Mini Review - 'Australia'

Baz Lurhman is one ambitious little f*cker.
With he latest epic he has combined three films into one.
The first film is the story of Lady Ashley (Nicole Kidman) trying to hold onto her land after the death of her husband. To do this she must team up with a Drover (Hugh Jackman) to heard her cattle across the outback to sell it for meat for the troop in the war. All the while her competition in the cattle trade are following her, hell bent on either killing the cattle or her, which ever happens first.

The second film is the story of the Japanese invasion of Darwin Australia in World War II.

The third film is about the Australian governments disgusting policy of removing half cast Aboriginal children from their families with the intent of breeding out the 'native' in them. These children were sent to missions, eventually to become servants.

All riveting stories, however unfortunately Lurhman tries to tackle each of them, paying not enough attention to make one truly stick, even when he makes each one a back drop for one romantic story. Because each section is dealt with so swiftly they each come across as not nearly as important as they should.
The acting across the board if good, but not great. I do wish they had told the story differently and had Nicole's character as Australian. It would have been such a kick to hear her in her native tongue.
On the plus side the technical aspects are sensational. Every screen shot could be framed and hung on a museum wall. The set's have a life and character of their own and the costumes say more about character that at times the actors do. The whole look of the film evokes the grand romantic epics of the 1940's and 50's, even the special effects are more vibrant and stunning than they probably would be.

To call 'Australia' a failure would be wrong. It is a beautifully spectacular missed opportunity.

Grade: B-