Three Films in One


Given that Australia is a three hour film, each hour is effectively a genre in itself: culture clash rom-com, epic romance, and war movie. As such, it is tonally all over the place, especially when you add sad orphan and awkwardly-inserted villain. The film looks great, but it never really comes together.

Best films ever:

Snakes on a Plane
Snakes on a Train
Snakes in a Drain
Snakes on Mark Twain

reply

I'd seen this movie two years ago and it just came back into my mind, for some unknown reason. I was thinking the same thing. It starts off with some goofy stuff (like the guy running alongside the truck) but then turns dark with the woman's drowning. I remember being so confused with the inconsistent tone of the film.

I was also quite upset at the film for tricking me into a depressing emotion twice. At two points in the movie, we are led to believe that the boy was killed, and both times he's not. In this way it cheaply plays with your emotions. I can't help but think that this is the only reason he was in this movie, to be a character who we cared about and who would trigger certain emotions.

This all being said though, I did enjoy the film, and I'll probably show this to my girlfriend at some time in the future.

Read my short story, Cat's Milk.
http://mstrainj7.wix.com/mstrainjr

reply

Totally agree. I have nothing against Baz's over-the-top glamourized lacquered style b/c that kind of stuff can be really wonderful and enjoyable when it's done right. My biggest problem with this film is also the inconsistency. It felt like he couldn't make up his mind over what kind of film he really wanted it to be.

reply

That was my problem too. I saw it when I was a huge Kidman fan, still under the spell of The Hours, Dogville, The Others, Moulin Rouge! (I don't remember any actress who had so many amazing movies in a short time), so I was looking for to this, cause I hoped this was gonna be an epic like Gone With The Wind, Out of Africa. Well, it was GWTW and OOA and God know how many other movies, put together. It was just too much for one movie, didn't fit.

reply

Because of the long running time of this film, I've only caught segments of it so far. I don't care for epic movies. Personally I would have liked to have seen a shorter story that concentrated on the aboriginal mystic stuff.

reply