“前に進むための涙もある。”
オーストラリアにやって来た英国貴族、レディ・サラ。亡夫の遺した土地を守るため、粗暴なカウボーイとともに1500頭の牛を売るべく長旅に出ることになり……。ニコール・キッドマン主演による壮大なラヴ・ストーリー。
製作費: $130,000,000 (195億円)
興行収入: $211,787,511 (318億円)
推定収支: $81,787,511 (123億円)
※製作費・興行収入はTMDBのデータを参照しています。収支は(興行収入 - 製作費)で算出したFindKey独自の推定値であり、広告宣伝費や諸経費は含まれません (1ドル=150円換算)。
監督: バズ・ラーマン
脚本: バズ・ラーマン / Ronald Harwood / Richard Flanagan
制作: G. Mac Brown / Catherine Knapman / バズ・ラーマン
撮影監督: マンディ・ウォーカー
制作会社: Bazmark / 20th Century Fox / Dune Entertainment / Ingenious Film Partners
King George angry at them white fellas. King George say them white fella bad spirit. Must be taken from this land. Australia is directed by Baz Luhrmann and Luhrmann co-writes the screenplay with Stuart Beattie, Ronald Harwood, and Richard Flanagan. It stars Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, David Wenham, Bryan Brown and Brandon Walters. It took a bit of a kicking from the pro critics upon release, where the consensus is that at a cost of $130 million this intended sprawling epic is an ambitious flop. For the record at the box office it practically made double its outlay, so certainly wasn't a financial flop. It's a mixed bag for sure, a film of two differing halves. First half sends Kidman's English aristocrat to Northern Australia after she inherits the sprawling Faraway Downs Ranch. Here she finds herself in the middle of a dirty take over plot and reluctantly makes a working pact with Jackman's stock-man Drover. Seeds are sewn here for a bit of a screwball relationship, all while a cattle feud brews and the Aborigines at the ranch - particularly young Nulllah (Walters) - are in fear of racial tension. Pic then flip-flops into a love story, a war story (as the Japanese attack Darwin) and the bile strewn historical strand that features the "stolen generations" of half-white/half-Aboriginal children. With all this going on, as Lurhman nods to classic epics from classic era past, the vistas are stunning and the hard work of cattle ranching is given genuine credence (helps having the rugged Jackman leading the way). Set pieces are exciting, the Japanese aerial attacks realistic for dramatic worth, while the chemistry between the leads, a worthy child performance from Walters and a quality weasel villain turn from Wenham ensure performances don't harm the pic in that department. There's even the likes of Ben Mendelsohn and John Jarratt in secondary support slots. It isn't all it can be, and tonally it feels like there might have been some behind the scenes interference (three co-writers probably didn't help). Yet there are some genuine moments of fun and beauty here, mixed with some heart string tugs and reflection of an historical time that should never ne forgotten. Luhrman reached for "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and didn't quite make it, but it's honourable and has some damn fine craft for entertainment purpose. 7/10
