Whether it be through times of hardship and need or through a high quality game of soccer such as when the Socceroos beat the strong favourites South Korea in a gruelling match to the death, the Aussie Battler spirit has always been an important aspect of our Australian identity. For a film to be selected to feature in this festival, not only must the movie have to have breathtaking cinematography that fully utilises Australia’s landscape and history, but it must also effectively depict a multitude of ways in which the spirit of the Aussie battler can be displayed. Baz Luhrman’s Australia ticks all of these boxes and thus if you are serious about a Film Festival that presents an apt coverage of Australian identity to the world, you must include …show more content…
the film Australia. Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen of the panel. This spectacular film, Australia, starts off with the aristocratic Lady Sarah Ashley travelling from Great Britain to Australia to meet her husband Maitland Ashley in northern Australia.
Upon arrival she finds the body of her husband laid on the table. Continuing these distraught events, Lady Ashley inherits the enormous property which is being targeted by horrid English Barons. To protect Faraway Downs and make a good profit, she reluctantly joins forces with the country grown drover to muster 2,000 head of cattle across thousands of miles of the country's most unforgiving land, only to still come against the bombing of Darwin by the Japanese forces. As of late, the Aussie battler has started to gain similar connotations as the term ‘bogan’ but there are some important differences that make the former desirable and the latter less so. ‘Bogan’ is Australian slang that is used to describe an unfashionable, uncouth or simple person whose behaviour illustrates a proud working class mentality. On the other hand, an Aussie Battler is defined as an ordinary or working class individual who perseveres through their commitments despite …show more content…
adversity. In the film Australia the fine spirit of a battler is shown through scenes such as when they are mustering the cattle through the Never Never Desert. The crew survive for five days without any water, battling through the harsh and unforgiving terrain, even being declared dead by the Darwin newspapers. They only survive thanks to the King George, an elderly aboriginal whose ancestors mapped out the whole desert over thousands of years. Even when they reach Darwin with the 2000 head of cattle, they must fight against the evil king Carney to get all them onto the ships so that they can be sent off to the frontlines as food. The filmmakers have magnificently depicted the Aussie battler trait by showing the spirit to never give up and to keep pushing on through all hardships to succeed against impossible odds. It’s not just the people in this film that evoke the Aussie battler spirit, but the landscape also helps to show the other side of the story through many filmic conventions.
Australia as a country is commonly known by foreigners for its vast expanses of empty space. It is first entwined in the film when Lady Ashley asks the drover how long it’s going to take to get to Faraway Downs and the Drover replies, “We’ve been on it for the past 2 days.” The camera then zooms out to show the dust trail they have left through the immense empty desert. The emptiness of this remarkable land is strongly emphasised again while they are traveling through the Never Never Desert. While displaying the magnificent open land, they zoom in with the cameras to show the heat and sweat of the outback and then zoom back out to show all the dead trees and dust. The film makers also show the main characters struggling to survive through the desert without water to further illustrate how tough it is to stay alive in such an unforgiving land. Though we Aussies don’t all live in the bush, it can still reaches scorching temperatures of 40 degrees in places such as Rockhampton but we don’t give up and move to somewhere that is cooler, we stay and try our hardest to live like any other normal group of people. This same theory has been cleverly used by the directors of this film when Lady Ashley decides to stay and protect her land instead of flying back to England and selling Faraway Downs. To add to this,
they have successfully related the aspect of survival to the lives of everyday Australians and they have provided foreign viewers with an extensive insight to our lives. It is clear that the film Australia highlights the aspect of Australian identity known as the Aussie Battler. This film is very important to Australia as a nation due to its depiction of our countrymen, both past and present, having the strength to carry on through difficult times. It also helps to bring together everyday Aussies and show the world how we live our lives and thus, it must be included in any festival that claims to celebrate Australian identity. I now leave you with a quote from Michael Page and Robert Inapen. “The true Aussie battler thrust doggedly onwards: starting again, failing again, implacably thrusting towards success. For success, even if it is only the success of knowing that one has tried to the utmost and never surrendered, is the target of every battler”
The theme of belonging and importance of being a part of a group is emphasised through the use of camera angles, imagery and shot size. The story is captured in the Bungle Bungle, Western Australia where they live in an abandoned outdoor cinema that is threatened with demolition. The heat is evident due to the particles in the ground as shown on a picture below and the sweat and dehydration the two boys are faced with on the journey. Pete flees to the city to try and stop the mining company. ‘Satellite Boy’ presents an indigenous view of were traditional culture meets white in outback towns. Pete learns to embrace the indigenous wisdom passed on from his grandfather to survive. Satellite Boy a is an allegory is a story on self discovery and journey, making you question your own sense of belonging Satellite Boy’ helps the audiences understand the importance of belonging and that some people find it difficult to belong in society, but with the influence of others they will find their individual place where they belong. The satellite dish emerging out of the remote Kimberley landscape is an anomaly as it draws attention to the title of the film and makes us wonder about its meaning. The filming techniques used in Satellite Boy communicate an enormous amount about the country and its connection to the people who inhabit it. The wide angles long shots of the landscape, scenery, and country and
Crocodile Dundee (1986) directed by Peter Faiman and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) directed by Stephan Elliott are two Australian films that have unique plots. The expositions of both films have various similarities and differences in the context of quirky ‘Aussie’ characters, stereotypical Australian language, themes and the vast outback setting. The exposition of each film reaffirms typical Australian stereotypes.
Robert returns to the front on an ammunition convoy towards Wytsbrouk. He encounters some shelling but his life is spared. On the seventh day since returning from the front Robert is with Captain Leather and thirty horses and mules. When the German’s begin to bomb their location Robert asks Leather if he can release the animals in order to save them, but Leather was in a panic under a table and refused. However, Robert convinces Devlin to open the gate to release the animals. When Leather witnesses what Devlin is doing he fires and shoots Devlin in the head. Shells begin to land in the barns and as Roberts attempts to kill the wounded animals he thinks that if Leather was an animal he was be deemed mad and be shot.
Without the use of stereotypical behaviours or even language is known universally, the naming of certain places in, but not really known to, Australia in ‘Drifters’ and ‘Reverie of a Swimmer’ convoluted with the overall message of the poems. The story of ‘Drifters’ looks at a family that moves around so much, that they feel as though they don’t belong. By utilising metaphors of planting in a ‘“vegetable-patch”, Dawe is referring to the family making roots, or settling down somewhere, which the audience assumes doesn’t occur, as the “green tomatoes are picked by off the vine”. The idea of feeling secure and settling down can be applied to any country and isn’t a stereotypical Australian behaviour - unless it is, in fact, referring to the continental
‘The Drover’s Wife’ opens with a vivid visual image of the house which becomes a character in itself, the lexical word chain “round timber, slabs, and stringy bark, and floored with split slabs” shows us the poor, rough materials used to build only what is necessary to survive. Thus, we can visualise the simplistic nature of the lives the drover’s wife and her children live in their environment. Strong visual imagery is employed to depict the landscape; “Bush all round – bush with no horizon, for the country is flat. No ranges in the distance… No undergrowth”. The repetition of “no” emphasises the lack of distinguishing features, the land is monotonous and contains “nothing to relieve the eye”. The environment is isolated; they are alone “There is nothing to see, however, and not a soul to meet”. This helps the audience to develop an understanding of the isolation and loneliness of Australians living in the bush during the Colonial
To be a True Blue Aussie you have to have a mate because “You've to have a mate,” as verbalized by poet Dave Butler in 2013. For in Aussie culture, a mate is a person whose actions speak louder than their words. In Australia, being a mate is a value that is held in the highest respect.
The suburban house, as the film’s setting and sphere of action, is extraordinary partly because it is ‘next-door’ to an airport. The odd layout of this backyard is underlined because their suburb meets the kind of architectural cast-offs often found at the margins of big cities. This mix of the humble backyard with the international vectors of travel, tourism and international trade plays out in the film’s narrative which connects the domestic and the distant. The Castle displays many locations and landscapes easily identified as being unique of Australia- The ‘Aussy’ barbeque and patio setup, greyhound racetrack and poolroom, just to name a few. The neighbours of the Kerrigan’s are a symbol representing the multicultural diversi...
Australian films are usually criticised for their poor cinematography, weak storyline and terrible stereotypical actors. However, this is not the case for the superb all age 2011 film entitled ‘Red Dog’. Based on the true Australian legend, Red Dog is loved by many Australians; he roamed the outback in search for his owner John. This emotional movie amazed the whole of Australia, finding his way into the hearts of everyone he meets. The film portrays a positive picture of Australia’s national identity as many of the landscapes and Australian spirit can still be found across Australia nowadays, which is why Red Dog should enter the ‘Cannes Film Festival’. The portrayal of the setting, characters and language have all played
Picture yourself riding horseback through the rugged mountainous terrain while the sun sets across the plains. As you trek through the bush and navigate the perilous slopes, take in the spectacular surroundings and relish in the beauty of the bushland. Doesn’t that sound like paradise? Ladies and gentlemen of the Australian Tourist Board, if you are searching for a film to showcase Australia, look no further than George Miller’s The Man from Snowy River. This captivating film is the ideal choice to represent Australia and our culture through the use of techniques such as cinematography, characterisation and music.
Peter Weir’s 1981 film Gallipoli can in every sense of the phrase be called an ‘Australian classic’. The impact and effect this film has had upon the psyche and perspective of several generations of Australians has been significant. Whilst it can be argued that every Australian is aware of the ANZAC legend, and the events that occurred on the Turkish beaches in 1915, Weir’s film encapsulates and embodies a cultural myth which is now propagated as fact and embraced as part of the contemporary Australian identity. The film projects a sense of Australian nationalism that grew out of the 1970’s, and focuses on what it ‘means’ to be an Australian in a post-colonial country. In this way Gallipoli embodies a sense of ‘Australian-ness’ through the depiction of mateship and through the stark contrast of Australia to Britain. A sense of the mythic Australia is further projected through the cinematic portrayal of the outback, and the way in which Australia is presented in isolation from the rest of the world. These features combined create not only a sense of nationalism, but also a mythology stemming from the ANZAC legend as depicted within the film.
... World. The Festival includes narrative and documentary features and shorts, animation, midnight movies, and a full array of educational forums, attractive parties, and other special events.
Recent news with the country turning away Syrian refugees show how this unethical and immoral cycle of the dominant community's stance and fears towards refugees constantly repeats itself within Australia. Thus, the Shifting Heart's relevance in contemporary Australia is simply too hard to ignore and which I believe is the main reason for its return back into the theatre scene.
Ray Lawrence is an Australian film and television director who has made three critically acclaimed feature films over two decades. His first film, Bliss, initially struggled to gain an audience, but later grew to become an art-house hit (Byrnes, n.d.-a). Following Bliss, it wasn’t until 16 years later that he released his next film Lantana, and then another 5 years until the release of Jindabyne. These films are unique in that they tend to have more focus on the development of the characters rather than the progression of a narrative. Through these films Lawrence has developed a reputation for his one-take shoots and use of natural light. This essay will explore more deeply the similarities and differences between Lawrence’s most recent films
Gallipoli is a historical film released in 1981 (directed by Peter Weir) which chronicles the lives of two young Australian men, and their journey through enlisting in the Australian Army and serving in the Battle of Gallipoli, of the First World War. The film itself represents the past through three main aspects. Firstly, the film both reflects and influences societal values and attitudes, and in this way mythologises aspects of history, specifically when considering the ‘ANZAC legend’. Simultaneously the film is able to shape societies knowledge of parts of history, looking at the futility of war in conjunction with a partial shift in blame for the immense number of casualties (26,000 Australians) of the campaign. Finally, in the films representation
...atures that make Australia what it is today. He uses the words “sunlit plain”, “vision splendid” and “wondrous glory” to provide the reader with an image that represents Australia’s reminiscent landscape. This is done to capture the reader’s thoughts in an attempt to persuade them. Paterson silences the negative aspects of rural life and the positive aspects of city life.