In 1939, the British Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) goes to Australia to take charge of her deceased husband’s cattle station; she aims to get rid of it, but is immediately drawn into a conflict. Director Baz Luhrmann never seems to do anything on a small scale and this Aussie version of Gone With the Wind (with a dash of Wizard of Oz) is a gloriously old-fashioned and corny throwback to 1940s movies. Part of the charm is the intentional silliness, but the two leads are also obviously dedicated to this project and young Brandon Walters is quite compelling. Uneven and covers a lot of ground, but this soap opera always has one more goodie up its sleeve.
2008-Australia-Britain-U.S. 165 min. Color. Widescreen. Produced by Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Knapman, G. Mac Brown. Directed by Baz Luhrmann. Screenplay: Baz Luhrmann, Ronald Harwood, Stuart Beattie, Richard Flanagan. Cinematography: Mandy Walker. Cast: Nicole Kidman (Sarah Ashley), Hugh Jackman (Drover), David Wenham (Neil Fletcher), Brandon Walters (Nullah), Jack Thompson, Bryan Brown… Ben Mendelsohn.
Trivia: Russell Crowe and Heath Ledger were allegedly considered for the part of Drover.
Last word: “By choosing to set the film between the two world wars, I was able to bind the historical romance to what really is the greatest scar in the history of this country: the Stolen Generation [the thousands of mixed-race Aboriginal children forcibly removed from their families by the state and assimilated into white society during the 20th century]. It was a miracle to be making the film with so many Aboriginals and members of the Stolen Generation in the film and working on it with us. Just as we finished filming, the Prime Minister [Kevin Rudd] came out and delivered the long-awaited and much-needed apology to the Stolen Generation, which has put us on a road of change.” (Luhrmann, The Guardian)
