Film Gecko

"Australia" Review

by Jane Boursaw on December 8th, 2008

“Australia” is a sweeping epic of a movie involving romance, adventure, drama and war. It begins with English aristocrat Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) journeying from London to Australia’s rugged Northern Territory to convince her husband to sell their unprofitable cattle farm known as Faraway Downs.

But when she gets there, she’s immediately a fish out of water among the uncivilized town filled with brawling bar thugs. One of those thugs is Drover (Hugh Jackman), a grizzled, raucous guy who takes her to the ranch to meet up with her husband. But when they get there, things are not at all as they should be, and the cultured Lady Ashley must decide what to do.

More after the jump…

Her choice: Drive the cattle across the wild landscape to a ship docked in the harbor of Darwin, where she’ll sell them AND the ranch, and head back to England.

Well, you can guess that nothing goes according to plan. Not only is she up against the natural elements, but she’s also battling a villainous cattle baron named King Carney (Bryan Brown) and his chief thug, Fletcher (David Wenham).

She also finds herself a mother of sorts to little Nullah (Brandon Walters), a half-aboriginal boy who, like her, is a fish out of water, because half-breeds are considered only good enough to be servants to white people. Thus, the authorities are hunting Nullah down to strip him of his culture and train him to be a servant. The boy also narrates the story, which I found enchanting and wonderful.

I loved everything about this movie except the length. At 165 minutes, it’s long, long, long, and most of the audience was squirming during the last third of the movie, which almost seemed like an add-on. Really, it probably would have made a nice sequel.

“Australia” is one of those sweeping epic movies that’s reminiscent of old Hollywood – a plucky heroine, a dashing hero, a determined child, a few villains, some horses, and lots of beautiful scenery. Throw in the fact that Darwin is the target of a Japanese invasion complete with war bombs and a city on fire, and well, it’s all very romantic and engaging.

Note to Parents: The two main characters have lots of sexual chemistry, which leads to several passionate kisses and a love-making scene with a woman’s bare shoulders and legs, and a man’s bare chest. Violence includes characters being speared, shot, burned, drowned and beaten. Children are also put in peril. Language includes “Crikey,” “damn,” “bloody,” “bastard,” and one “f-ing.” Several characters use insulting terms towards the aboriginal and half-aboriginal people, including “creamy.”

Images: Australia, 20th Century-Fox Film Corp., 2008

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