Australia is a 2008 epic romance film directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. It is the second-highest grossing Australian film of all time, trailing Crocodile Dundee. The screenplay was written by Luhrmann and screenwriter Stuart Beattie, with Ronald Harwood. The film is a character story, set between 1939 and 1942 against a dramatised backdrop of events across northern Australia at the time, such as the bombing of Darwin during World War II. Production took place in Sydney, Darwin, Kununurra, and Bowen. The movie was to be released on 13 November 2008 in Australia[5] and 16 November 2008 in the United States;[6] however, Fox announced that it had pushed back the release dates in both Australia and the United States to 26 November 2008,[7] with subsequent worldwide release dates throughout late December 2008 and January and February 2009.
Plot
In 1939, Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) travels from England to Northern Australia to force her husband to sell his faltering cattle station, Faraway Downs. Her husband sends an independent cattle drover (Hugh Jackman), called simply "Drover", to Darwin to transport her to Faraway Downs. Lady Sarah's husband, who has been trying to sell 1,500 head of cattle to the military, is murdered shortly before she arrives. Meanwhile, Faraway Downs' manager Neil Fletcher (David Wenham) is trying to gain control of Faraway Downs so that Lesley "King" Carney (Bryan Brown) can have a monopoly in the Northern Territory, which will give him leverage with the Australian army. Fletcher claims that her husband was murdered by an Aboriginal elder with magical powers, "King George" (David Gulpilil).
Lady Sarah is captivated by the boy Nullah (Brandon Walters), who was born to an Aboriginal mother and a white father. Nullah tells her that her cattle were driven onto Carney's land — in other words, stolen. Because of this, Fletcher mistreats Nullah and threatens him and his mother. Nullah proves that Fletcher is a liar by showing Lady Sarah that the windmill, which Fletcher has deemed broken, works. Fletcher violently attacks Nullah, his mother and another Aboriginal woman, but is stopped by a horrified Lady Sarah. She fires Fletcher and decides to run the cattle station herself.
Sergeant Callaghan arrives to take Nullah away, so Nullah and his mother hide in a water tower. One of the officers accompanying the sergeant tries out the water windmill, and Nullah's mother drowns while saving Nullah. Lady Sarah comforts Nullah by singing, "Over the Rainbow", from The Wizard of Oz. Nullah is interested in the song, and tells her that King George is his grandfather, and that like King George he too is a "magic man".
Lady Sarah persuades Drover to take the cattle to Darwin so that Faraway Downs can be saved. Drover, a white man, is friendly with the Aborigines, and therefore shunned by many of the other whites. He married an Aboriginal woman, but she died after being refused medical treatment because of her race. Drover leads a team of six riders, including Lady Sarah, Drover's Aboriginal brother-in-law Magarri (David Ngoombujarra), Nullah, and the station's accountant Kipling Flynn (Jack Thompson), to drive the 1,500 cattle to Darwin. Carney's men set fires to make the cattle stampede, killing Flynn. Nullah stops the cattle from charging over a cliff by apparently using magic learned from his grandfather. Lady Sarah and Drover develop a romance, and she gains appreciation for Australia. Carney's men poison the water sources along the cattle-drive route, so the group risks driving the cattle through the Never Never desert, which they accomplish with the help of King George. Reaching Darwin, the group races the cattle onto the ship before Carney's are loaded. That night, Lady Sarah and Drover attend a ball for the "Children's Island Mission", where she attempts to make the upper class whites realize that half-Aboriginal children belong to their mothers and not the government, but the organizers of the mission insist that Aboriginal women forget their "offspring", comparing them more to animals than people.
Two years later (1941), Lady Sarah, Nullah and Drover live together at Faraway Downs. Fletcher kills Carney and frames it as an accident, marries his daughter Catherine, takes over Carney's empire, and continues menacing Lady Sarah. It is determined that Fletcher was the actual murderer of Lady Sarah's husband and that Fletcher is also almost certainly Nullah's father. Nullah is drawn to perform a coming-of-age walkabout with "King George", but is captured by the authorities and sent to live on Mission Island with the rest of the half-Aboriginal children (dubbed the "Stolen Generations"). His grandfather is imprisoned, accused of murdering Lord Ashley. Lady Sarah vows to find Nullah again, and while trying to secure his return begins working as a radio operator in Darwin during the escalation of World War II. Lady Sarah prepares to sell Faraway Downs to Fletcher, believing that it will aid her in gaining Nullah back. The sale is interrupted by the surprise attack on Darwin by the Japanese airforce. With Mission Island also attacked Lady Sarah fears that Nullah is dead.
Drover, who had quarrelled with Lady Sarah and gone droving apparently never to return, hears (mistakenly) that she has been killed in the bombing. Drover learns about Nullah's abduction and sets out with Magarri, Ivan (the hotelier) and the only member of the Children's Island Mission to volunteer himself to help, Brother Frank, to rescue the children. When Japanese soldiers arrive, Magarri sacrifices himself to buy the others time to escape. Lady Sarah and the inhabitants of Darwin prepare to evacuate. When Drover and the children sail back into Darwin, Nullah plays his harmonica with the tune of "Over the Rainbow". Lady Sarah hears the music and the three reunite.
Fletcher, watching them, knows Nullah is the one link to a past that would ruin him, and also concludes that the boy must have cursed him, and so he attempts to shoot Nullah. King George sees Fletcher just as Fletcher is about to fire, and spears him through the chest just as he pulls the trigger. As Fletcher is dying, King George reprimands him for trying to kill his own son, and his magical grandson. Lady Sarah watches as Nullah falls to the ground and Drover rushes over to him. As Drover holds him in his arms, Nullah opens his eyes, revealing that Fletcher missed due to King George's actions. Lady Sarah, Drover and Nullah return to Faraway Downs. On the way, King George calls for Nullah to go walkabout. Lady Sarah embraces Nullah and lets him go to his grandfather, who tell her that, "I'll sing you to me." King George says they will return to his land, then, looking at Lady Sarah says, "our land." Lady Sarah says, "I'll hear you."
Soundtrack
Recurring motifs
A recurring motif in the film is the Harold Arlen/E.Y. Harburg song "Over the Rainbow" from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. The song bonds Lady Ashley and Nullah, and relates to the Aboriginal concepts of Rainbow Serpent, Songs Lines, Dreamtime, and "magic men" like Nullah's grandfather and Nullah himself. In a scene set in October 1939, Nullah is seen raptly watching Oz in a Darwin cinema.
Bach's aria "Schafe können sicher weiden ("Sheep may safely graze")" from the Hunting Cantata BWV 208 is another recurring motif in the film.
Additional music
David Hirschfelder composed the score to Australia. Interpolated musical numbers include the jazz standards "Begin the Beguine," "Tuxedo Junction," "Sing Sing Sing (With a Swing)," and "Brazil." Edward Elgar's "Nimrod" from "Enigma" Variations is heard in the final scene of the film.[8] Luhrmann hired singer Rolf Harris to record his wobble board for the opening credits,[9] and Elton John composed and performed a song called "The Drover's Ballad," to lyrics by Luhrmann, for the end credits. Also used in the end credits is "By the Boab Tree," a song nominated for a 2008 Satellite Award,[10] again with Luhrmann lyrics, performed by Sydney singer Angela Little. Little's rendition of "Waltzing Matilda" completes the end credits in some versions of the film.[11]
Main cast
- Nicole Kidman as Lady Sarah Ashley, an English aristocrat who inherits the cattle station Faraway Downs in Australia
- Hugh Jackman as The Drover, a drover who helps Lady Sarah Ashley move the cattle across the property
- David Wenham as Neil Fletcher, a station manager who plans to take Faraway Downs from Lady Sarah Ashley
- Bryan Brown as Lesley 'King' Carney, a cattle baron who owns much of the land in northern Australia
- Jack Thompson as Kipling Flynn, an alcoholic accountant who enjoys a luxurious lifestyle
- David Gulpilil as King George, a magic tribal elder, grandfather of Nullah
- Brandon Walters as Nullah, a young Aboriginal boy whom Lady Sarah Ashley finds at Faraway Downs
- David Ngoombujarra as Magarri, the Drover's colleague and friend
- Ben Mendelsohn as Captain Emmett Dutton, a Darwin-based Australian Army officer in charge of beef supply.
- Sandy Gore as Gloria Carney, King Carney's wife, and Catherine's mother.
- Essie Davis as Catherine 'Cath' Carney Fletcher, wife of Neil Fletcher and daughter of King Carney
- Barry Otto as Administrator Allsop, the King's representative in the Northern Territory
- Ursula Yovich as Daisy, the mother of Nullah
- Yuen Wah as Sing Song, a Cantonese chef at Faraway Downs
- Jacek Koman as Ivan, the saloonkeeper and innkeeper in Darwin
- Tony Barry as Sergeant Callahan, the head of the Northern Territory police who tries to take Nullah to Mission Island. This ultimately results in the death of Nullah's mother as she is hiding with Nullah in a water tank while the police are looking for him.[12]
Production
Originally, Baz Luhrmann was planning to make a film about Alexander the Great starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Nicole Kidman, with a screenplay by David Hare.[13] The director had built a studio in the northern Sahara but a rival film made by Oliver Stone was released first and after several years in development, Luhrmann abandoned the project to make a film closer to home.[13]
The visual effects were done by the Animal Logic films and The LaB Sydney.[citation needed]
Luhrmann spent six months researching general Australian history.[13] At one point he considered setting his film during the First Fleet, 11 ships that sailed from Britain in 1787 and set up the first colony in New South Wales. The director wanted to explore Australia's relationship with England and with its indigenous population.[13] He decided to set the film between World Wars I and II in order to merge a historical romance with the Stolen Generations, where thousands of mixed-race Aboriginal children were forcibly removed from their families by the state and integrated into white society. Luhrmann has said that his film depicts "a mythologised Australia".[13]
Casting
In May 2005, Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman entered negotiations to star in an untitled 20th Century Fox project written by director Baz Luhrmann and screenwriter Stuart Beattie, with Luhrmann directing the film.[14] For her role, Kidman learned to round up cattle.[15] In May 2006, due to Crowe's demanding personal script approval before signing onto the project, Luhrmann sought to replace the actor with Heath Ledger.[16] Crowe said he didn't want to work in an environment that was influenced by budgetary needs.[17] About this casting issue, Luhrmann said, "it was hard pinning [Crowe] down. Every time I was ready, Russell was in something else, and every time he was ready, I would be having another turmoil".[13] The following June, Luhrmann replaced Crowe with actor Hugh Jackman.[18]
In January 2007, actors Bryan Brown, Jack Thompson, and David Wenham were cast into Australia.[19] In November 2006, Luhrmann began searching for an actor to play an Aboriginal boy of 8–10 years old and by April 2007, 11-year-old Brandon Walters was cast into the role.[20]
Pre-production
Filming of
Australia at Stokes Hill Wharf
The untitled project was scheduled to begin production in September 2006, but scheduling conflicts and budget issues postponed the start of production to February 2007.[17] In November 2006, Luhrmann explored The Kimberley to determine the amount of production to be shot there. In December 2006, Bowen was chosen as a filming location for a third of the production, portraying the look of Darwin.[21] Bowen was chosen as a prospect due to the financing of $500,000 by the Queensland government.[22] In April, Kununurra was chosen as another location for Australia, this time to serve as Faraway Downs, the homestead owned by Kidman's character.[23] Entire sets were built from scratch, including a stand-alone set in the Queensland town of Bowen, the re-creation of war scenes near Darwin Harbour, and the construction of an outback homestead in Western Australia.[24]
Costumes
Academy Award winning costume designer Catherine Martin did extensive research for the film's outfits, studying archival images and newspapers from the 1930s and 1940s Australia. She also interviewed descendants of the original Darwin stockmen in order to find out if they "wore socks with his boots when he rode a horse, that's something you either get through a snapshot, or something you have to go talk to the people who lived there about".[25] The Asian-inspired costumes of the film were intended to evoke the romanticism of the era, and one of the centrepieces of the film's costuming is a red chrysanthemum-printed Chinese cheongsam or qipao that was made for Nicole Kidman's character.[26] The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design.
Principal photography
The director planned to begin filming in March 2007.[27] However, principal photography began on 30 April 2007 in Sydney,[28] and Kidman found out that she was pregnant. She instantly withdrew from her next film, The Reader.[29] Afterwards, the production moved to Bowen on 14 May.[23]
Filming in Kununurra was a gruelling experience for the cast and crew with temperatures soaring to 43 °C (109 °F) which, one day, caused Kidman to faint while on a horse.[29] In addition, she worked 14 and 15-hours days while dealing with morning sickness.[29] While shooting in a remote region of Western Australia, the shoot had to be rescheduled when the Faraway Downs set, the homestead central to the film's story, was reduced to mud from torrential rain – the first in 50 years.[30] The cast and crew went back to Sydney to shoot interior scenes until the expensive set dried out.[24] In addition, at one point, the entire country's horses were in lock down over equine flu.[13]
Filming lasted five months, wrapping up at Fox Studios, Sydney, on 19 December 2007.[31] In late April, Luhrmann titled his project Australia. Two other titles that he considered for the film had been Great Southern Land and Faraway Downs.[32] On 11 August 2008, eight months after filming wrapped, several members of the cast and crew were back at Fox Studios, Sydney, to film pick up shots.[33]
Post-production
Two weeks before the film's premiere, the Daily Telegraph erroneously reported that Luhrmann gave in to studio pressure after "intense" talks with executives and re-wrote and then re-shot the ending of Australia for a happier conclusion after "disastrous reviews" from test screenings.[34] To counter these negative reports, the studio had Jackman and Kidman promoting Australia on The Oprah Winfrey Show, which dedicated an entire episode of the program to the film,[35] and Fox Co-Chairman Tom Rothman spoke to the Los Angeles Times where he described the Telegraph article as "patently nonsensical. It's all too typical of the way the world works today that everybody picked up an unsourced, anonymous quote-filled story in a tabloid from Sydney and nobody ever bothered to check to see if it was accurate".[34] Rothman also said that Luhrmann had final cut on his film. The director admitted that he wrote six endings in the drafts he authored, and shot three of them.[36]
Tourism tie-in
Tourism Western Australia spent $1 million on a campaign linked with the release of Australia in the United States, Canada, Japan, Europe and South Korea that ties in with an international Tourism Australia plan.[37] Concerned about the recession and fluctuating international fuel prices, the tourism industry hopes that Luhrmann's film will deliver visitors from all over the world in the same kind of numbers that came to the country following the 1986 release of Crocodile Dundee and the significant increase in visitors to New Zealand since 2001, after the release of the Lord of the Rings films. Federal Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson said, "This movie will potentially be seen by tens of millions of people, and it will bring life to little-known aspects of Australia's extraordinary natural environment, history and indigenous culture".[37] Tourism Australia is working with Luhrmann and 20th Century Fox on a publicity campaign titled, "See the Movie, See the Country", based on movie maps and location guides to transform the film into "a real-life travel adventure".[37] In addition, the director made a $50 million series of commercials promoting the country.[30][38]
Release
Critical reception
In The New York Times, Manohla Dargis said, "A pastiche of genres and references wrapped up — though, more often than not, whipped up — into one demented and generally diverting horse-galloping, cattle-stampeding, camera-swooping, music-swelling, mood-altering widescreen package, this creation story about modern Australia is a testament to movie love at its most devout, cinematic spectacle at its most extreme, and kitsch as an act of aesthetic communion... Ms. Kidman really embraces the more comic and potentially embarrassing aspects of her role, giving herself over to Mr. Luhrmann and his occasionally cruel camera with a pronounced lack of vanity... It’s a ludicrous role... but she rides Sarah’s and the story’s ups and downs with ease. Mr. Jackman gives the movie oomph; Ms. Kidman gives it a performance."[39]
Mick LaSalle of The San Francisco Chronicle called the movie "a mix of bad acting, convenient plot turns and politically correct sentimentality" and said it "shows all the signs of having been a labor of love for director Baz Luhrmann. One problem: It's his love, and the audience's labor." He said it "is not an inept piece of filmmaking... It is well made, in the sense that it's a completely realized expression ... but of a misbegotten vision" and concluded, "It's the saddest thing in movies - the saddest thing in art - when this kind of thing happens. Luhrmann made the movie he wanted to make. It just wasn't worth making."[40] In The Los Angeles Times, Kenneth Turan noted, "A lover of artifice and excess who has little use for the old-school naturalism of previous epics, Luhrmann brings an unapologetically over-the-top and operatic aesthetic to the table... Too much is sometimes just too much, no matter what the philosophical underpinnings. But if you are willing to take the plunge and view things through Luhrmann's prism, Australia does deliver the classic dramatic and romantic satisfactions its ambitious advertising campaign promises... Though dramatic events continue nonstop through to the end, Australia manages to calm down from its frenetic opening minutes as the nature of the story changes. Wearying slapstick gives way to old-fashioned melodrama and stars Kidman and Jackman sink smoothly into the kind of major star romance we've been waiting for."[41]
Writing for In Film Australia, Luke Buckmaster was emphatic about his feelings about the film: "There is only one rational explanation capable of explaining the existence of Baz Luhrmann’s obese outback epic Australia: it’s an elaborate joke. A ruse. A jape. A gag. A sick $150 million dollar punch line made at the expense of every Australian. In case you weren’t aware, some drunken nut challenged Luhrmann to break box office records by making the most astonishingly bad Australian film of all time. Some deranged gambler sought to test the intelligence of cinemagoers the country wide by juxtaposing, alongside a solid year of thoughtful, intelligent and cheaply produced local features, a bumbling big budget behemoth just to see which one we were dumb enough to pick. There are no other level-headed explanations. Struth! Bugger me! Stone the crows! This movie stinks. Of all the over-hyped, over-budgeted, over-blown, over-the-top productions in the history of Australian cinema, this one takes the cake... The script is appallingly handled: the dialogue is cringe worthy; the narration written by Hallmark; the characters are inflated caricatures. The cast are flamboyant and over-the-top, but none of the film’s problems are their fault. Jackman and Kidman are two capable performers but their chemistry here is hopelessly schmaltzy."[42]
Box Office
The film has been a box office success worldwide, despite a disappointing gross in the US, similar to Luhrmann's three previous films. As of 11 April 2009, the film had grossed $211,282,098 in its partial worldwide releases.[3][4]
In Australia, the film grossed $AU6.37 million in its opening weekend, setting the record for the highest grossing opening weekend for an Australian film and bumping the latest James Bond movie Quantum of Solace to second place.[43]
Australia performed less well in the United States, where it surprised box office analysts by opening only at #5, behind Quantum of Solace, Twilight, Bolt, and Four Christmases. It grossed $20 million.[43] However, Fox officials are happy with the numbers, as they said they were expecting only an $18 million opening gross for the movie.[1][2] They further pointed out that Baz Luhrmann's other films, like Moulin Rouge!, Strictly Ballroom, and Romeo + Juliet, started slowly and then built momentum.[44]
Australia's ticket sales outside of the US is about $161 million from 51 countries. It opened at No. 1 in Spain, France and Germany but at No. 3 in Britain.[43]
Nominations
Satellite Awards nominations:
- Original Screenplay – Baz Luhrmann, et al.
- Original Score – David Hirschfelder
- Original Song – "By the Boab Tree" (Angela Little, Baz Lurhmann, et al.)
- Film Editing – Dody Dorn, Michael McCusker
- Sound Mixing & Editing – Wayne Pushley, et al.
- Costume Design – Catherine Martin
Critics' Choice Awards nomination:
- Young Actor/Actress (Under 21) – Brandon Walters
Chicago Film Critics nominations:
- Cinematography – Mandy Walker
- Most Promising Performer – Brandon Walters
81st Academy Awards nominations:
Film Critics Circle of Australia nominations:
Mediocre Media Magazine Awards
- Fave Film: Romance (Nominated, TBA)
DVD
In the United States, Australia sold almost two million DVDs in one month, 80% of what the studio predicted it would sell altogether. Since being released in Australia, the DVD has sold double what the studio expected.[45] Australia is rated PG-13 in the United States.
References
- ^ a b "Hollywood Studios Turn Hopeful Eye Toward Holiday." Reuters, 25 November 2008
- ^ a b "Hollywood Stuffs Thanksgiving Slate." Variety, 24 November 2008
- ^ a b BoxOfficeMojo.com
- ^ a b Australia release dates
- ^ Val Morgan Cinema Network - : Details view
- ^ Pamela McClintock (31 March 2008). "2008 awards season shaping up". Variety. http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=awardcentral&jump=article&articleid=VR1117983222. Retrieved 2008-04-01.
- ^ Michaela Boland (28 August 2008). "Nicole Kidman's 'Australia' Pushed Back". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117991269.html?categoryid=13&cs=1. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
- ^ Reel Soundtrack Australia
- ^ Richard Luscombe (10 November 2008). "Kidman's outback adventure gets happy ending after studio pressure". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/nov/10/australia-nicole-kidman-hugh-jackman-baz-luhrmann. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
- ^ Awards Daily - Satellite Awards Nominees, Retrieved 22 December 2008.
- ^ Australia - The Soundtrack, Retrieved 22 December 2008.
- ^ http://www.vh1.com/movies/movie/336165/castcrew.jhtml
- ^ a b c d e f g Killian Fox (2 November 2008). "How we made the epic of Oz". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/nov/02/baz-luhrmann-nicole-kidman-australia. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
- ^ Michael Fleming (4 May 2005). "Inside Move: All the Aussies gathering together". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117922158.html?categoryid=1238&cs=1. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
- ^ Baz Bamigboye (2 March 2007). "Kidman follows the herd". Daily Mail. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/bazbamigboye.html?in_page_id=1794&in_article_id=439603. Retrieved 2007-04-29.
- ^ "Crowe Dumped for Ledger". San Francisco Chronicle. 30 May 2006. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=7&entry_id=5642. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
- ^ a b "Crowe: 'I Don't Do Charity Work for Studios'". San Francisco Chronicle. 26 September 2006. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=7&entry_id=9252. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
- ^ "Jackman taking over for Crowe". CNN. 9 June 2006. http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/06/09/showbuzz/#2. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
- ^ "An epic showcase". Sydney Confidential. 25 January 2007. http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,23663,21116465-7485,00.html. Retrieved 2007-04-29.
- ^ Katie Hampson (18 April 2007). "Broome boy rides high in Aussie blockbuster". The West Australian. http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=23&ContentID=26307. Retrieved 2007-04-29.
- ^ "Luhrmann epic to be shot in Bowen". The West Australian. 12 December 2006. http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=340410. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
- ^ Des Partridge; Rosanne Barrett (13 December 2006). "Grant lures Baz". The Courier-Mail. http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,20917320-3102,00.html. Retrieved 2007-04-29.
- ^ a b Rachel Browne (16 April 2007). "Other Tom gives Nic saddle tips". The Age. http://www.theage.com.au/news/film/nic-gets-saddle-tips/2007/04/15/1176575723647.html. Retrieved 2007-04-29.
- ^ a b Christine Sams (1 July 2007). "Muddy hell as Kidman homestead set flooded". Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/film/muddy-hell/2007/06/30/1182624229314.html. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
- ^ Eric Wilson (31 October 2008). "Socks to Blouses, a Film Finds Its Look". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/movies/moviesspecial/02mart.html?_r=1&oref=slogin. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
- ^ "The Look of 'Australia'". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/10/31/movies/20081102_MARTIN_SLIDESHOW_5.html.
- ^ "Luhrmann epic to start filming in March". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 1 November 2006. http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200611/s1778649.htm. Retrieved 2007-04-29.
- ^ Johnathon Moran (29 April 2007). "Nicole and Hugh film Australia". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,,21638026-5001026,00.html?from=public_rss. Retrieved 2007-04-29.
- ^ a b c John Powers (1 July 2008). "Days of Heaven". Vogue. http://www.style.com/vogue/feature/061708VFEA/. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
- ^ a b Jeff Dawson (14 September 2008). "Nicole Kidman returns to Australia for Baz Luhrmann". Sunday Times. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article4731651.ece. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
- ^ australiamovie.net (16 April 2007). "That's a Wrap, People!". http://www.australiamovie.net/12/2007/thats-a-wrap-people/. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
- ^ Garry Maddox (23 November 2006). "Luhrmann to parade Australia's epic scale". The Age. http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/luhrmann-to-parade-australias-epic-scale/2006/11/22/1163871482154.html. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
- ^ australiamovie.net (11 August 2008). "Pick Ups Commence At Fox Studios". http://www.australiamovie.net/2008/08/pick-up-shoots-commence-at-fox-studios/. Retrieved 2008-08-16.
- ^ a b Patrick Goldstein (11 November 2008). "Fox says it hasn't tampered with Australia". Los Angeles Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/the_big_picture/2008/11/fox-says-it-has.html. Retrieved 2008-11-13.
- ^ Richard Jinman (11 November 2008). "Battling Baz wobbles into home stretch". Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/film/battling-baz-wobbles-into-home-stretch/2008/11/10/1226165477503.html. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
- ^ Scott Feinberg (11 November 2008). "Baz Luhrmann addresses big questions about Australia—and remains confident in his film". Los Angeles Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/files/2008/11/baz-luhrmann.html. Retrieved 2008-11-13.
- ^ a b c Elizabeth Gosch (16 June 2008). "See the film, then come visit". The Australian. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,24a897,23869264-7582,00.html. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
- ^ Kathy Marks (18 September 2008). "Down under - the movie". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/down-under--the-movie-but-can-baz-nicole-and-hugh-persuade-us-to-go-to-australia-935433.html. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
- ^ The New York Times, November 26, 2008
- ^ The San Francisco Chronicle, November 26, 2008
- ^ The Los Angeles Times, November 26, 2008
- ^ In Film Australia, November 27, 2008
- ^ a b c "Australia heads Aussie box office, dies in US". Courier Mail. 1 December 2008. http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24732238-5003420,00.html. Retrieved 2008-12-02.
- ^ Ronald D. White (1 December 2008). "Four Christmases adds up to No. 1 at the box office". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/movies/la-fi-boxoffice1-2008dec01,0,1906482.story. Retrieved 2008-12-02.
- ^ Natasha Robinson (4 April 2009). "Baz Luhrmann's Australia's takings are still growing steadily". The Australian. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,25286999-16947,00.html. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
External links
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