Went to see Australia
Went to see Australia (Baz Luhrmann, 2008). Wow. We had established already that Baz Lurhmann was a postmodern genius, but it's always such a treat. Four excellent films in 16 years, no doubt because when you want to produce something that good, you take your time (like Quentin Tarantino). One thing I hated, though (in Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet and the magnificent Moulin Rouge I loved everything): the child narrator device. Boring. Cheesy, but not in a good wink-wink way. Just annoying. Possibly, seeing he wanted to draw a very wide audience, he thought it would add to the women's picture elements, but, Baz, you didn't need to do that! It was already extraordinarily moving (not a dry eye in the audience)! That child's voice is acceptable when you see him speak the words, but when you hear the voiceover bits it just makes you cringe.
Everything else is absolutely perfect. Spendidly hyperreferenced (principal hypotext: The Wizard of Oz [remember, students, how I'm always telling you it's THE hypotext in US pop culture, well, it works in Australia / Australia too, you see], wonderfully (ab)used, and who cares if it's not PC to reduce Aboriginal chanting to primitive "Over the Rainbow" dreaming?), it pays delightful tributes to dozens of Hollywood movies of the 1940s and 1950s (and yes there are elements that echo Out of Africa, but I find all those critics who keep comparing the two and saying Australia isn't as good sadly misinformed, it's like saying Reservoir Dogs isn't as good as The Godfather or something -- grossly beside the point).
The filming is perfect. The scenery is to die for (not only for fans of Australia like myself who love it anyway -- I bet anyone else will feel like visiting it when they see those pictures, cf. Luhrmann's arrangement with the tourist authorities) Nicole Kidman is GORGEOUS. She is the most beautiful woman alive (no, it's not Penelope Cruz or Monica Bellucci or Scarlett Johansson after all). Her clothes alone are worth the price of admission. Hugh Jackman is GORGEOUS. He is the new Clint Eastwood. In Australia with his beard he is as charismatic as the Clint Eastwood of 1960s spaghetti westerns: truly mesmerizing. In Australia when he shaves he echoes Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, etc. The directing is fine. And with actors looking like that, anyway...
