David Gulpilil as King George, Brandon Walters as Nullah, and the kangaroo pal joey as himself! (Photo by Annie Liebovitz for Vogue, July 2008)
The Drover and Sara~~~~~~
What's that old Hollywood expression? An actor should never work with children or animals - they'll be upstaged every time? Well, almost, but not quite:
There's a magical sprite of a child, lots of beautiful cattle and horses, dingoes, 'roos, emus and crocs in the land of Oz . . . Oh My!
Hugh and Nicole are gorgeous and sizzle together, but it's Brandon Walters who stole the show for me. No easy feat, because, Crikey, Hugh has never looked hotter.
Welcome to Australia - Baz Luhrmann's story of a love affair - with his country, and a light-hearted nod to the films of the 30's and 40's. And so much to love! But there's a serious side to the story too.
This was my first Baz Luhrmann film, and it was not at all what I expected. I had heard that that he likes to make his movies in a big way, and I never did get to see Moulin Rouge!
Sure, I expected a grand romance in the tradition of Gone With The Wind, and it is all of that, but so much more. Hugh and Nicole are gorgeous - the costumes, the kisses, the sunsets, the starry night skies in the Outback under the Southern Cross, the lovemaking under the mosquito netting canopy - but I was entranced by Nullah, the magical half-Aboriginal, half-Caucasian little boy played by Brandon Walters - you just want to scoop him up an hug him for his enthusiasm and bravery, his bright eyes, his expressions and child's interpretation of the world around him. He's just adorable - the opening scenes told from the little boy's point of view of being between two worlds would bring tears to your eyes, and the treatment of the Aboriginal people, especially the children of mixed race.
I was just swept away by Australia, and I knew I would be. I have been champing at the bit to see it, and it's finally here! And I was not disappointed. The opening scenes brought me to tears with their beauty. The cinematography is gorgeous, and it is funny, sometimes tounge-in-cheek, and very musical. Baz wrote the theme song, The Drover, with Sir Elton John, and which Sir Elton performs. Looking forward to the soundtrack.
It's a beautiful, magical, mystical, and yes, a little bit sentimental tour of Australia - operatic at times. And nothing wrong with that, in this modern blase movie world, it's refreshing to take a step back to the movies of old. Part Old Western uniquely Australian, part Gone With The Wind, part Wizard of Oz, part Peter Pan of the Never-Never land - I even felt resonances of Giant and Out of Africa. A story told with a "magical" realism of the events leading up to the World War II bombing of Darwin by the Japanese.
It's Nullah's, and his people's, beautiful story, literally, as it is Nullah who opens and narrates the story, his child's voice recounting with the most beautiful imagery under the magic watchful eye of his grandfather, King George (played by David Gulpilil), and by extension his ancestors, of how he met "Mrs. Boss" or Lady Ashley, played by the elegant Nicole Kidman, the prim Lady Ashley who finds a home in Australia's earthiness and who "changes everything" in Nullah's premonition of her, and the Drover played by Hugh Jackman, his grandfather, and the other characters including the wonderful Bryan Brown as King Carney, the monopolizing "bad guy" cattle baron. Brandon Walters is sweet, charming, glowing - his voice, his enthusiasm, a natural actor. I hope we'll see more of him.
As I said, Hugh is the epitome of sexy, and he and Nicole share some great chemistry as lovers, like archetypes of masculine and feminine, yin and yang. But it seems no lady is immune from the Drover's charm. He's also a horse whisperer of sorts, and there's a scene where he's using his horse whisperer magic on Lady Ashley's dramatically beautiful black Andalusian mare, and it's almost like a courtship and seduction, eyes locked as they circle each other like dancing a fandango.
But it's not all about Lady Ashley and the Drover's growing love for each other, glorious romantic kisses, nor a gratutitous shirtless Hugh-fest (Oh My!). It's also the serious story of racism, of the domination of one culture by another, of an Eden spoiled. There's a scene from the film The New World that pains me a little and has stayed with me - the image of the first European boot setting foot onto the pristine sands of North America, leaving a footprint, and what that symbolic footprint means - and I am reminded of that when I see the crocodile-skin boots of Neil Fletcher, Faraway Downs' treacherous station manager and Nullah's poor excuse for a father.
It always saddens me when a foreign culture comes to a New World, someone else's home, and then starts telling the indigenous folk which bars they can drink in and which they cannot. Instead of reverence and respect, forcing their way of life and beliefs upon them, as in the period of assimilation, or religious beliefs, however well-meaning, and exploiting the land and it's resources. Australia's Aboriginal people have one of the world's most unique and beautiful cultures and histories, most of it an oral history handed down through the generations, and, much like the North American indigenous cultures' histories, must be respected, remembered and preserved, a gift to her future generations. Just as Nullah goes walkabout with his grandfather.
There's a magical sprite of a child, lots of beautiful cattle and horses, dingoes, 'roos, emus and crocs in the land of Oz . . . Oh My!
Hugh and Nicole are gorgeous and sizzle together, but it's Brandon Walters who stole the show for me. No easy feat, because, Crikey, Hugh has never looked hotter.
Welcome to Australia - Baz Luhrmann's story of a love affair - with his country, and a light-hearted nod to the films of the 30's and 40's. And so much to love! But there's a serious side to the story too.
This was my first Baz Luhrmann film, and it was not at all what I expected. I had heard that that he likes to make his movies in a big way, and I never did get to see Moulin Rouge!
Sure, I expected a grand romance in the tradition of Gone With The Wind, and it is all of that, but so much more. Hugh and Nicole are gorgeous - the costumes, the kisses, the sunsets, the starry night skies in the Outback under the Southern Cross, the lovemaking under the mosquito netting canopy - but I was entranced by Nullah, the magical half-Aboriginal, half-Caucasian little boy played by Brandon Walters - you just want to scoop him up an hug him for his enthusiasm and bravery, his bright eyes, his expressions and child's interpretation of the world around him. He's just adorable - the opening scenes told from the little boy's point of view of being between two worlds would bring tears to your eyes, and the treatment of the Aboriginal people, especially the children of mixed race.
I was just swept away by Australia, and I knew I would be. I have been champing at the bit to see it, and it's finally here! And I was not disappointed. The opening scenes brought me to tears with their beauty. The cinematography is gorgeous, and it is funny, sometimes tounge-in-cheek, and very musical. Baz wrote the theme song, The Drover, with Sir Elton John, and which Sir Elton performs. Looking forward to the soundtrack.
It's a beautiful, magical, mystical, and yes, a little bit sentimental tour of Australia - operatic at times. And nothing wrong with that, in this modern blase movie world, it's refreshing to take a step back to the movies of old. Part Old Western uniquely Australian, part Gone With The Wind, part Wizard of Oz, part Peter Pan of the Never-Never land - I even felt resonances of Giant and Out of Africa. A story told with a "magical" realism of the events leading up to the World War II bombing of Darwin by the Japanese.
It's Nullah's, and his people's, beautiful story, literally, as it is Nullah who opens and narrates the story, his child's voice recounting with the most beautiful imagery under the magic watchful eye of his grandfather, King George (played by David Gulpilil), and by extension his ancestors, of how he met "Mrs. Boss" or Lady Ashley, played by the elegant Nicole Kidman, the prim Lady Ashley who finds a home in Australia's earthiness and who "changes everything" in Nullah's premonition of her, and the Drover played by Hugh Jackman, his grandfather, and the other characters including the wonderful Bryan Brown as King Carney, the monopolizing "bad guy" cattle baron. Brandon Walters is sweet, charming, glowing - his voice, his enthusiasm, a natural actor. I hope we'll see more of him.
As I said, Hugh is the epitome of sexy, and he and Nicole share some great chemistry as lovers, like archetypes of masculine and feminine, yin and yang. But it seems no lady is immune from the Drover's charm. He's also a horse whisperer of sorts, and there's a scene where he's using his horse whisperer magic on Lady Ashley's dramatically beautiful black Andalusian mare, and it's almost like a courtship and seduction, eyes locked as they circle each other like dancing a fandango.
But it's not all about Lady Ashley and the Drover's growing love for each other, glorious romantic kisses, nor a gratutitous shirtless Hugh-fest (Oh My!). It's also the serious story of racism, of the domination of one culture by another, of an Eden spoiled. There's a scene from the film The New World that pains me a little and has stayed with me - the image of the first European boot setting foot onto the pristine sands of North America, leaving a footprint, and what that symbolic footprint means - and I am reminded of that when I see the crocodile-skin boots of Neil Fletcher, Faraway Downs' treacherous station manager and Nullah's poor excuse for a father.
It always saddens me when a foreign culture comes to a New World, someone else's home, and then starts telling the indigenous folk which bars they can drink in and which they cannot. Instead of reverence and respect, forcing their way of life and beliefs upon them, as in the period of assimilation, or religious beliefs, however well-meaning, and exploiting the land and it's resources. Australia's Aboriginal people have one of the world's most unique and beautiful cultures and histories, most of it an oral history handed down through the generations, and, much like the North American indigenous cultures' histories, must be respected, remembered and preserved, a gift to her future generations. Just as Nullah goes walkabout with his grandfather.
Now, excuse me please while I book a seat on the next Qantas flight to Sydney! :)
Enjoy the triumphant Lost? by Chris Martin and Coldplay - I like this simple piano version.
