Frankly My Dear, We Do Give A Damn

Sydney Morning Herald

Wednesday November 19, 2008

Emily Dunn and Garry Maddox

NICOLE KIDMAN, the star of Baz Luhrmann's epic movie Australia, seems to be one of the few people in the country willing to put the film into some perspective.

"It's not meant to be the second coming," the actor said yesterday as the film was finally unveiled after months of anticipation and rumour. "This is a celebration for me and hopefully for this country."

Try telling that to the beleaguered film and tourism industries, which have pinned their hopes on an Australia-led recovery, or the studio, 20th Century Fox, which has spent $US130 million ($200 million) on a film that runs for more than 160 minutes. Even Luhrmann himself hopes it will become a modern classic in the style of Out Of Africa, Gone With The Wind and Casablanca.

"I wanted to make a film that everyone could go and see," he said at a news conference before last night's world premiere in Sydney. "You make an action flick for 17-year-old boys, you make Sex And The City for women . . . I wanted to make one of these old-fashioned movies . . . everyone can come to the table and have a big meal."

Kidman, fresh off a plane from her home in Nashville, was joined by her co-star Hugh Jackman. He said his role as the drover was "the greatest role I have had".

"I don't say it lightly . . . it was genuinely an amazing opportunity, and something I will never forget and am incredibly grateful for."

Also at the Sydney news conference yesterday were the co-stars Bryan Brown, David Wenham, Jack Thompson and Brandon Walters, 11, who steals the show as a free-spirited Aboriginal boy called Nulla.

Even the weather had a touch of the dramatic at last night's premiere.

Overcast skies and light rain greeted Jackman and Kidman, and 3000 guests at the George Street cinemas.

The cast and crew were having their first chance to see the film after its delayed completion last week.

"I don't think I've ever felt this attached to a premiere or how it's going to go," Jackman said, saying he felt both excited and a little nervous.

"As my old acting teacher said, nerves just mean you care."

David Ngoombujarra, who plays the brother of Jackman's character in the film, hoped that it would send a reconciliation message "so that all of us mob could come together like family".

Kidman stars as an English aristocrat, Lady Sarah Ashley, who arrives in Darwin to sell her late husband's cattle property. She ends up falling in love with the country and Jackman's "rough-hewn" drover.

But beyond the romance, camp comedy and stylised adventure, the film is also the story of reconciliation between indigenous and white Australia.

Some early reviews said the film was too long, but Luhrmann said he was not affected by criticism. "I made Moulin Rouge," he said referring to the 2001 film that divided critics, but was a commercial hit.

"I make a joke that [Australia] is 2 1/2 hours because every single person in the country is in the movie."

He said he never set out to make a film that would spawn a $40 million tourism campaign.

"When I started to do this film I wanted to do it froma perspective of someonewho was far, far away. In a million years I never thought the project would be called Australia."

The film has also sparked heated speculation about the ending, with reports that Luhrmann was forced by film studios to change an ending where the drover dies.

Luhrmann said it was now up to audiences to decide if the film would become a modern classic.

"Ultimately it is between the film and the audience," he said yesterday. "Right now, our job is to give the opportunity for someone to connect with the film, for two hours of escape or transformation [and] that they are not robbed of that opportunity. We have given our all and done our best."

Yesterday Jackman again denied the reports that he filmed up to six different endings for the film. "This ending found us." he said.

Other guests at last night's premiere included Peter Garrett, Jennifer Hawkins, Shannon Noll, Dawn Fraser, Ian Thorpe, Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch and Lucy Turnbull.

The wet weather made for some colourful scenes, with workers hastily erecting a canopy while event staff vacuumed the red carpet and a bomb sniffer dog patrolled in front of hundreds of fans.

Luhrmann was accompanied by his wife and co-creative spirit, Catherine Martin.

Wenham, who plays a villain in the film, said it was great seeing so many people turning out for a premiere of an Australian film.

© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

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