Australia
Short description
Set in northern Australia just before the Second World War, Australia follows Lady Sarah Ashley, an English aristocrat who travels to the remote town of Darwin to confront her husband. She arrives to find him dead and the vast cattle property she has inherited, Faraway Downs, in danger of being swallowed up by a rival cattle baron. To keep the ranch and drive a large herd across the outback to Darwin, Sarah must work with a rough, reserved stockman known simply as the Drover. The two travel through harsh country alongside a mixed-race orphan boy, Nullah, and the journey ends with the Japanese bombing of Darwin.
Baz Luhrmann directed and co-wrote the film with Stuart Beattie and Ronald Harwood, and produced it with Catherine Martin and Catherine Knapman. It sits between Moulin Rouge! (2001) and The Great Gatsby (2013) in his filmography. Nicole Kidman plays Sarah and Hugh Jackman plays the Drover, with Essie Davis, David Wenham, Bryan Brown and David Gulpilil among the cast. The production was large in scale, made across Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The film runs 165 minutes and was released in November 2008. Its budget and worldwide gross show that it earned back more than it cost without becoming a runaway commercial success. Audiences put it at 6.6 out of 10 on IMDb and on TMDB, a moderate reception, while a film critics' rating of 6.1 out of 10 from 216 reviews places it slightly below those viewer scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- More than 1500 wild horses participated in the filming.
- "Australia" became the second project where Kidman and Crowe were unable to work together. The actors are long-time friends, and in 2005 they had already started filming the romantic drama "Eucalyptus," which was halted at Crowe's request due to script issues.
- The film could be called troubled, given the list of difficulties experienced by the film crew. After 50 years of drought, rains suddenly fell on the scorched lands, washing away the newly built sets and delaying the start of filming. A national epidemic of the Hendra virus ruined the racing season and led to bans on horse transport – a real disaster, given that the film's main characters spend almost all screen time in the saddle. Then there was the incredible heat, when the temperature exceeded 48 degrees Celsius: nurses did not have time to provide assistance to members of the film crew who suffered burns and heatstroke in the sun, and filming had to be constantly interrupted so that the people and animals involved in the film could rest in the shade.
- The film remained untitled for a long time until November 23, 2006, when director Baz Luhrmann announced the title "Australia" on Australian radio. Other likely titles, he said, were "Great Southern Land" and "Faraway Downs."
- Russell Crowe was initially considered for the lead male role, but in the summer of 2006, the actor stated that he "wasn't going to do charity work and film for little money for a major studio" and dropped out of the project. The role was then offered to Heath Ledger, but he was forced to decline due to his commitment to "The Dark Knight."
- At the 35th minute of the film, accountant Flynn (Jack Thompson) takes a full bottle of rum from a drawer, but in the next shot he opens an empty bottle, then the bottle in his hand is full again.
- Footage from "Tora! Tora! Tora!" (1970) was used in the scenes depicting the Japanese air raid.
- After filming wrapped, Luhrmann joked: "It's hard to work with cows, they ruined so many takes by suddenly deciding to have sex!"
- The film was shot for two hot months in the small town of Kununurra in Western Australia, in an area known as the Kimberley (which has only three towns with a population over 2000).
- At the last moment, the film's director, Baz Luhrmann, changed the film's ending. In one version, the character of Hugh Jackman – the Drover – was supposed to die.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
