If there’s one thing we know about legendary director Baz Luhrmann, it’s that everything he directs will be spectacular: The Great Gatsby, Moulin Rouge, Elvis…you get the idea. We already knew that Luhrmann is revisiting – or as the publicity puts it, re-imagining – his 2008 film. Australia as a six-part series, but now we have the trailer (just below) to show us exactly what to expect. The show is called Far Downsand will be available for streaming on Hulu in the US and Disney Plus worldwide on November 26, 2023.
The show stars Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman as an English aristocrat and an Australian cattle drover respectively, but unlike the film, the show is told through the eyes of a third character, Nullah, played by Brandon Walters. Nullah is a biracial Indigenous child trapped in the government’s horrific Stolen Generations policy.
The Faraway Downs of the title is a million-acre cattle ranch in the Australian outback, owned by Kidman’s Lady Sarah Ashley. Lady Sarah travels to Australia to confront her husband and sell the ranch; When her husband dies, a ruthless cattle baron plots to take over the land. Enter the horny drover The Drover, who teams up with the aristocrat to protect the ranch.
Will Faraway Downs be good?
It certainly looks promising. Luhrmann has re-divided the six million meters of film he claims he shot for the original film into six chapters, adding countless new images that go beyond what was in the (already 165 minutes!) original film , including a new ending. And that can be good or bad.
There is a lot of good. Critics praised the “epic feel,” the “great cinematic moments,” and a distinct “they don’t make movies like this” vibe: Australia harks back to the large-scale romantic adventures of Hollywood’s golden age and looks absolutely stunning.
But, and it’s a big but, many critics shared the same opinion as Screenwize’s Simon Weaving: “It’s a huge film in size, scope, look and feel, and of course budget… It’s also a huge disappointment.” Chris Hewitt of Empire magazine put it well: ‘Often beautiful, but wildly inconsistent, Australia there is no one anymore Baz Luhrmann, who might say everything”.
As it looks now, Australia has the lowest ratings of any of Luhrmann’s films on Rotten Tomatoes (although The Great Gatsby has a slightly lower critic rating there).
It will be fascinating to see if the new additions help address some of the film’s weaknesses, which many reviewers described as Luhrmann’s reach exceeding his grasp. With more time to breathe and hopefully delve into the characters – including this whole new perspective we get from Nullah, which we have to assume was Luhrmann’s original vision for the project – perhaps Luhrmann will be able to really tell the story he’s telling to understand. tried to tell.
And perhaps it will also unpack some of the things that so angered Jim Schembri of Australian newspaper The Age, who said that “it makes you wonder if there are any tablecloth clichés about Australia that have been missed… about the one thing that’s missing is a guy named Bruce.” I hope this isn’t one of Lurhmann’s additions.