Taking a Trip Down Under for Only $6.50
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While searching for a movie to see in theaters I came across a new flick, which I had not heard of called “Australia.” Normally, I would watch the trailer to see if that could hold my attention long enough However, this time. I decided to take a risk and attend “Australia” not knowing about the subject matter. I expected a sappy, tacky love story set down under. Thankfully, I was wrong. While “Australia” does have a romantic feel the plot goes much further than two characters falling in love.
“Australia” takes place in the Northern Territory before World War II. Nullah a young half-aboriginal boy played by Brandon Walters, tells the story of English aristocrat Lady Sarah Ashley, played by Nicole Kidman as she makes her way from England to Australia. Lady Ashley is going to help her husband sell a cattle ranch. When Lady Ashley arrives in Australia she learns that her trip is going to be very different from what she initially expected. A rugged stockman called “The Drover,” played by Hugh Jackman, brings Ashley on a three-day trip from Darwin to the ranch called Faraway Downs.
On the ride Drover sends the wrong message to Ashley and from that point on they have a less than amicable relationship. She arrives to the ranch to find that her husband has been killed. Ashley is thus left with the choice of whether or not to sell the ranch to a rival Carney Cattle Company. Although in grief, Ashley decides to find a team to drive 2,000 head of cattle to Darwin, a city north of the ranch. Eventually, Drover arrives back to the ranch and with much persuading on Ashley’s part they pull together a team to drive the cattle north.
Unsurprisingly, Drover and Lady Ashley, in due time, recognize their undying love for each other and decide to live together at Faraway Downs along with Nullah, the aboriginal boy. But just when you think they are retiring to live a peaceful, perfect life the story takes a dramatic turn. Drover leaves the ranch and Lady Ashley in search of a far more adventurous existence. At this desperate time, Nullah is also captured and taken to a Mission Island off the Australian coast. Ashley now has two people in her life gone, so she returns to Darwin in search of a job. What she finds is a city that has just been bombed by Japanese forces. Ashley is then forced to deal with the deaths of many and possibly of the one she loves.
“Australia” is directed by Baz Luhrmann, who also directed “Moulin Rouge” and “Romeo and Juliet.” Lurhmann indulges the viewer in the remarkable cinematography that features panoramic landscape shot in Bowen, Queensland, Camden, New South Wales, Carlton Hill, Kununurra, Western Australia, and many more incredible shooting locations.
“Australia” will interest both teens and adults, especially teens studying World War II because it covers the attack from Japan on Australia, which most teachers do not teach in the American history curriculum. But trust me; this film is not like any monotonous movie you watch in a history class. You will actually stay awake for “Australia.”
