Australia~

It seems that for the past three days, everybody's been asking me whether or not I've seen 'Australia'. My housemates talk about it, my classmates talk about it, and even my EALD lecturer talks about it! But then again, it probably has to do with the fact that our English assignment involves watching the movie.

However, that still doesn't cancel out the fact that 'Australia' has become the main theme of my life these past three days. .


Australia Australia Australia..


So finally, this evening I decided to part with my precious and beloved RM8 to go see a movie I've been curious about since forever. ('Forever' in my case spans for only three days. Haha.) I didn't have high expectations for the movie, since a lot of my friends said it was long, draggy, and sleep-inducing. Despite the scathing reviews, I was still interested. There's no point of avoiding it when i'll still have to watch it for my assignment later on anyways. Sadly, only two of my classmates said it was a good movie, and to this I responded, "Wait, it's NOT boring?". (Sorry for not being enthusiastic enough. Aih). The abundance of bad reviews for this flick didn't help either. When I came into the cinema, I had no expectations at all.


But then, coming out of the cinema, I'm glad to say I actually liked the movie. A lot. I don't care how many people hated it or found it cliched and predictable. Because it is cliched and predictable. And that's probably what makes me like it. I' m such a sucker for love stories and happy endings.


The line "welcome to Australia" said by Huge Jackman quickly sums up the whole movie. By watching it, you get a glimpse of what the Australian aboriginal culture is like, the beauty of the country itself, and how to use the word "crickey" as a foul language! Very interesting indeed.

'Australia' starts with a narration by Nullah, an Australian aborigine child with mixed parentage. As the movie goes on, Nullah's natural and direct narration seeps in from time to time. I like the fact that a child's point of view was used to tell the story; it makes everything so simple and honest. There's always a wonderful kind of wisdom found in the simple words of a kid.


This movie is set just before the start of World War II. The story goes that an Englishwoman, Lady Sarah Ashley (played by Nicole Kidman), inherits Faraway Downs, a patch of land in Australia, along with a herd of 2000 cattles after the death of her husband. With the help of Drover (Hugh Jackman), she travels through the harsh but beautiful Australian terrain to finish what her husband set out to do- sell the cattles in Darwin.


Along the way, as can be predicted by anybody with an IQ higher than 10, Drover and Lady Sarah fall in love. The two leads have a considerable amount of chemistry, so it's not painful to watch. Lady Sarah also learns to love Nullah, and becomes his foster mother. But, before everybody gets to live happily ever after, they have to dodge a typical cookie-cutter bad guy, cut out in the form of Fletcher. He is what every villain is supposed to be- unsympathetic, vicious, and vindictive. Just totally pure evil. No inner dilemmas and no good side at all. Knowing the well-worn format of this movie, i think everybody knows what will eventually happen to our villain.


This story also sheds light on the unequal treatment of aborigines in Australia. Nullah, for example, was forced to go to a special camp just because he is a "cream", someone who is half white and half aboriginal. Aborigines were also not allowed to enter bars nor hospitals. How unfair..


My favourite part of the movie would be where Lady Sarah tries to sing a song for Nullah after his mother's death. I find it very funny and sweet. I also liked the part where Lady Sarah says that Drover would make a good father. It's simple but rather romantic in my opinion. Nonetheless, there are some parts of the movie that I didn't like as much. The fact that the old man "King George" makes an appearance almost every five minutes in the movie is pretty annoying sometimes. At certain scenes, his appearance became unintentionally funny. Seeing his naked backside at the ending is even more disturbing. Huh.

No matter how much one may hate this movie, one can't deny that the cinematography is just beautiful. The visuals are a feast for the eyes, and eye-candy Hugh Jackman wasn't too bad either. For me, it was worth the RM8 simply to see the beautiful sceneries of Australia.

As a whole, I would say this movie is worth a watch. It has certainly motivated me to work harder in my studies, and pass the TEE so that I can go to Australia and ranch cattles all day long. And probably marry a drover and adopt some aboriginal children. Haha. A girl can dream..

"Just because it is, doesn't mean it should be"

~Lady Sarah Ashley