Review of Australia (2008) by Marcus H — 10 Aug 2016

This film is the definition of EPIC. I see a lot of people hating on the acting or the love story. Well fine you don't like Nicole Kidman or Mr. Wolverine fair enough. This is an Australian masterpiece "Kidman, Jackman, Luhrmann" that has a ring to it! I'm not touch with Aussie cinema (I've seen all the Mad Max films, 1981's Gallipoli, the Crocodile Dundee films, Disney's The Rescue Rangers: Down Under, a lot of late great Steve Irwins show, 2011's Sanctum, Tomorrow, When the War Began [the film - liked it; very Red Dawn, I see they've made a TV series] and Netflix's export Mako Mermaids but not much else oh and The Babadook loved that instant horror classic!).

Like much of the world I've follow Luhrmann's films since Romeo & Juliet. I guess if you expected another Moulin Rouge this was a disappointment; it's not a musical. It's highly stylist but nothing like The Great Gatsby. Haven't ventured to that continent yet but it gives one the impression it provides a faithful portrayal of life in Australia in the 1940s. Anyway I assume this is their Gone With The Wind it's a sprawling adventure. It is a longer film but the pacing is on point. So at under 3 hours those who can't sit through a single viewing it's not for them.

Like all of Luhrmann's work it's written produced and directed by him. His touch is on every frame yet its nothing like any of his other films and thats what make them great. He likes working with John Leguizamo, DiCaprio and Kidman very cool you might realize you saw one of them in another picture he made but that's it. This is a fairy tale love story, taking place in a blossoming post industrial society dealing with the racial division of a lands native culture and it's a war film. Your going to laugh and your going to cry; it is freaking epic...