Australia is supposed to be Baz Luhrmann’s magnum opus, right?
He spent seven years making it. He thought up six different endings and shot three of them.
So after Moulin Rouge of “truth, beauty, freedom, love” fame, why is everyone disappointed by Australia?
I. LOVE. IT.
It's three hours long, and the plot deals with a myriad of elements which center around the romance of cattle driver Drover (Hugh Jackman) and aristocratic, prim landowner Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman). It’s part action film, murder mystery, romance, and war movie, and hearkens back to classic Hollywood where characters weren't exactly complicated. Actually, it reminds me in some ways 0f Gone With the Wind. The characters are still likeable—Australia isn’t meant to be a complex character study—if you think otherwise about any of his films, you’re reading too deeply. They're mostly about tragically tragic romances told in ridiculously entertaining, tear-jerking ways.
But that's not the true highlight of the film. The cinematography— the homage to the Australian landscape— is the true meat of the movie. Each panorama is filled with dry rock and desert and a sky so blue it looks as though it’s part of a dream; the scenery is truly breathtaking. Equally brilliant is the directing; arguably the most stunning scene in the movie involves some three-hundred cattle charging toward Nullah (Brandon Walters), Sarah’s adopted half-aboriginal son, as he stands at the edge of a cliff. The technical effects are seamlessly integrated with the actual film; the scene looks entirely realistic.
The musical score is nothing to snub, either, with sweeping orchestral arrangements capturing the beauty of the romantically barren land.
It’s a fun adventure and the filming is drool-worthy; if your thing is dark, edgy, psychological films, or complicated studies of human nature, then Australia probably isn’t for you. If you enjoy the sappy romance of something like, say, The Notebook combined with edge-of-your-seat action and sparkling scenery...then I highly recommend it.
-elln
He spent seven years making it. He thought up six different endings and shot three of them.
So after Moulin Rouge of “truth, beauty, freedom, love” fame, why is everyone disappointed by Australia?
I. LOVE. IT.
It's three hours long, and the plot deals with a myriad of elements which center around the romance of cattle driver Drover (Hugh Jackman) and aristocratic, prim landowner Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman). It’s part action film, murder mystery, romance, and war movie, and hearkens back to classic Hollywood where characters weren't exactly complicated. Actually, it reminds me in some ways 0f Gone With the Wind. The characters are still likeable—Australia isn’t meant to be a complex character study—if you think otherwise about any of his films, you’re reading too deeply. They're mostly about tragically tragic romances told in ridiculously entertaining, tear-jerking ways.
But that's not the true highlight of the film. The cinematography— the homage to the Australian landscape— is the true meat of the movie. Each panorama is filled with dry rock and desert and a sky so blue it looks as though it’s part of a dream; the scenery is truly breathtaking. Equally brilliant is the directing; arguably the most stunning scene in the movie involves some three-hundred cattle charging toward Nullah (Brandon Walters), Sarah’s adopted half-aboriginal son, as he stands at the edge of a cliff. The technical effects are seamlessly integrated with the actual film; the scene looks entirely realistic.
The musical score is nothing to snub, either, with sweeping orchestral arrangements capturing the beauty of the romantically barren land.
It’s a fun adventure and the filming is drool-worthy; if your thing is dark, edgy, psychological films, or complicated studies of human nature, then Australia probably isn’t for you. If you enjoy the sappy romance of something like, say, The Notebook combined with edge-of-your-seat action and sparkling scenery...then I highly recommend it.
-elln
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