Spontaneous Musings

Back in 1990, when I was 23 years of age, my parents moved to Australia, leaving me behind in Kansas to fend for myself. Was difficult period in my life. The nickname for Australia by the way is OZ. And at the time, we made jokes about Dorothy Gale - as my parents had technically done the same thing left Kansas for Oz. I visited them in Sydney, and stayed for about a month.

They came back before I got to do it a second time. While there, we watched a lot of Australian cinema and television. I saw Nicole Kidman's earlier film - Flipping Out. And it was around this time that she made her big screen debute in the Australian low-budget flick Dead Calm which also starred Billy Zane and Sam Neill. Bryan Brown had done a few films here and there. One of my favorites was The Man from Snowy River. We also picked up quite a few aboriginal pieces of artwork and visited a museum regarding their history. The Aboriginals are Austrilian's version of Native Americans, who were treated just as abysmally as the Native Americans were. The English were not very nice to the inhabitants of the countries they decided to colonize. Actually, come to think of it, human beings in general are downright nasty to the inhabitants and the cultures of the lands they visit and colonize. Not just the English. Bit unfair to single them out, even if they were the imperialists of the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th Centuries. (Although to be fair the French, Spainish and Italians did do their own colonizing in the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries just not to quite the same degree, often to their considerable annoyance.)

The first time I saw a film by Baz Lurham was I think in Australia or soon thereafter. It was Strictly Ballroom - a fun and somewhat offkilter film about the crazy world of ball room dancing. It inspired numerous copy-cats, but none came close to the wacky spirit of the original. A romance between an ugly duckling/wallflower and an handsome, talented dancer. But it was the side stories, the local color, and the commentary of the culture, classism, and prejudices of that sport which made the film memorable.

Baz Lurham, a native of Australia, is an unique director. He has something to say and often says it through odd camera angles, and a twisted lense. Of his films the only one that I didn't like very much was Moulin Rouge - because it was too busy. Probably did not help that it was based on and had more or less the same plotline as La Boheme, a story and an opera that I'm not crazy about. Rent is one of the few musicals based on La Boheme that I like. At any rate, Moulin Rouge felt a bit like Strictly Ballroom on speed, with a La Boheme plot, and prettier actors. That said, I will say that Moulin Rouge was memorable - I've been unable to forget it. Can't say that about a lot of films I've seen. Lurham unlike most directors, goes for the kitsch, the carny, and the melodramatic take - which at times can come across as unintentionally humorous. Watching a Lurham film can at times make one think you are watching a movie by a showman or a carny operator.

Australia is nothing like Moulin Rouge - in style or technique. So if you are thinking of skipping it because, like me, you were not fond of Moulin Rouge, don't. If you are thinking of going to it in hopes of seeing another Moulin Rouge - you might be disappointed. But then again, maybe not - the unique Lurham stamp is still on the picture - much as it is on Romeo + Juliet and Strictly Ballroom. It's not a busy film, nor is it plodding for that matter. The two and half hours speed by, I barely noticed them. In some respects if reminds me a lot of the old technicolor epics of the 1930s, films such as How the West was Won or Gone with the Wind or Red River and The Cowboys, yet unlike those films this is a film that we see mostly through the gaze of a smart and somewhat romantic half white - half-aboriginal boy. An outcast, as he tells us throughout the film in voice-over narration, that sees things through dream-gaze of story.

( somewhat rambling film review of Australia, been struggling to write coherent reviews lately for some reason. Vague spoilers. )

[As you may or may not have inferred from the below, I took today off, avoided the dreaded Black Friday shopping hell (why do people do this to themselves, it's not like you can't get good deals later or online), and saw a movie instead. Also did laundry, made the bed up clean, dropped off dry-cleaning, worked on novel, popped online, tried to play Scramble on Facebook - which I completely suck at, everyone is above me - but those seem hardly worth mentioning.]