AUSTRALIA

[fahye]

I want to make a post about Australia (yes, the film, not the country of which I am a citizen) because my mother and I went to see it at the cinema two nights ago and I absolutely adored it and I'm going to see it again as soon as humanly possible.

From all I've heard, it's been getting poor reviews and bad box office performance in the States, and...well, I can't honestly say that I'm surprised. The film's sense of humour is very Australian; it's like Luhrmann took the Aussie humour from Strictly Ballroom and then mixed it with the slightly fantastical air of Moulin Rouge! and then layered it on top of an epic plot. (So, uh, predictably, I thought it was AMAZING.) It also makes some points about how Australia's culture has been woven out of bits and pieces handed down from America and England, and some points about the relationship between Indigenous and European Australians, and from what some of the foreign reviewers have said, I think they missed what Luhrmann was attempting to illustrate there.

It's not perfect -- for one thing, it takes a little while to settle into its own tone -- but it's sweeping and it has everything! War, romance, financial intrigue, murder, race relations, comedy, tragedy, and some incredible action sequences. And visually it's stunning, of course: Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin are pretty hard to beat when it comes to art design and cinematography (the CLOTHES, oh my god, the clothes) and they did some sensational location-scouting in the far north.

I thought both Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman were very good, and David Wenham (Faramir!) was great too, and the kid they got to play Nullah was a bloody revelation.

AND THE BOMBING OF DARWIN. OH MY HEART. I am not even a big fan of war movies and this one still managed to throw my heart around like a rubber ball. Oh. You know that my emotions are not easily manipulated, but there are some moments of beauty and some moments of pathos and some moments of sheer JOY that I defy anyone to sit through without being swayed.

This trailer makes a HUGE DEAL out of the romance aspect when in fact the romance isn't nearly as important to the story as a lot of the other storylines and relationships, but it's probably the best one I've found.

Anyway: I would like you to see this movie, if you get the chance. Especially if you're not an Australian yourself. It's the first thing in a very, very long time that has made me feel something akin to patriotism, and it will tell you a lot of things that you probably don't know about my country.

And it's DEFINITELY worth the big-screen experience. Trust me on this.

Comments

[muji]

I plan to see it, for I too am all for epic plots and period dramas and whatnot. (Plus bonus explanations from you of the romance part not being as big a deal as it sounds in the trailers.)

[fahye.livejournal.com]

SO EPIC. It's long but it didn't feel TOO long because the plot was divided into -- acts, almost? -- so that it didn't just build up and build up and build up ad nauseum, and it didn't have a single early climax and then dribble off into nothing.

I mean, I really liked the romance, but it was by no means the best thing about the movie and it could probably have even survived without it. Although there are some VERY pretty making-out-in-the-rain scenes. Mmm.

[nextian.livejournal.com]

It also makes some points about how Australia's culture has been woven out of bits and pieces handed down from America and England, and some points about the relationship between Indigenous and European Australians, and from what some of the foreign reviewers have said, I think they missed what Luhrmann was attempting to illustrate there.

I'd love to hear what you think they missed? I haven't seen it, but I admit the reviews have told me about some things that are kind of make-or-break for me, and if they're missing something I would be thrilled (I love Baz Luhrmann, OKAY.)

[fahye.livejournal.com]

I think there was one complaining about the use of a quintessentially American story as a metaphorical background (the Wizard of Oz is used quite a lot, but I really liked the way it was woven into the ideas about the Dreaming, and displacement, and defining home) and though I haven't actually READ any of the stuff about racism...I do know that some considered it to be racist.

What I WOULD like to know is if any of the Aboriginal people who've seen it considered it to be racist. Because I thought there were a couple of times where the tone became a little patronising in the name of keeping the narration fluid, but all in all I was impressed with the way Luhrmann dealt with the intersection between cultures and beliefs. And as a period piece it was meant to portray racism in all the forms in which it existed at the time.

Which isn't to say that it ISN'T racist in parts just because it didn't seem racist to ME, obviously, but like I said: I'd want to hear the reasons from the people to whom it might be personally offensive, and not from an American reviewer who might not know all the facts.

[fahye.livejournal.com]

And the overall MESSAGE of the film was definitely one about the evils of blinding oneself to the values and worth of people different to yourself, and I thought it dealt very well indeed with the issue of the Stolen Generation, so if there was racism there then it was accidental -- not excusable, but accidental.

Can you tell me what you heard that was make-or-break? It could be something that I didn't even think about or notice, so I'd be interested to hear.

[nextian.livejournal.com]

(Can I just say, unrelatedly, that I hate the public library's WiFi? In fact I hate the public library. THERE, I ADMIT IT, I AM SOULLESS. It's a nice place but I'm currently eating Burger King in the basement on the steps while flies attack me because this is the only place with food and wifi on Sunday, I ask you, cultural hegemony mumble mumble)

Well, I've done some googling and the only Aboriginal responses I could find were basically the actors saying "No, no, it's awesome!" so I guess the jury remains out on that one...

Oh, that the uncle (?) was a textbook Magical Negro, that it was all about Nice White Lady Saves the Brown People ... there may have been more, but I'm forgetting them. Thanks for the answer! Very comprehensive.

[fahye.livejournal.com]

*nods*

I think -- yes, it was a story about a couple of white people whose attitude to the brown people was different to the norm, but I found that disturbing not because of the-way-the-story-was-told but because it showed how utterly powerless the Aboriginal people were at that time. They COULDN'T do their own fighting. And there were very few white people who cared enough or understood enough to stand up on their behalf. It's not a nice scenario, but it's a realistic one.

I liked that Hugh Jackman's character was actually not a Fight For Social Change type of person to begin with; he'd essentially been accepted by the Aborigines and so rejected by the Europeans, and he was all about keeping his personal views personal and just accepting the status quo. While Nicole Kidman's character had to have her views changed for her by the people she ended up fighting to help. I don't know. Maybe it's a problematic trope, but I thought it worked extremely well. And it wasn't overdone or trite: nothing major is actually accomplished in the film when it comes to racial problems, there is no moment of validation or overhaul -- all the struggles are on a personal level, but very satisfying nonetheless.

I think the Magical Negro would have been a bit much if it weren't for the fact that the kid's magic was actually the heart of the movie. I mean, I might be a bit biased here because some of the most visually amazing shots in the film arise from the juxtaposition of the grandfather in the 'civilisation' of Darwin, especially as it comes after the first half of the movie has built up images in your head of the white characters as being out of place in the outback.

[sophistry]

I was blown away the first time I saw the trailer on the big screen, and would like it to be out here NOW, PLEASE, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

[fahye.livejournal.com]

SO PRETTY, SOPH. SO. PRETTY.

Will it be out in December? We could go and see it :D

[fahye.livejournal.com]

Yeeeeah, I was not complaining there.

[silveraspen]

Thanks for the recommendation! I had it on my list for "someday," but I will now be moving it up to the top for "in the near/immediate future."

[fahye.livejournal.com]

Hurrah! Do let me know what you think of it.

[pathstotread.livejournal.com]

I'm sold! It will have to wait at least until this weekend, maybe until next week when finals are done.

[fahye.livejournal.com]

\o/ I do not pimp things often, but I feel that as the token Aussie on the flist of many people, this was a pimping job I needed to do.

[platypusnoises.livejournal.com]

the print ads around here made it look like some bizarre cross between a musical and lost, so i was all for skipping it. but since you liked it so much, i might just have to take a break from finals and see it. (or i could take the sensible route and use it as a reward for after finals, but three weeks is a long way away...)

[fahye.livejournal.com]

It is not a musical and it is nothing like Lost! I guarantee that :)

[platypusnoises.livejournal.com]

not that i have anything against musicals (i quite enjoy them, actually) or Lost (i don't watch it, but i don't have anything against it), i just wasn't too keen on watching some odd mix of the two. i rest assured now, so i'm pretty excited to see it!

[azraeljt.livejournal.com]

Well I wasn't going to bother seeing it...
all the pics I've seen round are rather of a romance nature, and I'm really not one for romance movies (with the exception of the new pride and prejudice)
But if you say it's not all lovey-dovey nonsense, I just might make the effort.

Want to see it with me next week when you're down?

[fahye.livejournal.com]

I'm down THIS week, I leave on Sunday!

[azraeljt.livejournal.com]

gah..
WHAT!?!

Call me this instant!

[fahye.livejournal.com]

Sorry, hon, I have zero free time now :( I leave tomorrow morning and I'm at the icerink for this afternoon, then babysitting Lauren tonight.