http://www.australiamovie.net/
Oh my, would you look at that site! On opening it, I expected the typical film website, you know, cast and crew info, trailers, gallery, downloads perhaps ... However, this one looks like a fan website: it's got news, videos, its own forum even!
Anyways, back to the film itself. It's been a while since I've seen some drama, so I'd be a tad more positive about it. (I've recently revisited Legends of the Fall, but that doesn't count as it's not new and I've seen it numerous times. Heartbreaking film, but it's another story). It seems that the heady mixture of war, death, romance, wilderness, race and ethnicity is not every director's cup of tea. Of course, it's been done before, but it's a slippery slope: Pearl Harbour (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0213149/) has got quite a number of unfavourable reviews.
Regardless, World War II still fascinates filmmakers. Understandably so, it changed the balance of power in the 20th century world at the cost of millions of lives and thus providing millions of potential plots. This is one of the reasons, I think, we'd continue to see more World War II films made. It's such a complex human experience that I don't think its continual on-screen representation would wear down, become boring, lessen its significance, etc. At least it shouldn't.
Australia takes place mostly in the early years of the War, but it's background until the Japanese air attacks on Darwin when the main characters' lives are seriously threatened. There's more than enough of explosions and soldiers, but I find it a bit stylized and lacking detail. It doesn't bother me so much as the focus of the story is not the war itself, but of 3 people following their own agenda and caught up in the middle of it. As so many civilians are ...
I think Nicole Kidman did a great job with her Sarah Ashley: she's got the looks and she pulls off the emotions convincingly. I've never seen her as a versatile actress; I think she leans towards more personal-tragedy-prone characters. Nothing wrong with that -- she plays them beautifully.
As for Hugh Jackman, I like him generally, though he isn't in any of my favourite films. I'm not an X-men fan, The Fountain was original in a weird way. In Australia, he does the macho-like cowboy aspect of the character very well, but I am not swept off by his performance in the more dramatic scenes. I think he's got a good face for comedies, though.
The boy, Nullah, played by Brandon Walters, was a masterstroke. Luhrmann made a great casting choice. He hijacked many scenes from Nicole and Hugh, in my view. (OK, I admit, I'm biased, deep, dark eyes mesmerize me. I believe this is what people call fathomless eyes). Having him as the narrator of the story was brilliant, too. It adds authenticity.
All in all, I enjoyed Australia and would see it again, if I get the chance. It can be easily criticized as being melodramatic, but it doesn't go to extremes, so I don't see it as a drawback. After all, you can't be dispassionate in love and war.
* used in the movie Strictly Ballroom (1992) and also in the very beginning of Australia.
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