Meet the new boss, not the same as the old
boss: Hugh Jackman as The Drover and Nicole Kidman as Lady Sarah Ashley, and
13-year-old Brandon Walters as Nullah, a half-black, half-white native
Australian child caught up in 1930's segregation in "Australia", Baz Luhrmann's
epic film, which opened today across North America. (Photos: James
Fisher/Twentieth Century Fox)
THE POPCORN REEL FILM REVIEW/"Australia"
Many Years Ago, In A Land Faraway, Glory And Disappointment
By
Omar P.L. Moore/November
26, 2008
It's epic, colorful and it's the stuff that Academy Award-winning best pictures
of made of. It has "Wizard Of Oz" iconography throughout, nodding at
Hollywood at every turn.
Alas, it's bloated, overlong and overwrought.
Baz Luhrmann's grand adventure, full of wondrous cinematography (by Mandy
Walker) and haunting visions is a vast disappointment, mainly because it is
poorly edited (by Dody Dorn and Michael McCusker) and it has poor emotional
continuity. For example, when Nicole Kidman cries in one scene and an
over-the-shoulder shot shows Ms. Kidman again an instant later, the tears are
completely gone. This happens at least twice, and there's a tedious
subplot that lacks the impact it is supposed to have. While "Australia" is
impressive because its actors (Ms. Kidman and Hugh Jackman) have strong
chemistry, especially in the film's second half, the film ultimately fails to
cut the mustard. It doesn't know when or how to end -- the long, two
hour-45 minute film could have ended at four different junctures. But it
doesn't. Like that infamous battery bunny on television commercials,
"Australia" just keeps going and going and going . . .
Set in the mid-1930's prior to the onset of World War Two, the film follows
British aristocrat Lady Sarah Ashley (Ms. Kidman) and her visit to see her
landowning husband in Australia. When the visit goes awry, the Lady is
left to reluctantly play "boss" to the native inhabitants in the nearby but
segregated part of Down Under, with the natives, as in many Hollywood films
being mostly a backdrop. There are two noteworthy exceptions to this
however: Thirteen year-old Brandon Walters as Nullah, excellent in his film
debut, and the film's scene-stealer, a young boy who addresses Lady Ashley as
"Mrs. Boss" more often than John McCain uttered the words "my friends" during
his unsuccessful run for president. Nullah is part of the native
population who have been shunted away on reservation-like outposts, segregated
from the white society whose more rapacious ancestors had invaded and attacked
and killed off many of the natives. One question that Mr. Walters'
character Nullah even asks during the film: what of his own happiness?
Nullah is whom old Hollywood would characterize as a "tragic mulatto", a
half-black, half-white native Australian child caught between two worlds, one
racist and segregated, the other clinging to its traditions.
Young Mr. Walters occasionally supplies narration for the film, yet the point of
view of "Australia", a romantic drama to be fair, and not a historical
sacrament, is most often seen through the eyes of the lead white protagonists in
the same way that "Glory", a film about the 54th Massachusetts, the first black
regiment to fight in the American Civil War, sets the story through the eyes of
the regiment's white commander Robert Gould Shaw, who was played by Matthew
Broderick. (See also "Dances With Wolves" and its outsider view of native
Americans.) The other exception is David Gulpilil as Nullah's grandfather
King George, a spiritual magician-seer type who casts a powerful, liberating and
haunting presence over the country of Australia. Mr. Gulpilil, a native
Australian from the Mandalpingu Tribe of Arnhem Land in the north east region,
is marvelous. While watching Mr. Gulpilil in "Australia" I couldn't help
thinking of the little-seen film "Ten Canoes", which opened in the U.S. last
year, a challenging and intriguing film with a "Rashomon" flourish about life
among the natives of Australia, and it just so turns out that he narrates that
film. Inevitably, "Australia" could have benefited from being bolder and
more challenging -- but entertainment is always the first order of business for
moviegoing audiences. When Mr. Luhrmann allows Mr. Gulpilil screen time,
it feels like a part of the real movie has finally arrived.
But this feeling doesn't last for very long.
"Australia", which opened across the United States and Canada today, is written
by no fewer than four very talented screenwriters (Mr. Luhrmann, Stuart Beattie,
Ronald Harwood and Richard Flanagan), but here too many cooks spoil the broth.
After the convoluted plot and multiple strands that sometimes lead to nowhere,
"Australia" is essentially about the battle to keep land as well as the survival
of a race of people that have been long forgotten by history. Lady
Ashley's mission to keep Faraway Downs and Nullah's goal to stay alive at all
costs, a representative of a native people at large and their existence.
The latter story gets swallowed up somewhat by the former, even though there is
a delight in watching the many costume changes by Ms. Kidman, at times
resplendent here. (Catherine Martin is the film's costume designer.)
But beyond Mr. Luhrmann's ambitious spectacle and bold visual power, there is
little substance. The visuals are there, the acting is present, but the
overall story just doesn't convey enough sharpness or depth to harness the
viewer's attention.
For all its landscapes including a shot of cattle that fills the entire frame,
and the director's good intentions, "Australia" lacks focus and a willingness to
pare down some of its grand themes. The story about Lady Ashley's plans
for her husband's land is hardly fodder for riveting film. Mr. Jackman is
a drover, a herder of cattle, a man without a human family. Because of his
past personal relationships he knows a lot about the native black population,
but the native population appears not to be able to speak affirmatively enough
for itself, something that is a historical constant in Hollywood films of this
type. It is this neutering of those who should know their traditions
better than all others that insults the average viewer's intelligence.
At the end of the day "Australia" showcases many things as a film, but one of
them is not economy. Mr. Luhrmann deserves kudos for a strong effort but
the audience deserves the same for endurance and exasperation.
With Bryan Brown, David Wenham and Jack Thompson.
"Australia" is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for
some violence, a scene of sensuality, and some strong language. The film's
duration is two hours and 45 minutes.
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