Review: Australia (2008)

Calling all script editors: Baz Luhrmann is hiring.

Or at least he should be. I'm pretty confused what his latest film is really about.

Is it about cattle wars? Sure, there's about 90 minutes dedicated to the rivalry between Faraway Downs (owned and operated by Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, respectively) and King Carney (Bryan Brown and his lackey, David Wenham). It's fun, it's exciting, and it has a happy ending.

But, could it also be about the injustice towards aborigine children, which is an underlying theme throughout the entire 2 hours and 45 minutes. The young child Nullah (Brandon Walters, who carries the weight of the film), is half white, and is constantly alert to "coppers" who will take him away to cleansing camps--where they "breed the black out of him."

Aye, it's most certainly about that.

But it's also about the Japanese attacks in Darwin. This small segment is Lurhman's answer to Pearl Harbor. After the attack, though, there's still like 3 hours of film left. I'm like, what's going on? How many movies is this?

Annnd it's a love story. Very dull. Very sappy. Very fluffy. There's way too much going on in this film. Wasn't there some sort of controversy before about the ending? Well, my complaint is that it's too long. About an hour and a half too long.

The first 20 minutes, I was ready to love it. It's super stylish and funny and pretty. Very Baz Luhrmann. I was like "hey! why is this getting such poor reviews?" Then I find out. It continues on with surface, but no substance. Ugh... Somebody help this film. Like a SCRIPT EDITOR.

Oh look at that, I think this review may need an editor too.

P.S. When is David Wenham going to get his own movie? He's forever the secondary character, and even though he was the main baddie in this, I still wanted to marry him. Oh, I've loved him too long. I think he really needs to get his own film.

Grade: C?

Trailers: Australia (2008)

I've been anticipating this for a while. Looks like a good old fashioned love story.

Random News: Baz Luhrmann is being owned by Fox

From /film:

The Guardian is reporting that director Baz Luhrmann agreed, after “intense discussions”, to rewrite the final scenes of the Nicole Kidman/Hugh Jackman romantic adventure epic Australia. Apparently studio executives wanted the film to end on a more positive note (We’re not going to discuss the spoiler in question here). Apparently negative feedback from early test screenings prompted the studio’s concerns over the film finale.

I’m told that Luhrmann has final cut on this film, and that Fox could not have forced Luhrmann to change the ending even if they wanted to. That said, there is a lot of other stuff a studio can threaten to do that could have forced Luhrmann’s hand (not to say Fox did such things…).

It’s impossible to make an opinion based on pure hearsay, and I doubt we’ll ever get the real story behind the changes. Some will blame Fox for stepping in and “ruining Baz’s artistic vision” while others may agree that Baz made the right choice in agreeing to the changes. Either way, I’m sure the alternative ending will be available on DVD.

Man, that sucks. Can't do the film's ending the way you want it to? On the other hand, it doesn't sound like the studio doesn't have any real power over Luhrmann, so why does he have to bend?