Have you, like me, been missing the bright shiny world of Baz Luhrmann over the seven years that have passed since Moulin Rouge? Well, the long wait is about to end when his follow up, Australia, hits theaters this November. Here’s a look at the first trailer.

It doesn’t give us much in the way of plot or character, but there’s still plenty to get excited about. We’ve got war planes, fluffy clouds, cowboys riding in the mist, garden parties with paper lanterns, Nicole Kidman slow dancing in an extravagant gown, and the promise of both scruffy and dapper incarnations of Hugh Jackman. It appears to be a love story (which Luhrmann knows a thing or two about already) between Kidman and Jackman set during the Japanese attack of Australia during World War II. Now, I was an advanced placement history student in high school, and I don’t remember learning anything about Japan attacking Australia, so the good news for me is that I’ll be surprised by how it all turns out. I’m also very intrigued as to how the cowboys in the mist will fit in to the story. I definitely don’t remember there being any cowboys involved in World War II.

But I’m sure some of you out there will be yawning at this trailer, asking yourself, "Who needs another epic WW2 love story, even if it is set during this mysterious attack on Australia?” I’m guessing the people asking this question may have also watched the trailer for Luhrmann’s William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and asked, “Who needs another Shakespeare adaptation?” These people have obviously never actually watched a Baz Luhrmann movie.

Because when it comes to Baz, it’s never about the story, but how he tells it. All three of his films -- Strictly Ballroom, Romeo and Juliet, and Moulin Rouge -- have been about style over substance, and he’s one of the few filmmakers that can make that not feel like a bad thing. His interest as a filmmaker seems to lie not in making timeless pieces of art, but in exploring what makes art timeless. In Romeo and Juliet, he proved the timelessness of the words of William Shakespeare by placing them in modern mouths. In Moulin Rouge, he did the reverse by having 18th century characters belt out 20th century pop music. But he doesn’t stop there. He uses rich colors, outrageous sets and costumes, and insanely fast-paced editing to create almost-fantastical (or in the case of Moulin Rouge, absinthe-soaked) worlds so dazzling that the only things we recognize in them are the emotions. No matter how many WW2 era love stories you’ve seen, I doubt you’ve seen any that will look or feel like the one he seems to be making.

And in case there’s still any doubt over the genius and/or entertainment value of a Baz Luhrmann film, I leave you with the “Like a Virgin” sequence from Moulin Rouge. Enjoy.

Recommend (0)

|  Comments (0)

|  Email

|  Share

Share  Facebook Digg del.icio.us