Australia (2008 film)

Australia is a 2008 Australian-American-British epic historical romantic drama film directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. It is the second-highest grossing Australian film of all time, behind Crocodile Dundee. The screenplay was written by Luhrmann and screenwriter Stuart Beattie, with Ronald Harwood and Richard Flanagan. 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 film was released in both Australia and the United States on 26 November 2008, with subsequent worldwide release dates throughout late December 2008 and January and February 2009. Australia received mixed reviews from critics and it earned $211.3 million on a $130 million budget.

Plot

In 1939, Lady Sarah Ashley travels from England to northern Australia to force her philandering husband to sell his faltering cattle station, Faraway Downs. Her husband sends an independent cattle drover, called "Drover", to transport her to Faraway Downs.

Australia

Coordinates: 27°S 133°E / 27°S 133°E / -27; 133

Australia (/ɒˈstreɪliə/, /ə-/, colloquially /-jə/), officially known as the Commonwealth of Australia, is an Oceanian country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area. Neighbouring countries include Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north; the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east.

For about 50,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who spoke languages grouped into roughly 250 language groups. After the European discovery of the continent by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades; the continent was explored and an additional five self-governing crown colonies were established. On 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Since federation, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy comprising six states and several territories. The population of 24 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated in the eastern states and on the coast.

Baz Luhrmann

Mark Anthony "Baz" Luhrmann (/ˈbæz ˈlʊərmən/; born 17 September 1962) is an Australian film director, screenwriter and producer best known for The Red Curtain Trilogy, comprising his romantic comedy film Strictly Ballroom (1992), the romantic drama Romeo + Juliet (1996), and the pastiche-jukebox musical Moulin Rouge! (2001). His 2008 film Australia is an epic historical romantic drama film starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman. His 2013 drama The Great Gatsby, based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel of the same name, stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire.

Personal life

Luhrmann was born in Sydney. His mother, Barbara Carmel (née Brennan), was a ballroom dance teacher and dress shop owner, and his father, Leonard Luhrmann, ran a petrol station and a movie theatre. He was raised in Herons Creek, a tiny rural settlement in northern New South Wales. He attended St Joseph's Hastings Regional School, Port Macquarie (1975–1978); St Paul's College, Manly, performing in the school's version of Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1, and Narrabeen High School, where he met future collaborator Craig Pearce.

Nicole Kidman

Nicole Mary Kidman, AC (born 20 June 1967) is an Australian actress and film producer. Kidman's breakthrough roles were in the 1989 feature film thriller Dead Calm and television thriller mini series Bangkok Hilton. Appearing in several films in the early 1990s, she came to worldwide recognition for her performances in the stock-car racing film Days of Thunder (1990), the Irish-immigrant-in-America-experience romance-drama Far and Away (1992), and the superhero film Batman Forever (1995). Other successful films followed in the late 1990s. Her performance in the musical Moulin Rouge! (2001) earned her a second Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and her first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Kidman's performance as Virginia Woolf in the drama film The Hours (2002) received critical acclaim and earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress, the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama and the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Hugh Jackman

Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor, singer, and producer. Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as superhero, period, and romance characters. He is best known for his long-running role as Wolverine in the X-Men film series, as well as for his lead roles in the romantic-comedy fantasy Kate & Leopold (2001), the action-horror film Van Helsing (2004), the magic-themed drama The Prestige (2006), the epic historical romantic drama Australia (2008), the sci-fi sports drama Real Steel (2011), the film version of Les Misérables (2012), and the thriller Prisoners (2013). His work in Les Misérables earned him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and his first Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy in 2013. In theater, he won a Tony Award for his role in The Boy from Oz.

A four-time host of the Tony Awards, winning an Emmy Award for one of these appearances, Jackman also hosted the 81st Academy Awards on 22 February 2009.