Australia (2008)

Director:

Baz Luhrmann

Writers:

Stuart Beattie (screenplay) and
Baz Luhrmann (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

26 November 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | History | Romance | War | Western

Plot:

Set in northern Australia before World War II, an English aristocrat who inherits a sprawling ranch reluctantly pacts with a stock-man in order to protect her new property from a takeover plot. As the pair drive 2,000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape, they experience the bombing of Darwin, Australia, by Japanese forces firsthand.

Plot Keywords:

Cattle | Australia | Baron | Drover | Bombing

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 6 wins & 17 nominations

Cast

Shea Adams	...	Carney Boy #3
Nicole Kidman	...	Lady Sarah Ashley
Eddie Baroo	...	Bull
Ray Barrett	...	Ramsden
Tony Barry	...	Sergeant Callahan
Jamal Bednarz-Metallah	...	Mission Boy
Damian Bradford	...	Constable #1
Bryan Brown	...	King Carney
Nathin Butler	...	Carney Boy #1
Tara Carpenter	...	Essential Services Woman
Rebecca Chatfield	...	Magarri's Niece
Lillian Crombie	...	Bandy Legs
Max Cullen	...	Old Drunk
Essie Davis	...	Cath Carney
Arthur Dignam	...	Father Benedict

Also Known As:

Untitled Baz Luhrmann Project (Australia) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some violence, a scene of sensuality, and brief strong language.

Runtime:

165 min

Country:

Australia | USA

Language:

English | Aboriginal

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | South Korea:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #44939) | Singapore:PG | Ireland:12A | Finland:K-13 | Norway:11 | UK:12A | Czech Republic:U | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Netherlands:12 | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | New Zealand:M | Brazil:12 | Argentina:Atp | Germany:12 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Hong Kong:IIA | Spain:7 | Taiwan:GP | South Africa:13V | Peru:PT | Chile:TE | Sweden:11 | Mexico:B | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Bowen, Queensland, Australia

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The film sees Hong Kong actor and stuntman Wah Yuen make his official English language debut. Yuen, a classmate of Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung Kam-Bo, has played the villain in such Hong Kong classics as Fei lung mang jeung (1988) and Dung fong tuk ying (1987), and is probably best known internationally for his role as the Landlord in Kung fu (2004).

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: As Nullah gallops back to Faraway Downs after mounting the horse in the waterhole, there is a dust trail visible in front of his horse. Evidently someone is galloping ahead of him to ensure that his mount will follow, since Nullah is obviously too small to control an animal safely at speed.

Quotes:

Lady Sarah Ashley: Let's go home.
Drover: There's no place like it.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "20 to 1: Adults Only 20 to 01: World's Most Daring Movies (#8.1)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

By The Boab Tree

Uneven, hulking monster of a film

This film struggled, throughout its epic length, to stay upright. Unfortunately at the end it stumbled and fell like a pile of bricks.

It tried to juggle so much, but in the end, turned out to be too little. The film starts like a corny slapstick comedy, turns into a romantic fantasy, then into an outback adventure, then into a war movie, a heartfelt drama, a comment on the stolen generation, a comment on racism... etc, etc. It's just too much. Yes, it's supposed to be an epic, but things like this need to be handled with finesse. Unfortunately, it isn't in this case. The themes were too muddled, the script too stretched - it's a mess. The characters are cardboard cutouts, the acting is over the top and cheesy, the pacing is off, the bizarre use of Somewhere Over the Rainbow... It's just a broken film.

Being an Australian, I did hope that this movie would be alright, but it turned out to be almost 3 hours of wankery that disgracefully cost our taxpayers over $40m.

On a more positive note, on the whole it wasn't BORING, and it was aesthetically and aurally pleasing - even though it made use of countless, shameless green screen shots which were simply unnecessary.

There was ONE great scene in the film, and that's when Hugh Jackman and his Aboriginal friend enter the ruined pub. That was absolutely excellent. Too bad the rest of the film couldn't live up to that in the slightest.