Baz Luhrmann, why haven’t you won an Academy Award yet?
I’m not sure how Baz Luhrmann keeps getting the perfect roles for Nicole Kidman, but he certainly has her acting abilities pinned to the perfect part. Lady Sarah Ashley (Kidman) forces herself to go to Australia during the brink of World War II. Her purpose is simple, find her husband and immediately sell his live stock ranch and get the (bleep) out of Australia. Regretfully, when she arrives she finds her husband dead and his employees turning to her for help. Not one to back down from a challenge, Ashley takes control of the ranch, gets rid of the no-goods and prepares to ride with Drover (her drover) to move the 1500 cattle across a dry Australian plain to sell and help Faraway Downs (the ranch) become a permanent resident. Nothing comes easy as her rival is out to disrupt her journey by any means necessary. On the way, Ashley falls in love (motherly love) with an aboriginal boy named Nullah, who has become orphaned thanks to her rivals methods. On top of this, she must also deal with the racism of the white men, who continually push out the aboriginal. She must get prepared for an upcoming world war which could potentially spill over into the Australian landscape. Finally, she must avoid doing what she doesn’t want to do… fall in love with Drover.
This story is huge, just like the Australian landscape. It has a lot of elements in it that it must deal with collectively. Some fit perfectly together, some don’t. For the most part, the budding relationship between Drover (Jackman) and Ashley (Kidman) is well-done. Luhrmann has never really failed in developing an onscreen relationship before. Need more proof? See Moulin Rouge. That isn’t an issue. Even the additional love story with the young aboriginal boy named Nullah is very well conceived and executed just fine. The other smaller stories also fit with Kidman’s character’s backstory, as well as the lost love of Jackman’s character. Even the side-tracked story of Nullah’s need to go walkabout is solid and fits like a beautiful lego. The main issue with this story is that once you get beyond the cattle, the love stories, the movie starts to create a new story. It somehow, awkwardly, fits a piece of World War II shot into the main story. It’s awkward because as a viewer you expect the movie to end. Not because you’re waiting for the credits, but because the movie literally ends and begins again. I don’t want to give away anything, but you’ll know when it should end. That’s the biggest issue, Luhrmann just didn’t seem to want to end his beautiful story. Once it crosses over to the WWII stuff, you’re now pressing the attention of your viewer and starting a new story. I never thought I would ever say this, but the movie truly is too long for its own good.
Outside of this, the movie is shot beautifully. It has the playful Luhrman moments in it, not as dramatic as Moulin Rouge, but still innocent. The locales certainly help to reinforce the beauty that lies beneath the dry lands of Australia. They shot in some really gorgeous areas and capture the essence of the country without flaw. After watching this film, it makes me want to hop on a plane with the kids and set-up camp somewhere out in Australia. Simply put, it’s gorgeous and reinforces the youth of the land when it comes to story. As for the acting, it’s top-notch. The kid who plays Nullah is heartwarming and fun to listen to (he’s basically the narrator in the film). Kidman and Jackman have some fantastic chemistry on the silver screen. You believe they are very much in love. They fit together so beautifully and just reinforces (at least for me) that Tom Cruise was CRAZY (no pun intended) for leaving this lady.
As Blu as the Australian sky
Maybe it was the Blu-ray, maybe it wasn’t. Regardless, Australia was enhanced thanks to HD. The blue sky, the surrounding land, the young cityscape, everything about this film really shined in High Definition. Add that to a beautiful soundtrack, that sounds superb in 7.1, pretty much convinces your senses that you’re glad that you went HD. Blu-ray was the perfect format for a film like this.
As for features, here’s what you’re looking at:
– Deleted Scenes
– Australia: The People, The History, The Location
– Behind the Scenes
It’s not a lot, but you get some depth out of theses three features. The last two are especially the best, as they get you some genuine information about Australia and show you some insight about what Luhrmann was shooting for in this production. Anytime the features can make the film better, it’s a plus. I don’t mean to imply that the film was bad, just that it enhances the experience.