Down under

Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge, Cold Mountain) has not always chosen the best scripts in the world.

The horrifying Dogville and the resoundingly icky Birth are two scripts that Kidman would have done better to pass on. However, since the success of Cold Mountain, her choices have been taking higher roads, and Australia is no exception.

I was not really looking forward to watching a three-hour film the night before an 8 a.m. class, but I was very pleasantly surprised once the film actually started. Although it starts off like a ’40s screwball comedy, it changes to a combination of Quigley Down Under, Rabbit Proof Fence and City Slickers with a little magical realism thrown in for fun.

When the very prissy Lady Sarah Ashley decides that her husband has wasted enough time and money on the cattle ranch in Australia, she decides to travel from England to Faraway Downs and insist he sell it. She has convinced herself that he is there solely to spend time with the Aborigine women and away from her. Once she arrives, she meets Hugh Jackman (Van Helsing, Kate & Leopold) whom she is certain is after her body the moment he sees her.

Since the trip to the ranch is so long, they are forced to camp out along the way. On the first night, Hugh Jackman takes the most spectacular bath in film history. And ladies, the $3 admission is worth it just for that.

But aside from the eye candy, the film has a lot of positive points, and several negatives. The cinematography is wonderful both in terms of scenery and more intimate shots. The editing is phenomenal in so many places that it’s sometimes hard to believe it was filmed rather than created digitally.

The film has some very funny scenes such as Kidman and Jackman’s first meeting, which ends in her lingerie raining down on bystanders. It also has some exceptionally sad moments. But the story itself doesn’t actually belong to the major stars. Instead, it belongs to Nalah, a half-white, half-Aborigine boy, about 8 years old.

Told from his point of view, the film has a childlike innocence that makes us believe that when people make promises, they always keep them and that magic is not only possible, but expected. But there is also an awareness that we can’t really understand the motives of some people and that being mean is sometimes just the way adults are.

Sadly, the film does point out the intense racism and sexism in Australia in the ’40s, some of which still exists. Not that film shouldn’t be truthful, but it is hard to watch. It was very strange that while both white and Aborigine people were allowed in Australian movie theaters, mixed race children were not.

As a vegan, it was also difficult to not get too worked up about scenes depicting cattle being sent to market for slaughter. But if you can see around these points and enjoy the story as a piece of historical fiction, it’s pretty good. It’s a nice change from the standard mainstream film featuring loads of sex and violence. Australia has both, but its excellent story makes them more than worthwhile.