To welcome the new year of 2009, we reserved two seats in advance a few days early (which was last year) to watch 'Australia' on 1 Jan. And the movie 'Australia' turned out to be a beautiful beginning for our new year! 

I love the story very much. Perhaps I'd say the movie 'Australia' directed by Bax Luhrmann set on the Australia's outback is beyond my expectation. Filmed at a few locations in Australia (Kimberley region, Kununurra, Bowen and Sydney), this touching epic brings us to rejoice equality and kindness over prejudice and pride. In this movie, it also exposed me to 'Stolen Generations' and of course the amazing cultures of the Australian Aboriginal like walkabout and songlines.

If you have watched 'Australia', you definitely will agree with me that it is a huge story. I was fascinated by various beautiful themes behind it without realizing that I had seated for a solid 2 hours and 45 minutes.

Love transcends all.

It began with the love of a half-caste Aboriginal boy called Nullah played by Brandon Walters for his mother. He is aware that Neil Fletcher(David Wenham) is a bad guy and always bully his mother despite they have had the 'thing wrong' together. With his bravery to reveal the truth to Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) when she arrived at Faraway Down station, he managed to kick Fletcher from the cattle farm.

When Nullah was mourning over his mother's deceased, Lady Ashley came to comfort, singing him a song called 'Over the Rainbow' and their bonding started to grow. The character of Lady Ashley deserved more than a pat on her back. Despite her aristocrat English Lady background, her endurance was very strong. It is the love of a widow to fullfil her husband's dream.

One of the touching scene happens when the alcoholic accountant Kipling Flynn fell from his horse to save the cattles after Fletcher's gang set a large fire. Seeing that, Nullah then jumped down from his horse. Nullah called out the song learnt from King Gorge (his grandfather) and managed to calm the cattles and prevent them falling into the cliff at the expenses of his life.

But Kipling was stampeded and died there. During his last breathe, he handed over his lovely harmonica to be given to Nullah. He also whispered to Drover (Hugh Jackman) about the secret that Nullah told him and shared his precious 'Poor Fella'. It is the selfless love of Kipling to leave his precious belongings for his comrades to enjoy.

Being a kind and smart boy, Nullah is loved by many including Lady Ashley. She loves Nullah like her own son and sold Faraway Down to Fletcher in order to get Nullah back from Mission Island. When Nullah was deported from Darwin with other half Aboriginal children, she was terribly depressed and determined to find him back. A motherly love for an innocent child, the love beyond colors and biological bonding!

Also featuring is the romantic relationship between Lady Sarah Ashley and Drover. It tells me that you will never know what you have until you loose it. Drover insisted on his freedom and went for 6-month cattle droving against Lady Ashley's wish. Finally when he came back and found Lady Ashley was killed in the Japanese bombing in Darwin, he was so devastated. The scene at half-blasted bar with Magarri (Drover's best friend whom is also his brother-in-law of an Aboriginal) may not hold your tears for too long! 

What is the ending? I shall leave it to you to find out. Experiene the feelings that you might have never had before. Take away the remarkable yoga pose - 'tree' by King George.

Kudos to Brandon Walters, Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. Their characters are truly inspiring! Hats off 'Australia'...

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