Movie Monday: Australia

“I sing you to me.”  It’s my new favorite phrase after watching the movie “Australia.”  The movie centers around a blossoming love story between a man and woman; man and cattle; and a forbidden love for our Aboriginal narrator, Nullah. There are so many facets to this story, but you will instantly fall in love this little boy. He steals the show.

“Australia” tells the story of a young, wealthy English woman who leaves her massive estate in England and heads down under to find out what’s going on with her family’s cattle business. The Ashleys seems to be running out of money, despite the fact that Lady Sarah Ashley’s husband spends almost all of his time on their property, Faraway Downs. 
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The story opens to Nullah, played by newcomer, Brandon Walters, being taught the “black man’s way” by his warrior chief grandfather, King George.  Nullah explains that he is neither a “black fella” nor “white fella”, but he is mixed blood or “creamy.”  It’s the term used to described children of mixed race during this time in Australia.  

The movie is set during World War II, but there’s another battle going in Australia - the battle over cattle.  We get our first glimpse of what’s to come when King George and Nullah see “white fellas doing bad business” moving cattle across the river.  King George makes the bright-eyed little boy hide under water.  Sure enough, a white man falls into the water faced down nearly on top of Nullah with a glass-tipped arrow throw his chest.  

Meanwhile, Drover (Hugh Jackman) is knee-deep in a bar brawl and has misses the arrival of Lady Ashley (Nicole Kidman), at the wharf.  If that wasn’t enough, she finds him at the saloon where the fight has moved to the streets.  Drover is so into the fight that he doesn’t realize he’s about to use Lady Ashley’s luggage as a weapon. After the brawl, the two meet and immediately begin a hate-hate relationship on the two-day journey to Faraway Downs. As Nullah says, “they get along like a burning house.”  If Nullah’s big brown eyes don’t steal your heart, his accent throughout the movie will.  He did a fantastic job for his debut film.  

In doing some research, I found out this was Walters’ first movie.  He is really of Aboriginal descent, and he was discovered by the director’s (Baz Lurhmann) casting crew at a swimming pool in his hometown.

Nullah’s encounter with the dead man scares him back to Faraway Downs where he lives with his mother and grandmother. 

The three main characters all arrive on the ranch at the same time.  Drover and Lady Ashley in an overloaded, Beverly Hillbillies style truck with two aboriginal men perched on top and an alcoholic accountant between them on the front seat.  Nullah arrives on a bloodstained horse and takes cover in a dilapidated water tank. The horse acts as a messenger to Drover that something has happened.  We soon learn that the dead man with the glass-tipped spear through his chest is Lady Ashley’s husband.  

Nullah peers at Lady Ashley through a hole in the tank.  He is immediately drawn to her.  His idea of someone coming in the nick of time is our term for divine intervention or fate.  He learned from King George that through songs, he could lead people to where they needed to be.  “I sing her to me,” he says when he sees her for the first time.  It becomes so much a part of the story that for some scenes, you actually wish he could use a chant to make things right.

But it’s a little too late for divine intervention when Lady Ashley comes to town.  Her husband is dead and she is now left alone to unravel the mystery of their moneyless cattle business. She has to decide whether to sell to cattle baron, Carney, who’s already snatching up their livestock; or drive the cattle to the city of Darwin and sell to the military before Carney. She becomes known for the rest of the movie as Mrs. Boss. 

There are a lot of twists and turns in this movie. I learned a lot of Australian history.  The movie also shed some light on Aboriginals.  It was a welcomed change to see the Aussie view of WWII.  That part of the story reminded me of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie.  I had seen some of the previews and thought it could be interesting.  I knew that loved Nicole Kidman, and Hugh Jackman in any movie and any or role is a must see. But this just wasn’t my type of film.  Dirt and cows and war and more dirt and desert land -Yuck! 

Were it not for the unfolding love stories between Drover and Mrs. Boss and their love for Nullah; I probably wouldn’t have finished it. 

But since I did and it would’ve been excellent without the love stories; I thought I’d highlight a few of my favorite scenes in categories.  Starting with…

The Blood Rush:

While this movie will make you laugh and shed a tear, there are quite a few scenes that will have your heart pounding out of your chest.  The two that stood out the most for me was the cattle drive to Darwin.  Fletcher, the manager at Faraway Downs and a Carney insider, set traps for the cattle that sent them on a wild stampede. Without going into too much detail, just know you will be on the edge of your seat watching this scene. 

The other heart-pounder that I can tell you about without spoiling the end is when “the coppers” (Nullah’s words) come to Faraway Downs looking for Nullah.  Nullah informs his audience at the beginning of the movie that, “them coppers come take me away.  They wanna put me on that Mission Island. Make me into white fella.”

Nullah and his mother both hide in a water tank until it’s safe.  One of the men decides to get a drink and cool off, which causes the water to fill the tank.  Nullah’s safe haven is tragically taken away.

Just as a side note, you should know that there are so many things happening during and after the Japanese attack on Darwin that I would love to tell you about, but it would ruin the whole movie for you.  Just be prepared to cry, celebrate and cry some more.

The Heart-Warmers:

I believe love comes in many forms.  The budding love story between Mrs. Boss and Nullah touched my heart for a couple of reasons. First, the woman we meet in the beginning of the movie strikes you as a snooty aristocrat who just may be too self-absorbed to even care  about a child.  But the tougher Mrs. Boss develops a soft side when Nullah needs her most. 

Secondly, Mrs. Boss tells Nullah the story of the “Wizard of Oz”.  She sings a very poor, yet funny rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” that becomes a dream song for Nullah, and in a way, for Mrs. Boss.  It reminded me of how I used to sing the same song to Austin every night before bed. 

We would read a book first, and then I would sing the whimsical tune to her. Even on the nights when I was super tired and thought I could get away with not singing, Austin wouldn’t let me leave the room without singing about bluebirds and lemon drops.  When she was about 4 years old, she started singing it with me.

What I liked most:

I liked how Lady Ashley left her cushy life in England to become this brave and capable cattle baron.  During this period, women were supposed to be seen and not heard.  She came to town with a huge roar and earned the respect of the male cattle drivers.

What I Liked Least:

My least favorite part of the movie was seeing how the Aboriginal people were treated.  I was happy to learn the history, but sadden by the fact that these people, like blacks in the U.S., were considered inferior.  The women were good enough to, as our cutie-pie narrator puts it, “make wrong-side business” with; but the embarrassment of a “mixed blood” child robbed many Aboriginal women of their children.  

The children would be rounded up and shipped off to a place called Mission Island. They became known as the Stolen Generation.  According to the end of the movie, it went on until around 1973, which tells me that there are children from this Stolen Generation who are my age.  Really sad…

The Recommendation:

I definitely recommend this movie to anyone and to true movie lovers who haven’t seen it.  I love all kinds of movies.  It doesn’t matter if they are Oscar Award winners or never heard of Indies.  I did have to step out of the box a little for  “Australia” because I’m not a big western movie fan.   But this movie was fun and adventurous.  I liked that it showed a woman in a strong leading role during a time when woman were supposed sit back and be pretty.  This movie proved that women could be cute and prissy, but still roll up their sleeves and get the job done.

I urge you to log on to your Netflix account and move “Australia” to the top of your list.  If it’s not on the list, then search for it and add it to your queue. C’mon…you know how it works.  Trust me…you won’t be disappointed.