Australia 12A

Jan 6 2009 by Johnathon Menzies, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

AUSTRALIA (12A) Rating 4/5

NICOLE KIDMAN and Hugh Jackman show there’s more to life Down Under than kangaroos and Rolf Harris’s wobble board in Baz Luhrmann’s romantic epic, Australia.

Former Moulin Rouge! star Kidman (41) plays Lady Sarah Ashley, a passionless English aristocrat who inherits a vast cattle station in the outback following the death of her husband.

In order to save her livelihood, Lady Ashley enlists the help of a local stockman, known only as Drover (played by Jackman), and attempts to safeguard the ranch’s future by driving a huge herd of cattle across the desert to Darwin.

Inevitably, this dangerous decision – initially designed to stop an imminent takeover by ruthless business mogul King Carney (Bryan Brown) – brings the unlikely pair closer together.

However predicable the main thrust of the plot may be, there is enough depth on show to wipe away at least some of the obvious Hollywood sheen.

Beginning in 1939, Darwin is changed forever as the country is bombed by the Japanese during the Second World War.

Race relations are also brought to the fore, as the treatment of the Australian Aboriginal population’s “stolen generation” is highlighted through the presence of Nullah, played by 13 year-old big screen debutant Brandon Walters.

In the 1940s, mixed race children were banned from living either with their Aboriginal families or within the white community.

Instead, they were taken from their homes and brought up in church missions, in an attempt to slow population growth.

Therefore, every time Nullah successfully outwits the authorities – and progresses in his symbiotic relationship with his grandfather, the mystical King George (played by David Gulpilil) – this otherwise fluffy film is given a sharper edge.

Showing that it is possible to mix the political with the playful and create something entertaining enough for everyone to enjoy.

Rating 4/5