I have to admit that I hadn't initially been that keen to watch Australia - from the trailer, it looked to me rather like a Western, a genre I'm not keen on, only set in the outback rather than the Wild West.  However Baz Luhrmann's epic combines many genres and, after a slightly unsteady start, ends up being a very good film.

The Plot
 
Initially seeming to be a rather simple story about a cattle drive and a struggle against the evil rich guy, this film has a huge scope and contains many sub-stories.  It starts with English Aristocrat, Lady Sarah Astley (Nicole Kidman) deciding to go to Australia, suspecting that her husband's real interests in that country are more likely to be women than cattle.  On arriving she finds her husband's trusted friend, "Drover" (Hugh Jackson) in the middle of a bar-room brawl, started because few of the other white inhabitants of Darwin share his love of and respect for the indigenous people.  The Aborigines are still very much repressed and taken advantage of at this time, shortly before Australia starts to be affected by World War II.

This is also the story of Nullah (Brandon Walters), a young aborigine boy caught up in what's happening when Lady Astley decides to fight for the existence of her ranch against the stranglehold of "King Carney" (Bryan Brown), who has the beef marked completely sewn up apart from Astley - and Carney has designs on her land as well.  Nullah is the grandchild of "King George" (veteran Aborigine actor David Gulpilil - Walkabout, Rabbit-Proof Fence, Crocadile Dundee), who is the local Galpar - aborigine magic man.   Sarah feels a protective urge to care for him when his mother dies, but she is unsure of how to take care of a child, not having one herself... she also fails to understand his culture and attititudes.

Also there's a war going on, or about to break, on Australia's coast... things are going to get very complicated indeed...  Most of all this film deals with the tragedy of the „Lost Generation" - mixed-race children being taken away and training them to be servants of the white citizens. 


The Characters

Sarah Astley (Nicole Kidman) - comes across as rather snooty at first, but soon shows herself to have both heart and courage.  She's also a lot more hardy and adaptable than she appears - once she's got it into her head that in Australia, she's no longer the pampered Lady that she was in England.  Kidman is very good here, portrating the character and her changing attitudes very well.  It seems odd to have an Australian playing an English woman in a film called Australia, but... it works.

Drover (Hugh Jackman) - a rough, tough cattle driver used to the outdoor life and resisting any attempt to employ him on a permanent basis, he nevertheless displays a wicked sense of humour and great humanity.  His positive attitude towards the aboriginines stands in stark contrast to most of his white contemporaries, and frequently gets him into trouble.  Jackman is absolutely superb here, a fanstastic performance.

Nullah (Brandon Walters) - Nullah is a boy of mixed-race origin, who has a strong sense of identity to his aborigine heritage due to his grandfather's influence, but still has a huge dilema over who he really is and where he fits into society.  He's not white, and he's not black either... neither side will accept him as their own, and he's well aware that half-casts caught and sent for training in missionary camps are basically being groomed for slavery.  Walters plays his character very well on the whole.  An impressive debut.

King Carney (Bryan Brown) - war is hell, but in any decent war there's a huge profit to be made.  Carney is the man who's put himself in a position to make that huge profit, and he doesn't appear to care who he hurts along the way.  Brown is mostly good although is guilty of horrendous over-acting in one scene.

Neil Fletcher (David Wenham) - Fletcher is initially in charge of Astley's herds, but very quickly shows himself to be untrustworthy.  He is a very, very nasty piece of work indeed.  Wenham was at his best when in sneering mode, but I thought his character's development could have been handled a bit better.

King George (David Gulpilil) - a wise old aborigine who doesn't say much or appear to do all that much, but his influence on Nullah is huge and things have an uncanny way of working out as he predicts... I've seen Gulpilil in a few films and he's never given a bad performance.  In Australia he gives perhaps the best performance I've seen.

There are a few other interesting characters, but I'll let you find them out for yourselves.  Those above are the most important ones to the plot.


The Good

There are a lot of things going for Australia.  The film makes full use of the country's fantastic scenery and packs it with interesting characters.  The attitudes and actions of the people in the movie are both believable for the time period it was set in and relevant to today's world.  The story (written by Baz Luhrmann, adapted into screenplay form by Luhrmann, Stuart Beattie, Ronald Harwood and Richard Flanagan) is very good overall, maintaining the audience's interest and keeping our sympathy or animosity for the key characters.  There are some incredibly powerful scenes in this movie - even the hardest of hearts will be softened by the end.  I also liked the fact that there are so many sub-stories going on - this is a film that would benefit rather than suffer from repeated viewings. 

There are some fantastic performances by the cast, and Jackman in particular was fantastic.  The music by David Hischfelder was superb and very atmospheric.   The film managed to, after the first main plot element, achieve a true epic feeling.  Once the film got going, the blend of action and humour was very good indeed.


The Bad
 
The sets were often a problem - a lot of them actually looked like sets, making it more difficult to suspend belief and feel involved in what was going on.  (I checked with my wife in case this impression was due to me becomming overly critical of movies - she agreed with me about the sets, but also said I was becomming too critical.. I don't know, women...)  Such special effects as there were didn't come across as very convincing, either.  Some aspects of the plot were a little too predictable.

The opening half hour was poorly paced - it just didn't quite work, though the humour brought about by the interaction between Drover and Sarah was very good.  On one or two occasions that set pieces were just a little too silly for their own good; sometimes the tension or humour made this acceptable, sometimes not.    One final criticism - the cinematography really didn't help the film at times, rapid jerky movements do not give the best impression of the landscape!

There is a voiceover that I sometimes found annoying, but it was mostly okay.


Overall Verdict

Australia isn't a perfect film, but the positive aspects far outweigh the negative and it's certainly well worth watching.  For those who don't like Westerns, I can assure you that shouldn't preclude you from enjoying this movie.  Oh, and if you're prone to crying at the movies... better have some tissues with you.

Just for the record - my favourite Baz Luhrmann film is still, of course, Strictly Ballroom.  Look closely and you'll see at least one actor from that Movie in Australia...

As an exploration of Australia in the thirties / forties I do like Rabbit-Proof Fence slightly more, but Australia is still a worthy film in its own right.



Related Links
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Nicole Kidman movies: Cold Mountain, The Interpreter, The Golden Compass, The Stepford Wives [2004]

Hugh Jackman movies: X-Men, X-Men: Mutants United, X-Men: The Last Stand

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Method: Sneak Preview at My Local Theater