Australia

Australia
Over the Rainbow
Nilda F. Andrews

After an absence of ten years, director Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge) has brought back his favorite leading lady, Nicole Kidman to play the lead in his epic movie and homage to his homeland, Australia. Along with Kidman, Hugh Jackman, also an Australian and of Broadway (The Boy from Oz) and X-Men fame, plays the male lead.

A Mysterious Tragedy

Set during the late 1930s and culminating in World War II, the plot pivots around Lady Sarah Ashley (Kidman), who travels from her home in England to the northern part of Australia, where her husband is trying to establish a cattle ranch. Once there, she experiences a mysterious tragedy and is challenged by a rival cattle baron who is planning to enlarge his own holdings by fraudulently seizing Sarah’s property.

The Ranch

She is initially rescued from this conspiracy by the capriciousness of a half-white, half aborigine boy named Nullah (Brandon Walters) who reveals one of the schemes to drive her off the land. She then realizes to save her ranch, the more than 2,000 heads of cattle must be driven to Darwin where she can sell them and turn a profit. She employs a drover (Jackman) who reluctantly agrees. For this insurmountable task, they must cross hundreds of miles of parched and treacherous land with a handful of inexperienced help, which includes Nullah and a determined Sarah.

Mysticism

Throughout the story, a perpetual image is present—shepherding this unlikely band of drovers through both natural and man-made perils. He is Nullah’s grandfather, King George, played by Walkabout star, David Gulpilil. His presence attaches a quality of mysticism to the film’s characters’ own walkabout.

This movie has drama, humor, romance, suspense, villainy, as well as a dose of historical relevance. In short, it is the type of movie that is not made any more. It’s perfect for the era of baby boomers who grew up with the likes of Howard Hawks’ Red River in its depiction of the cattle drive across the plain and rivers of Australia. It also has the sweeping cinematography of the rugged Australian plains, which is evocative of director John Ford’s favorite movie location—Utah’s Monument Valley. Gen-Xrs and Millennials can put away their MP3 players and other techie devices, take a deep breath, relax and enjoy a movie spectacle.

Casting Nicole Kidman in any role is box office gold—but combining her with Hugh Jackman is absolutely platinum. They are both charismatic and exude sensuality and excitement. It is not a perfect film, but for a brief time, I guarantee you will “fly over the rainbow.”

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