Just Watched: Australia
I definitely hesitated before going to the cinema. First, it’s Nicole Kidman… (I have no idea why I am not fond of her… but yeah, I am not that fond of her.) Second, if you know how long the movie would be – I guarantee you would hesitate too – it’s a whooping 165 minutes i.e. 2 hours and 45 minutes.
Anyway, I think I came out of the movie theatre more satisfied than I thought I would be. It started off somehow comedian but then the romantic elements of the started stemming after an hour of the film had started. We should not forget that this film also address the issue of stolen generation. (It’s not new, but Luhrmann did a great job making the process of learning about stolen generation more tolerable i.e. way better than what Rabbit-proof Fence did.) Also, considering that this film is longer than 2.45 hours, Luhrmann deserves a medal for that there weren’t any dull moments. And hell, watching Hugh Jackman showering in the outback and riding a horse in an impeccable manner cannot be that shabby.
However, what I do enjoy more than the movie itself are the movie reviews. Foreign film critics are generally quite gentle while Aussie film critics couldn’t be more critical to their national film. The Age, Canberra Times and Western Australian all gave neutral to negative film reviews. But I guess that’s only true to the Aussie culture… and they really cracked me up!
Here’s what Schembri of Canberra Times said:
As for the visuals, the film is pretty — you cannot point a camera at the outback and not get something impressive — but there are only so many wide shots of the Aussie outback that the human mind can stand.
And finally, this speaks my heart:
If only Baz had made the damn thing shorter by at least half an hour.