Australia Character Review

Baz Luhrmann’s latest film, Australia, is the kind of film that draws a metaphorical line in the sand. Those who prefer movies that hit the screen with a stylistic flourish, and that unapologetically wear their hearts on their sleeve, then I would say that Australia which stars Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman will be their kind of film.

I would like to elaborate on the lead female character of this movie, Lady Sarah Ashley, starred by Nicole Kidman. She is an arrogant English aristocrat among the riches. She leaves England to confront her errant husband in Australia just before World War Two, where he intends to sell off his enormous, sprawling cattle station. Lady Ashley, however, ends up inheriting the cattle station, and in order to save it, she must undertake an epic cattle drive to Darwin. To my utter surprise, I found myself getting caught up in Lady Ashley’s horror at the discovery of her husband’s murder, her growing affection for Nullah and the other hands on Faraway Downs, her new cattle station and her growing attraction toward the Drover. As a woman and she has to overcome her husband’s death and handle her husband’s cattle whereby she has no knowledge on handling cattle, she is tough and brave enough to face all those hurdles.

Assisting her is a drover, starred by Hugh Jackman, a tough, no-nonsense man, whose terse, aggressive world is the exact opposite to Lady Ashley's rarefied existence. In the course of their journey, the unlikely couple fall in love, and Lady Ashley is made to re-evaluate her increasingly complex life. This shows that Lady Ashley is a optimistic person as she moves on in her life without looking back on the tragedies that happened.

Coupled with the presence of a young Aboriginal boy, Nullah, starred by Brandon Walters, Lady Ashley's feelings for The Drover bring her even closer to her inherited home. This portrays her caring side. She takes care of Nullah and is willing to adopt him as her own child after the death of Nullah’s mother. She even risks her life just to see Nullah in the Mission Island during the bombing of the Japanese.

In a nutshell, Lady Ashley is a tough, brave, optimistic and caring woman. Her great personalities show that she is capable to be a successful woman and a good mother.