Australia (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Australia |
| Original title | Australia |
| Country of production | United States , Australia |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2008 |
| length | 166 minutes |
| Age rating |
FSK 12 JMK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Baz Luhrmann |
| script | Baz Luhrmann Stuart Beattie Ronald Harwood Richard Flanagan |
| production | Baz Luhrmann G. Mac Brown Catherine Knapman |
| music | David Hirschfelder |
| camera | Mandy Walker |
| cut |
Dody Dorn Michael McCusker |
| occupation | |
| |
Australia is a monumental melodrama filmed in the United States and Australia by Baz Luhrmann in 2007 and 2008 . Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman play the leading roles, whose adventurous love story - beginning in 1939 - takes place before the historical context of World War II in Australia, in particular the air raid on Darwin on February 19, 1942. The film continued to run in the cinemas of the production countries Postponements to November 26, 2008; the German theatrical release took place on December 25th.
action
1939: The English nobleman Sarah Ashley travels to the Australian Northern Territory after her husband . He runs the 30,000 square kilometer “Faraway Downs” cattle ranch and is suspected by Sarah of having an affair. When she arrives in Australia, a drover (English "drover", instead of a name only this job title is used for him) brings her to the farm, where she only finds the body of her murdered husband.
The police suspect the Aboriginal King George. This is the grandfather of a boy named Nullah, whose mother works on the farm. Nullah's father is the steward Neil Fletcher, who has long forced Nullah's mother to have an affair, while he does not recognize Nullah as his son. As the child of a white man and an Aborigine, the boy does not feel that he belongs to either of the two worlds.
Fletcher is the third generation manager of the farm and has killed Sarah's husband because he feels he is the moral owner of the farm. When Sarah finds out that he is beating Nullah, she dismisses Fletcher. He leaves the farm and a large part of the workforce follows him. Sarah later finds out that he has secretly sold livestock to "King" Carney, her husband's overwhelming competitor. She is about to sell the farm.
Only when "the drover" helps her drive a herd of cattle to Darwin with a handful of people can she save the farm. Out of wounded pride and as an employee of King Carney, Fletcher tries to sabotage the transport of the herd. After his failure, Sarah attends a ball for the benefit of mixed race children from connections between whites and Aborigines and advocates for Nullah.
King Carney learns from her at this ball that Fletcher murdered her husband. Then King Carney threatens Fletcher, who is engaged to Carney's daughter, to get Carney's property. Carney's threat to exclude him from inheritance causes Fletcher to throw him to crocodiles in the outback . He then marries his daughter and is the successor to King Carney.
In the subsequent rainy season, Drover and Sarah get closer and grow into a family with Nullah.
When Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941 , the US Army needed supplies from Australia in the form of cattle. Drover is used to drive cattle across Australia. Nullah is taken by the authorities to a mission station "for mixed race children" on an island off Darwin. Sarah wants to get him back from there - with the help of her opponent Fletcher and against the sale of her farm to him. So she goes to Darwin, just as the place is being bombed by the Japanese . Drover, who loves Sarah, returns to Darwin shortly after the bombing. However, he assumes that she perished in the destroyed city and drives to the mission station on the - also bombed - island. There he saves the lives of the surviving children.
After Drover finds Sarah, the three of them decide to return to Faraway Downs. Fletcher, who lost his wife in the air raid, wants to kill Nullah because he believes that Nullah has cursed him. Nullah's grandfather saves Nullah from his father's murder and kills him in the process. On the way back to Faraway Downs, Sarah decides to let Nullah go with his grandfather for his initiation rite . The film ends with the display that the Aborigines were racially discriminated against until 1973 (so-called stolen generations ) and that the Australian government did not apologize until 2008.
synchronization
background
Development process
preparation
On February 22, 2006, in an interview in Queensland , Luhrmann first mentioned his new film project for 20th Century Fox , which will tell the story of the bombing of Darwin and should be comparable in style and epic to classics of the genre such as African Queen (1951), Giants (1956) or Out of Africa (1985), but especially inspired by Victor Fleming's Gone with the Wind (1939), with regard to the combination of “comedy, romance, action and drama”. The preparatory process has dragged on for over ten years and, after careful work with historical sources and books, has led to a “mythological narrative”. The main actors at the time were Nicole Kidman , who grew up in Australia, and Russell Crowe , who was born in New Zealand . Luhrmann also hoped to be able to cast the rest of the actors with Australians.
After the rehearsals scheduled for March 2006 were delayed and Luhrmann announced at the end of the month that filming could not start as planned in July 2006, the production process was initially postponed. The press announced on May 30, 2006 that Russell Crowe had been replaced by Heath Ledger (also an Australian). The real line-up by the same compatriot Hugh Jackman was announced a week later. Brandon Walters , a then ten-year-old Aboriginal from Broome , Western Australia , also joined the cast for the role of Nullah.
Towards the end of the year, Luhrmann told ABC Radio National that they were in the middle of pre-production and that they would start shooting next March. A little later, information about the title ( Great Southern Land and Faraway Downs had served as the working title ) and plot and other actors were revealed.
Filming
Filming finally began on April 30, 2007 at Strickland House in Sydney . Bowen , a small town in the north of Queensland, was chosen as a location double for Darwin and was partially redesigned for this purpose. Whole parts of the street and buildings were recreated for six weeks of filming based on original models from the 1930s.
From July to September 2007, film work also took place in Darwin itself (including at Stokes Hill Wharf), Fox Studios in Sydney and Kununurra . The completion of the set recordings was followed by a three-month filming process in front of the blue screen as well as the work with studio replicas exactly reproduced from the original locations. Filming was completed on December 19, 2007.
The following months were dedicated to post-production and the creation of a teaser , which was first seen in May 2008. The team met again in August for a few re- shoots . Just before the film was released, Luhrmann told the Los Angeles Times that he had written six different storylines. Three of them were finally filmed and in the end the decision was made to use the most "surprising" ending. Test screenings had the effect that viewers would assume the drover's survival at the end of the film (“ happy ending ”) better than his death, which was taken into account in the final version.
A total of 200 (instead of the 80 typical in Hollywood ) days of filming and around 2,000 cattle and 1,500 wild horses with whom one had worked. The film project was realized with a budget of 120 to 130 million US dollars.
Nicole Kidman, who was pregnant while filming, gave birth to daughter Sunday Rose on July 7, 2008. She is one of 15 children born to the ranks of the film crew while working on Australia .
Film music
The Australian musician and entertainer Rolf Harris contributed to the film music . His trademark, the so-called "wobble board", was used to background the opening credits and a fight scene and represents Harris' first collaboration on a soundtrack . According to Harris, the didgeridoo is also used in the soundtrack .
The film music is based on several musical quotations, including a theme from Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations (No. 9, Nimrod) and from JS Bach's Jagdkantata BWV 208. This is the theme from the aria "Schafe Can Graze" . In one of the key passages, the composer also quotes one of Bach's chorales.
The musical theme is Harold Arlen's song Over the Rainbow , which is sung by Lady Sarah Ashley in a scene for Nullah.
Age rating
The MPAA marked the film with a PG-13 - release for adolescents aged 13 years. The German FSK has approved the film from the age of 12.
World premieres
The world premiere of the film took place on November 18, 2008 in Sydney in front of over 3,000 invited guests and at the same time at the main locations Darwin (Northern Territory), Kununurra (Western Australia) and Bowen (Queensland). There was no German premiere, just a “pre-screening” on December 12th.
marketing
The Australian tourism authority Tourism Western Australia had launched a campaign with a budget of one million US dollars in advance of the publication , which should boost tourism in Australia and attract travelers to Australia. Under the title “See the Movie, See the Country” (German: “See the film, visit the country”), Australia was advertised as a travel destination in Europe , Asia and America before the film started .
Director Luhrmann was also commissioned to shoot a series of commercials that had a total budget of $ 50 million. Australia actor Brandon Walters appeared in one of these commercials, but Kidman and Jackman didn't.
reception
criticism
Press
- Australia
The first reviews in Australia were mixed, with the consensus that Australia was a good movie but not a masterpiece .
The film critic and presenter David Stratton described the film in the Australian as “not the epic we expected”. He praised Luhrmann's sense of composition and the camera work by Mandy Walker. According to Stratton, the first 20 minutes of the film are very artificially staged, which does not fit the setting in the outback. He also criticized the many clichés and felt that he recognized numerous references to older films such as The Wizard of Oz (1939): “It seems as if the film is not so much aimed at an Australian audience as it is aimed at an international audience, above all American audience. ”Interestingly, in an interview with Hanns-Georg Rodek ( Berliner Morgenpost ), Luhrmann said that he had problems in the United States because he didn't speak the“ Hollywood film language ”that he wanted there.
Jim Schembri also criticized clichés in the Sydney Morning Herald : "The word 'crikey' [in the German version: 'Grundgütiger!'] Is used so often that the film often sounds like an homage to Steve Irwin ." And although the film never getting boring, it is way too long and contains some lengths and "narrative bacon rolls".
- United States
James Berardinelli saw more "epic hypocrites" than "epic contenders" in the film. It undoubtedly offers visual brilliance, which the “ meandering ” (rampant) plot does not do justice to. The length is also to be criticized and the tone inconsistent. He drew parallels to Pearl Harbor (2001), which similarly failed to attempt to place a comparatively “meaningless” romance above the real horrors of war. The continued Roger Ebert countered that just the romantic melodrama between the protagonists was "exciting" and live by the strong performances of its artists. Ebert also particularly emphasized the reappraisal of the conflict of the century " White Australia " and admired the chosen anti-racist approach in the positive portrayal of the Aborigines next to critically illuminated fair-skinned immigrants. This is precisely where Australia is more mature than Gone with the Wind , which, due to the time, could still be accused of a certain amount of racism.
- Germany
In Germany Carsten Baumgardt (filmstarts.de) criticized the drawing of the characters, which - as usual in epics - are stereotypical , but cannot always touch you deeply. Australia wants to be " anachronistic cinema in a positive sense" in the effort to achieve timelessness , an approach that initially "takes some getting used to". However, despite a few mistakes, the drama offers “unrestrained emotional cinema” with “moments full of breathtaking beauty”.
In the FAZ, Verena Lueken came to the conclusion that primarily the existential value of film in today's world is remarkable. ("This is not about Australia. This is about nothing less than a gigantic cinematic epic, which is above all good for proving that something like this is still possible today.")
reaction
Luhrmann expressed his displeasure with some published reviews in The Hollywood Reporter magazine . What many reviewers do not understand is that Australia does not have a genre as fixed as " romantic comedies for 40-year-old women or action films for 17-year-old boys". He has no problem with criticism, but is angry about the obviously large misunderstanding about his work.
Financial success
- total
Income was $ 212 million. Of this, 23.5 percent (50 million US dollars) came from North America , the remaining 76.5 percent (162 million US dollars) from the rest of the world.
- Opening weekend
Australia started on its Australian opening weekend from November 27th to 30th, 2008 with gross profits of AU $ 6.37 million. No film in Australia had higher returns in this period, and 2.15 million more than the James Bond film Quantum of Solace in the same year under the same conditions. However, it only made $ 20 million at one time in the United States, and the film only hit # 5 on the box office.
Awards
| festival | Nominations | Awards | person | country | year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CFCA Awards |
Best Cinematography Most Promising Artist |
Mandy Walker Brandon Walters |
United States | 2008 | |
| Satellite Awards | Auteur Award | Baz Luhrmann | United States | 2008 | |
| Oscar | Best costume design | Catherine Martin | United States | 2009 |
The German Film and Media Evaluation FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the title valuable.
Web links
- Australia in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Australia in the online film database
- Film Website (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Certificate of Release for Australia . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , December 2008 (PDF; test number: 116 298 K).
- ↑ Age rating for Australia . Youth Media Commission .
- ↑ Variety : Fox Moves “Australia” Release Back , August 27, 2008
- ^ The New York Times : A Wolverine Finds His Romantic Side (2/2) , Sep. 4, 2008
- ↑ a b c d Berliner Morgenpost : With Nicole Kidman through “Australia” , December 23, 2008
- ↑ a b australiamovie.net: The Making of “Australia” ( Memento of the original from September 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , November 28, 2007 - September 2008
- ↑ filmstalker.co.uk: Crowe Dropped from Luhrmann Epic 31 May, 2006.
- ^ CNN : Jackman Taking Over for Crowe , June 9, 2006
- ↑ a b c australien-info.de: Film "Australia"
- ^ The Sydney Morning Herald : New Face of Australia , May 27, 2007
- ↑ theage.com.au: Luhrmann to Parade Australia's Epic Scale , November 23, 2006
- ↑ http://news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,,21638026-5001026,00.html?from=public_rss ( Memento from October 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ IMDb : Filming Locations for “Australia”
- ↑ Los Angeles Times : Baz Luhrmann Addresses Big Questions About “Australia” —and Remains Confident in His Film , November 11, 2008
- ↑ filmstarts.de: "Australia": Baz Luhrmann surprises himself with the end of the film ( memento of the original from October 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , November 14, 2008
- ^ The Guardian : Kidman's Outback Adventure Gets Happy Ending After Studio Pressure , Nov. 10, 2008
- ^ The New York Times : A Wolverine Finds His Romantic Side (1/2) , Sep. 4, 2008
- ↑ nymag.com: Nicole Kidman Caught in the Middle of a Wild-Horse Stampede , November 9, 2007
- ^ Valerie Höhne: First Look , TV Movie edition 20/2008, pp. 18-19
- ^ Spiegel Online : Nicole Kidman gives birth to daughter , July 7, 2008
- ↑ IMDb : Trivia for “Australia”
- ↑ BBC : Harris Plays Wobble Board on Film , Nov. 10, 2008
- ^ Motion Picture Association of America : Film Ratings: "Australia"
- ^ The Daily Telegraph : World Premiere of “Australia” Shuts George Street, Sydney , November 14, 2008
- ↑ The Australian : See the Film, Then Come Visit ( Memento of the original from March 29, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , June 16, 2008
- ^ The Independent : Down Under — The Movie: But Can Baz, Nicole and Hugh Persuade Us to Go to Australia? , September 19, 2008
- ↑ Los Angeles Times : First Aussie Reviews of “Australia”: Good, But No Classic , November 18, 2008
- ↑ The Australian : Baz Luhrmann's Australia Is Good, But Not a Masterpiece ( Memento of the original from December 1, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , November 18, 2008
- ^ The Sydney Morning Herald : Good, But No Classic, and Way, Way Too Long , November 18, 2008
- ↑ reelviews.net: “Australia” - A Movie Review by James Berardinelli
- ↑ Chicago Sun-Times : “Australia” - by Roger Ebert , November 25, 2008
- ↑ filmstarts.de: Australia
- ^ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung : Movie "Australia": Man and Woman at the Other End of the World , December 25, 2008
- ↑ The Hollywood Reporter : Luhrmann Rushes from “Australia” to “Gatsby” ( December 20, 2008 memento in the Internet Archive ) , December 18, 2008
- ↑ boxofficemojo.com: “Australia”
- ↑ news.com.au: “Australia” Heads Aussie Box Office, Dies in US , December 1, 2008
