The audacious visual stylist Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge, Romeo and Juliet) has made an epic historical romance about his native country. The film is set in northern Australia prior to World War II and centers on an English aristocrat (Nicole Kidman) who inherits a massive cattle station. When Aussie cattle barons plot to take her land, she reluctantly joins forces with a rough-hewn stock-man (Hugh Jackman) to drive 2,000 head of cattle across hundreds of miles of the country's most unforgiving land, only to still face the bombing of Darwin, by the Japanese forces that had attacked Pearl Harbor months earlier. The film also deals with the Lost Generation.
I apologise, we feel bad, but there's no trailer available. ~Ed.
Director Baz Luhrman, with a history of successful reinvention, sets a tale of ravenous romance against a backdrop of frontier Australia, the Stolen Generation, and an encroaching Japanese threat on 1940s Darwin. It’s a giddy, indulgent, pretty-faces-on-pretty-landscapes styled epic with the crosshairs aimed squarely on the romantic grandiose of old Hollywood. The ambition is palpable and the exuberance is endearing, but the film strains so hard to implore a sense of the epic that the result is well overwrought.
Nicole Kidman charms as English Rose, Lady Sarah, giving her role spirit and heart. Also great is her opposite to attract, Hugh Jackman as a manbeast Ocker. But the show is stolen by cheeky, soulful youngen Brandon Walters as Nullah – the “mixed” Aboriginal kid at the centre of the movie’s most intriguing angle: the relationship between Australia’s settlers and Aborigines. There are stunning set pieces and it looks gorgeous too, with CG backdrops used to create a painterly, water-coloured, soundstage aesthetic.
Australia had me for the first hour but by film’s end, too many ideas muddle. There are too many red herrings, too many renditions of 'Over the Rainbow' and Hugh Jackman emerges from the mist too many times. It flagrantly repeats itself, and the result feels laboured. While I don’t doubt some will fall head over heels for the film’s sense of romance and high drama, running at over two and half hours, you’ll certainly want to take a cushion. I could’ve done with a sleeping bag.
By Paul Scantlebury, Flicks.co.nz
over acted farce of a movie the only highlight was the young aboriginal child who was a pure angel to watch such a talented young thing
I rented this movie not thinking much and doubting I would be a fan but I fell in love with this film. There were only a couple of small parts of the movie where your attention could easily get side tracked. I love the scenery, the special effects and the storyline. It was beautiful, I intend on purchasing it for my collection.
i loved the way the Australia was full of allegory and reference to other movies or real events, including Rolf Harris' wobble board! - Fabulous, funny and thought provoking movie, Nicole's best performance and Hugh was warm and funny too. I look forward to seeing it again.
Exciting beginning, exciting middle and a blockbuster ending !!! More please! And MORE Hugh Jackman please !
I loved this movie so much, the music, the cinematography, the performances are all brilliant. It is a moving epic story that is obviously trying to bring back the movies of "Gone with the Wind" era, and I think it does an even better job of the epic war drama than GWTW did! Nicole Kidman is actually good for the first time since she won the Oscar and her chemistry with Jackman is simply splendid. David Wenham is similarly dispicable as the villain of the piece and the young newcomer playing the young Aboriginal boy is what holds the whole thing together. A DVD purchase for sure and one I will watch many times over :)
It is exuberantly old-fashioned, and I mean that as a compliment.
Bravo, Baz Luhrmann. He’s created one of the best-realised films in Australian history. Strewth.
Defies all but the most cynical not to get carried away by the force of its grandiose imagery and storytelling.
If you are willing to take the plunge and view things through Luhrmann's prism, "Australia" does deliver the classic dramatic and romantic satisfactions its ambitious advertising campaign promises.
A testament to movie love at its most devout, cinematic spectacle at its most extreme, and kitsch as an act of aesthetic communion.
We've been told the NZ release date for this flick is Friday, 26th Dec 2008.
Release date: December 26th 2008.
We haven't received times for this movie in this location yet. However these are updated as cinemas announce them, so check back soon. Hopefully the lovely cinemas in your location will choose to play it shortly. ~Ed.
