It’s a collection of every Australian cliché imaginable: dusty outback landscapes, exaggerated accents, black fellas, boomerangs and even Rolf Harris and his idiosyncratic wobble board. Baz Luhrmann’s long-awaited romantic epic Australia, the country’s most expensive film ever made, had its world premiere last night, but many critics said it did not live up to expectations.
With a budget of £86 million ($130 million) and an A-list cast including Oscar winner Nicole Kidman, Luhrmann’s new film is the most ambitious and hyped film ever made in Australia. Hopes for reviving the sluggish tourism industry rest on it.
The film follows an aristocratic Englishman played by Kidman who inherits a sheep farm in the outback and must lead his herd to save the country with the help of a man known only as Drover, played by Hugh Jackman. This is the story. Set against the backdrop of World War II, the two fall in love and meet an Aboriginal boy along the way, offering a culturally rich story of the Stolen Generations.
It is hoped that the film will not only save the slumping tourism market but also revive the country’s nearly dormant film industry. However, the country’s leading film critics said the film was too long, too conventional, and failed to live up to high expectations.
Jim Schembri of the Melbourne Age said: “Mr Luhrmann is clearly keen to play up Australian clichés to appeal to the tourist market, and Australia is simply annoyed. There are a lot of things,” he said. “It’s not the masterpiece we were expecting,” said ABC’s veteran critic David Stratton.
Luhrmann, who was pressured by the studio to give the film a “happy ending” and only finished editing it 48 hours before screening, admitted yesterday that he was feeling the pressure. Luhrmann, who went £20 million over budget, said: “It’s not the most comfortable thing[to get a bad review]but we gave it our all. We did our best and now it’s out for the world to see.” Ta. Luhrmann, the creative genius behind Moulin Rouge, likens the film to Gone with the Wind and Out of Africa and hopes people will still be watching it 50 years from now. spoke.
Executives at 20th Century Fox Studios hope so, too, launching an ambitious marketing strategy aimed at eclipsing Titanic, which earned $1.8 billion and became the highest-grossing movie of all time. They also hope to take home an Oscar.
Central Sydney was brought to a standstill for last night’s premiere. Stars Kidman and Jackman stumbled on the 135m red carpet. Kidman reluctantly left her 4-month-old baby Sunday Rose with a 24-hour nanny in Tennessee so she could attend the premiere with husband Keith Urban. She thanked Rahman, her “creative soulmate,” for giving her the rare opportunity to play the female lead in a domestic film, calling it a “once-in-a-lifetime movie.”
“Buzz had all sorts of offers and he chose to go all out and make the film here, with an Australian cast and crew,” said the 3,000-strong group who will see the film for the first time last night. Kidman said. “This is a celebration for me and hopefully for this country. It doesn’t mean the second coming. It means let’s have fun and have fun.”
She was not worried about criticism of her acting because there is life after acting. “I might choose to have a few more children.”
Australia’s tourism industry, which saw international visitor arrivals fall by 7.6% in September, is hoping the real star will be the country itself. They hope Australia can do what The Lord of the Rings did for New Zealand, or what Crocodile Dundee did 20 years ago.
Tourism Australia has invested in a £20 million campaign in 22 countries, including two advertisements for director Luhrmann that piggyback on the film. Christopher Brown, from the Australian Tourism and Transport Forum, said even if the film had been a huge flop, it would still have been “the highest-grossing flop the world has known”.
It will be released in the UK on December 26th.
