australia, the movie

So I went to see Australia in Australia. (I like irony like that. I also sat at the base of the Notre Dame and read a few paragraphs of The Hunchback of Notre Dame because it seemed cool. No one else happened to comment that it was, but I appreciated my effort.)

Considering how Australia did in America, you probably haven't seen it, so I'll go ahead and fill you in on a few details. It's about Australia. And it's a bit more accurate than Finding Nemo.

Australia sees itself as an epic film and thus highlights two epic events -- the Japanese bombing of Darwin in WWII and the stolen generations of Aboriginal children forced from their parents. Now, both of these topics are genuinely huge and important and each could quite fairly be given a couple documentaries, as well as the Hollywood treatment. Squishing both into one, along with, golly gee, a plot, was packing it in and didn't quite manage to do either topic justice.

That being said, though, for an attempt to stuff all that in one place, they hung on and gave it a good, solid go*, if not quite the definitive movie. Any other movie, though, will have to exercise something of a greater creativity of title.

To be fair, if this movie is the only communication that many people will receive about Australia's history, culture and geography, you can see why they'd include such salient (yet oft-overlooked) details. You can argue that Australia's too political, or that the topics aren't the most salient points of the plot, or that they aren't the most salient points of Australian history, but they are important and it makes sense to draw attention to them.

Before the movie actually starts, there's a warning for Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders that there may be images of people who have passed away; the movie also talks about the Aboriginal taboo against saying a deceased person's name. While Australians may already be aware of these concepts, I wasn't too well versed in them and found their mention fascinating.

The plot, like the history, is relatively predictable (rugged bloke; sophisticated lady; 1-D bad guy, hmmm), though ending is up for grabs until we actually get to it three hours later. I’m not really one to complain about length in movies, though. Perhaps it’s my Calvin years rubbing off, but I like feeling like I’ve got my money’s worth. But yes, there was one line at the end that was terribly cheesy. The Wizard of Oz is wonderful in its own rite, and, despite the (witty?) linguistic tie to Australia and a couple catchy tunes, I think it's far better to leave it there.

Having heard rave reviews of the Australian scenery in the film, I found it actually not as impressive as I'd thought it'd be. Of course Australia has amazing scenery, but I was expecting a tour brochure brought to life, and got more of a reality check. Dust prevailed steadily throughout, with a few glimpses of vast expanses and even fewer of with green, or really many colors save dust.

Also, based on Australia, you’d really think cattle were the national beast, with horses as its heroes. Kangaroos do make an appearance (and a rather hasty exit), but it’s entirely devoid of cuddly koalas (and it calls itself Australian!).

What relation does Australia bear to Australia today? Well, there are those accents, in varying degrees. And I did hear a good number of vocabulary words (sheila, good on ya, etc.). And it is clearly part of the history that has formed the country into what it is today. As an outsider myself, though, I don't think I can actually go much farther. I like both, though I have to say I like the country a whole lot more.

As for the acting, the adorable little Aboriginal child whose name I’d look up if this were a real review really took the prize. He of course looked the part, but also did a tremendous job acting, as well as endearing roughly all of the audience. Many Australians aren’t too crazy about Nicole Kidman, though she seemed to fit the supercilious bill fairly well in the beginning. I wouldn’t write her off entirely, but would advocate finding a different female lead for the more creatively titled film.

Oh, and did I mention Hugh Jackman? Alas, it turns out that all Australian men are not quite carbon copies.

*Go here is used, in the Australian sense, as a noun. Wasn't that clever?