Review: Australia

AUSTRALIA (2008)
starring: Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Brandon Walter, Jack Thompson, Bryan Brown
Dir. Baz Luhrmann

They are saying this is Australia's Gone With The Wind. I'll say sure, since I didn't care much for Gone With The Wind. This is a georgoue looking sprawling epic that isn't very epic since it feels so small and isn't very sprawling because I never felt like we strayed far from a back lot or green screen. That isn't entirely fair, there are quite a few scenes that take advantage of the sprawling outback, but all you end up remembering is the confectionery creations that Baz Luhrmann and his team cooked up in a computer somewhere.

There is a very good film in the 165 minutes that flash across the screen with quit edits, continual camera movement and Nicole Kidman making noises every second to prove that she is acting. The good film is in the telling of Brandon Walter's character Nullah, a half white half aboriginal boy who narrates the tale as well as giving the most compelling performance. It's actually his movie, but Luhrmann decides to focus on the romance between Kidman and Jackman, sidelining Nullah's story at every turn. Had the project refocused to be about the persecution of "Creamys", a derogative term for Nullah's mixed blood, you'd have an amazing movie. But Luhrmann is a showman and he needs to keep it about love, loss, more love and big frothy compositions. It is cinematic, theatrically cinematic, but cinematic.

Luhrmann makes it epic for epics sake. It's like he just learned the word and wanted to prove it to everyone. The story keeps rolling along and could have easily been about any one of the many events but instead, jams it into a giant tale that never gives enough respect to any of them.

Kidman's portrayal of Lady Sarah Ashley are fingernails on a chalkboard. Perhaps she has to keep huffing, puffing and making rancid squeaks to show emotion because her botox wouldn't allow it to come through her face. Jackman is passable. I like the guy, he has a certain charm. Ladies, People magazine devotees and homosexuals across the land will enjoy the way Luhrmann's camera molests his body at every possible moment. Jack Thompson is back playing the heavy for Baz. Much like his character in Moulin Rouge! (2001), he twists his lips and furrows his brow in melodramatic overkill. The only word that kept popping into my mind when he'd show up on screen was, "blech".

Now, with all of this bad mouthing, I won't say I didn't enjoy myself. I couldn't understand why until I thought about it a bit. I realize and now understand how Luhrmann works his magic. It is through a type of hypnotism. All of his films are structured the same way. The first twenty minutes are designed to toss you back and forth and make the viewer wonder if they are going to enjoy it. Then he shifts gears and mellows out. It lulls you into a sense of enjoyment and makes you think the final product is much better than it actually is. It's like rolling on ecstasy. When the initial kick of the drug stars to hit you're a little worried and fear an ugly ride. Then that moment arrives (minute twenty in his films). it becomes more of a mellow feeling and you enjoy it. But it's just a drug and there is nothing more to it than being a drug. None of what you felt was honest.

So enjoy the trip. Remember that it could have been so much more. A dessert that could have been a meal. Sometimes though, it's nice to let the drugs take over and just go along for the ride.

For a better film that takes a look at the plight of the mixed-race Aboriginals, I am told Phillip Noyce's Rabbit Proof Fence (2002) is quite good. I haven't seen it myself, so no guarantees.

4.5 out of 10