I am a sucker for a great romance. . . for opposites attract and two halves can make more than just a whole. And this season we've got a great epic-sized romance on the big screen. "Australia" is a great movie to take you into the holiday season with a sigh and a tear and quite a few chuckles. Not to mention the eye candy of Hugh Jackman in full "pumped up" cowboy mode. Rearrrrrrrr. And rrrrrrr some more.The movie is set in 1939 outside Darwin Australia. . . a time of turmoil and prejudice and fears run amuck. Lady Sarah Ashley's husband dies as she is on the way from Britain to join him (and possibly tear him a new one for all his infidelities) and convince him to return to England.
But she arrives to find him dead and her cattle ranch/station in disrepair and under threat from the biggest beef producer in the north of Australia. She takes on the challenge of getting her cattle to market-- with "Drover" who is Hugh Jackman in fabulously scruffy and appealing guise-- and a scrabbled-together crew. They are trying to break the ruthless cattleman's monopoly on selling beef to the military. . . and it's fascinating to see the changes in Nicole Kidman's character as a result of her experiences. Yes, they get the cattle to the port-- but at some cost-- and Sarah is liberated from the "lady" role forever.
Some of the lingering shots and staging of scenes are right out of a big old historical romance novel. And since I'm a historical romance writer, that's no slam-- they're just like you imagine they would be in your mind when reading. Including a wonderful reverse "bathing" scene in which Lady Sarah gets an eyeful and begins to forget her fresh widowhood and her city ways. We get an eyeful, too. That one scene alone was worth the cost of admission!
But the whole story is set against the fears and prejudices of the times, including the racial prejudice that divided the white settlers from the aborigines. The brunt of inter-racial scorn fell on the children of mixed parentage. It was as if the settlers were content to leave the aboriginal children with their people, but children of mixed unions were culled out and shipped off to "mission school". . . supposedly for their own good, but in reality to remove all evidence that white men had been indulging in sex with aboriginal women. (Sounds all too familiar, huh?)
One mixed-blood child in particular, "Nullah," embodies the tensions that fuel the film: opposing races and traditions and world views. He lives on the Ashleys' cattle station and must constantly duck the "coppers" who try to take him off to the mission school. Lady Ashley (like we the viewers) falls in love with Nullah and wants to keep him with his family on the ranch. She is reminded powerfully that she is no longer in England. . . that pride (of heritage) is NOT power. And she nearly loses Nullah and Drover and everything that she loves as the Japanese bomb Darwin harbor and begin to invade.
Perhaps the most affecting part of the movie for me was the marvelous portrayal of the aboriginal ideas of the earth and how all things are related. The old aboriginal wise man "King George" explains that everything has it's song. And that part of our task as humans is to learn these songs and honor them and to sing our own songs back into the universe. Wow. It was heartwarming and wrenching at the same time, and a really sobering look at the truth and wisdom and beauty we have nearly lost from our native peoples.
If you have a chance to see Australia, please do. It's a holiday treat that will keep you warm in the wintery days ahead.
So what is your favorite epic? Was there one scene in a film that has stayed with you through the years and you just can't forget? Do you have a favorite movie soundtrack you listen to while working?
As a part of our 12 Days of Christmas promotion, I'll be giving away the soundtrack to Australia! (along with one of my own much loved (pre-used) favorites!) Lovely music that makes you dream of wide-open spaces and fabulous, heroic action!
Happy Holidays!
