A U S T R A L I A (the movie)

Last night, out of happy coincidences or fate, we were able to bring my parentals (who are on holidays here for three months :) ), to the the movie Australia! I would say the choice was so APT as my parentals are the "Sound of Music" types, especially my dad. We grew up singing for him everynight with our hands clasped (just like the kids in that movie!).

As other "not so positive reviews" would have said, this epic movie of Baz Lurhmann is an old mother's recipe which I would say is mainly a CHICKEN SOUP that is presented and rehashed with other spices and influences from other old time movies such as :

GONE WITH THE WIND

FROM HERE TO ETERNITY

THE WIZARD OF OZ

PEARL HARBOR

LAWRENCE OF ARABIA

And as almost two hour extravaganza, I laughed, was mesmerized and cried a little.

Not because of the romance between Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) and Drover (Hugh Jackman). But because of the LOVE between a mother and a child.

I must have watched a lot of of Nicole Kidman's movie (I love her in Moulin Rouge), that the romantic Lady Sarah in Australia seems to be eclipsed by her role as "mother" figure and the new "SOUL" or spirit of the more loving and tolerant Australia. Nicole's aura is more of a woman - who found meaning in life by being a MOTHER. And much so in real life, that while filming the movie - she got pregnant.

In essence, this movie is all about Nullah (Brandon Walters), "a half-white, half-Aboriginal child in 1941 set against the pre-modern mysticism of the aboriginal peoples crashing against the modern world's government-sanctioned racism and world war".

I am very romantic but everytime I see Hugh Jackman, I am reminded of X-men's wolverine, and I could not stop myself from giggling and that's not romantic at all!

I'd love to remember this film as about the ABORIGINALs' plight. It is about their misunderstood walkabouts, their songs, their meanings, their symbolisms, their dimensiosn - - - and how modern Australia has finally found the reason to listen, learn and accept this BASIC part and truth of this continent, we call Australia!