Australia

A horrifying wannabe innovative mix of comedy and classic epic storytelling style. Luhrmann's obvious attempt to come up with something new, a new concept of an epic story, is shocking. At times, Australia appears to be an amateurish blend in terms of its plot, and without the beautiful scenery and captivating actors, it would be a complete horror. Two strong storylines clashing with each other, a ton of digital effects, an introductory half-hour of comedy, bad war sequences, and a final epic cliché. Once was enough for me. Luhrmann is an amateur who should watch Cold Mountain every other day. (28/02/2009)

Kitschy silliness that for two and a half hours smothers smart viewers in digital cattle, while pulling the more sensitive viewers by the nose with a stupid love story between an English lady and an Australian cowboy. Jackman is alright, Kidman is too vague at times, but the fundamental problem is, of course, the script. If told you that the twists are all predictable half an hour before they happen, I’d be lying, they are predictable already from the trailer, even before the film begins. Think about the most clichéd romance you can imagine, set it in Australia during WWII, add some bollocks about the importance of the art of storytelling (this is how ridiculous this movie sounds!) and you have Australia. (19/05/2009)

"Every continent should have its blockbuster," said likely director Baz Luhrmann and made the film "Australia," which is a patriotic film, but shows the dark sides that Australia had to go through in the 20th century. After the first few minutes, the viewer is unsure of what they are actually watching. Is this supposed to be a comedy, which tries to showcase the two big Australian stars Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman in beautiful shots? Or should we take the film seriously and expect that there will be a little more to it in the end, and that we can look forward to some drama that will really move our emotions? In the end, it turns out to be a drama that wants to be grand, but actually remains somewhat small. It still focuses on the main actors and how good they look, especially Hugh Jackman, which raises the question of whether Luhrmann might be gay. He is not, at least as far as I can judge from the fact that he is married to a woman. The story of the little boy, which the film is actually about, is not as touching as it was supposed to be, and therefore - but not only for that reason - the film did not gain much favor with me, because on a runtime of almost three hours, it is not that exceptional. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/05/noc-patri-nam-voda-pro-slony-posledni.html (18/02/2013)

A fairy tale about how a dog and a cat cooked up a movie. After regularly encountering the immeasurable power of passion in Into the Beat and after some time away from Moulin Rouge!, which I eventually accepted, I was expecting a lot from Australia. However, the result is... something I'm willing to close both eyes to just for the prosaic fact that Nicole looks immeasurably great after 1939. Which isn't much, but also not too little for moving pictures. (23/07/2011)

Even though I'm drunk (who would be surprised after so many drinks...), stars were popping up in front of my eyes during the film – three stars, no, I'll give it four... In the end, it turned out the way it did, because keeping me awake when I’m drunk means the movie wasn't boring after all. Yes, C2H5OH made me experience some scenes really intensely – I laughed more at some of the "absurdities", I was more "moved". I liked it mainly because it was about the mundane. About the sweet, dusty ordinariness that I’ve grown to like. I didn't wait for the movie to end; they got together pretty soon :-) I'm glad. Despite the length, I didn't feel like I necessarily needed to go to bed just yet, because I wondered what the ending would be like. And it didn't disappoint me. It's not a 100% happy ending, but I like it :-) sorry, when I suck a bit of nectar I tend to speak in tongues – and I'm still holding on here. See ya. (23/05/2009)