Stratton's Take
Australia "is not without flaws, it's not the masterpiece that we were hoping for, but I think you could say that it's a very good film in many ways," says The Australian's David Stratton, who's obviously writing from a kind of Down Under home-team perspective.
"[But] while it will be very popular with many people I think there's a slight air of disappointment after it all.
"Like his earlier films Strictly Ballroom, Romeo+Juliet and Moulin Rouge, Australia shows Baz Luhrmann as a very theatrical director. He has a great eye for compositions and the film is beautifully shot by Mandy Walker, but there's theatricality about the film which is a bit off-putting at the beginning. The early scenes, even the first 20 minutes or so of the film, are handled in a slightly artificial, arch manner which doesn't sit well with the outback locations and the natural settings of the story.
"It's all very well to be artificial when you're dealing with a theatrical concept like Moulin Rouge or even Strictly Ballroom, but it doesn't really work so well when you're doing the same sort of thing here, so there's something that's just a little bit off key about these scenes. Then once the cattle drive gets under way either you get used to it or that aspect of it is played down because the remainder of the film is much stronger in a rather conventional way.
"I have to say, there are a lot of cliches in the script, a lot of familiar elements from other films of the past -- The Wizard of Oz and the song 'Over the Rainbow' are heavily referenced -- and it's as though the film is aimed at not so much an Australian audience but an international audience, and especially an American audience.
"I will say that the acting is of a very high level, especially given that some of the actors have been encouraged to perform in this rather stylized, theatrical way. Nicole Kidman does a very good job as she develops from this very stiff, awkward, naive Englishwoman to become a really warm character at the end of the film. And Hugh Jackman has tremendous charisma and charm.
"The supporting cast is particularly good. Jack Thomson as the alcoholic accountant for the property gives a lovely performance, Bryan Brown is a terrific as the cattle baron although his demise is extremely perfunctory, and David Wenham is another terrific villain, very charming and intense.
"In minor roles there are all sorts of interesting people including Ben Mendelssohn, Bill Hunter and Arthur Dignam. And then there's little 12-year-old Brandon Walters, who plays the Aboriginal boy, who's really very good indeed.
"Despite its flaws -- and it certainly has flaws -- I think Australia is an impressive and important film, and if I were to give it a star rating I would give it three and a half out of five."
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on November 18, 2008 at 5:56 AM
comment #1
roquentin
says ...
I can't get past Nicole Kidman's reconstructive surgery...I know it's a Baz Luhrmann film, and therefore I should be charitable to any flights of fancy, but isn't there something fundamentally off-putting about an old world romantic drama with a Botoxed, stretched skin heroine? Every time I see the preview I shudder.
Bad or overzealous plastic surgery might help sell some pictures but it does two things: it reminds moviegoers of
the earthbound gravitational problems of Hollywood celebrities (thus taking us out of the movie's reality and into LA circa 2008), and it grows more grotesque with each passing surgery, which only increases the viewer's isolation from the actor/actress. At some point, wrinkles be damned, you gotta own your own face and have faith that, if you're talented enough, you'll see your career to the finish line.
Bottom line: I have no interest in seeing Australia, and I usually like Luhrmann's films.
On some level, this is my problem, but I think the older she gets, the more grotesque the discrepancy will get.
Posted by roquentin
at November 18, 2008 7:21 AM
comment #2
Breedlove
says ...
Roquentin, couldn't agree more. I used to like Nicole Kidman, a beautiful, daring actress with very interesting, edgy taste in projects. She jumped the shark so badly with the god-awful plastic surgery that she now detracts from any film she's in. I love Baz and I'm very excited to see this film, but it's a shame that's she's in it. Every time I see her in anything now I just think, Hey, look, it's Nicole Kidman with her weird alien face. If I was a director I would never cast her in anything.
Posted by Breedlove
at November 18, 2008 7:43 AM
comment #3
actionman
says ...
Plastic surgery? Really? Guess I need to look closer.
Posted by actionman
at November 18, 2008 7:46 AM
comment #4
raygo
says ...
Come on guys. She's what, 40 or 41? It's not like she's Joan Rivers. How much could she have had done? I doubt much. She looked fine in "Invasion".
Posted by raygo
at November 18, 2008 8:54 AM
comment #5
rr3333
says ...
For a second I thought Kenny Rogers was the female lead. Upon closer inspection, yes, its Nicole.
Posted by rr3333
at November 18, 2008 9:51 AM
comment #6
Movie Watcher
says ...
Can her forehead get any smoother?
Posted by Movie Watcher
at November 18, 2008 10:01 AM
comment #7
arturobandini2
says ...
A few years ago some crew friends shared an unsubstantiated rumor about Kidman's surgery that still makes me laugh. Namely, that her brow is so immobile that her makeup people have to paint on her eyebrows in different configurations, depending on the scene/close-up. Arched for haughty, burrowed for cross, etc.
Posted by arturobandini2
at November 18, 2008 10:57 AM
comment #8
BurmaShave
says ...
Why is it that Hugh Jackman is able to grow a full manly beard yet I am not, mostly coming in with a few scraggly hairs about midway through the cheek? Also, why is he the perfect specimen of a man and I am not?
Posted by BurmaShave
at November 18, 2008 12:15 PM
comment #9
raskimono
says ...
Burma Shave, It's called testosterone.
Posted by raskimono
at November 18, 2008 2:35 PM
comment #10
BurmaShave
says ...
Ahhhhhh okay.
Posted by BurmaShave
at November 19, 2008 1:09 AM
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