that. She often seemed quite wooden and stilted in this movie and had a really funny accent in my opinion but I think that was her trying to be eccentric in the role and not her being a bad actress. The role called for quite a pushy, English lady from a certain time in history, having to make her own way in the world and that’s exactly what she delivered.
The basic plot 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 characters. There are some really touching moments between the two and I thought they were a good pairing.
The best character and I have to say the one that held me captivated to the screen was that of a little boy, Nullah, whom Lady Sarah meets when she gets to Australia. Events unfold which sees Sarah become a sort of guardian to Nullah and their blossoming relationship is really nice to see. Nullah has an Aboriginal mother and a white father and so faces lots of hardships in his life. He is just so sweet and cute and plays his part brilliantly. One of my favourite parts of the film is when Lady Sarah sings Somewhere over the Rainbow (from The Wizard of Oz) to Nullah. It’s a beautiful rendition and fits the scene amazingly.
I thought the film was a bit long and some parts could have easily been cut out but then that might not of made it the epic it was. According to an article I read, it is the second-highest grossing Australian film of all time, trailing Crocodile Dundee. The film has been a box office success worldwide, as of 11 April 2009, the film had grossed $211,282,098.
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