Movie Review: Australia

I remember first seeing the promotion posters for "Australia". This was back when I took the train

This film is ambitious, tackling numerous themes all at once. It deals with the uncertainty of the possibility of attack, and possibly even invasion, by Japanese forces during World War II, shortly after Pearl Harbor. It also focuses on some of the rather extreme difficulties of the legendary Australian Outback, and trying to make a living in a remote and, frankly, mostly hostile landscape. It also focuses quite a bit on racism in Australia, and particularly the "White Australia" state-instituted policy that had aboriginal children separated from their mothers, in order to get a "proper" upbringing with traditional, white values. The working assumption was that white culture was superior, and that the aboriginal culture was so beneath "civilization", that it did not deserve to survive. Of course, the human toll for such a policy was tremendous.

All of that, and there is even a bit of a romance movie, as well. In fact, the romance seems to be the center of the movie, with all of the rest kind of revolving around it.

Yes, there are a lot of themes being juggled all at once.

It is a well done movie, to boot. With all those themes, you could probably guess that it is a long movie, and you'd be absolutely right! It's the better part of three hours long.

Yet, it is worth it. There is a little something for everyone in this film.

Set in northern Australia in the days of the Second World War, with the threat of a Japanese attack, and possible invasion, looming, the feel has an old, Outback feel to. The physical look of the place, as well as the rugged look of most of the men who live on the land, would not necessarily seem out of place in the old American west.

Hugh Jackman is Drover, a cattle rancher, if you will, in the employ of Lady Sarah Ashley, played well by Nicole Kidman, a British aristocrat who's husband is killed while tending to his property, Faraway Downs, in the land down under. So, Lady Ashley decides to take a trip down to Australia herself, with a rather romanticized notion of what it will be like. We find out that the reality is a bit harsher.

As we get our first real look at the famed Outback, we also meet Nullah, a little boy of mixed white and aboriginal blood, played by Brandon Walters. He is living at Faraway Downs with his mom, who is a helper. But we have to keep in mind the times. He is a mixed race boy, who has to essentially hide anytime a white official comes anywhere near the property, lest he be taken away and given a "proper" white education and upbringing. Such is the policy of "White Australia".

Neil Fletcher, played by David Wenham, is Nullah's father, although he tries his best to hide the fact and has rejected and disowned the boy in every way possible.. Yet, he is Nullah's father and, thus, becomes symbolic of the white man's paradoxical presence in Australia.  Instead of accepting the boy as his own son, he refers to him as the little "creamy", a racist term signifying mixed blood.

Fletcher is working under "King" Carney (played by Bryan Brown), a regional land baron of sorts who desperately wants to get a hold of Faraway Downs, and employs Fletcher to help him get it, even through underhanded and unfair means. To this end, Fletcher kills Lady Ashley's husband, the original owner of Faraway owns, but the killing is blamed on King George, who is played by David Gulpilil. King George is Nullah's grandfather, and the link (for the boy and the movie) to the real aboriginal people and traditions. Throughout the movie, he urges Nullah to go walkabout in order to become a man.

In the meantime, Lady Ashley, who is childless and can never have a child, takes kindly to Nullah, and finds herself in the unfamiliar position of being almost motherly to him. So, when she sees Fletcher, who is from beginning to end the bad guy in this movie, handling the child too roughly for her tastes, she slaps him across the face and fires him on the spot. But this leaves her without anyone to take care of the 2,000 cattle, with the obvious exception of Drover, although he has a fierce independent streak. Eventually, he agrees to take the cattle to Darwin, to be shipped off for the war effort. The money that will be received for this is urgent, if Lady Ashley is to keep Faraway Downs. "King" Carney and Fletcher are working to try and beat her to the punch, however. To those ends, Carney has Fletcher try to sabotage the drive of cattle from Faraway Downs to Darwin, which is a treacherous and long enough trip as is, without any further obstructions.

Despite Fletcher's interference, and the difficult trek to Darwin, the group manage to make it, just barely beating out Carney and Fletcher, and managing to get their cattle onto the ship, securing much needed money to hang on to Faraway Downs. After that, Drover and Lady Ashley fall in love and live an ideal life at Faraway Downs for a while.

But Fletcher is absolutely determined to get Faraway Downs, to the point that it becomes an obsession. Having already killed Lady Ashley's husband, he now kills "King" Carney, making it look like an accident, and then takes over his estate empire. Now, he is in a position of power, and wants to force his hand to make Lady Ashley sell off Faraway Downs. In the meantime, Lady Ashley and Drover have a fight that ends their relationship, and lady Ashley is forced to look for employment in Darwin, although she helps the war effort.

Fletcher, having tried for years to get Nullah into the hands of the authorities, so that he loses contact with his native roots, finally manages to get Nullah sent off to a Christian school on an island some miles off the coast of Australia, nearby Darwin. When the Japanese attack, the island is the first place that they hit. Lady Ashley's place of employment is also one of the places that the Japanese hit, and it seems that she is lost underneath the rubble following the attack.

Drover, in the meantime, finds out about the attack, and rushes over to Darwin, realizing only now just how much he loves Lady Ashley. When he arrives, however, he is dismayed at how little left of Darwin there really is. He understands that Lady Ashley is dead, and it seems that he is doomed to live a life of regret for a lost love. But he finds out that Nullah is on the island that was attacked, and in hopes of saving at least the boy, he secretly manages to go to the island, getting past the authorities prohibiting it through physical force.

When he gets there, he finds nothing, initially. But the kids are hiding, and they eventually come to him. His lifelong friend, an aboriginal himself, decides to hold the Japanese off and to distract them, in order to give Drover and the kids at least a chance at escape off the island. It proves enough, although he gets killed in the process.

Drover returns back to shore, and we find out that Lady Ashley is, in fact, alive. There is a tearful reunion between her, Nullah, and Drover.

Yet, it is not quite over yet. Despite the larger story of Australia having been attacked, Fletcher sees this happy reunion, and he is angry and goes mad. Gone is any pretense of civility, as he outright grabs for a gun and aims to take Nullah, his own son, out. But King George, who has been imprisoned in Darwin during the attack, sees him and quickly crafts a spear to kill him, and his mark is true. Still, Fletcher gets a shot off, but Drover runs and dives, managing to save the boy. Fletcher, in the meantime, finds himself impaled by the stick, and collapses and dies, just another casualty of the attack on Darwin.

Lady Ashley, Drover, and Nullah have a chance at happiness again, although King George is to take the boy on walkabout. Lady Ashley was long opposed to it, but she finally understands that the boy is an aboriginal, and needs to go through this, in order to preserve his roots. She struggles with the decision, but ultimately lets him go.

This movie, though long, has a lot to offer. A bit of history, a bit of romance, a bit of humor, a bit of adventure, and some beautiful scenery. A good movie that can appeal to a wide audience, and gets my recommendation.