Thunder, down under
MINI ANTHIKAD-CHHIBBER
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Australia, opening today, marks the return of maverick director Baz Luhrmann after a gap of seven years
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Epic scale In the film, Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman are separated not only by geography, but social and economic status as well
In the mid-nineties, there was a film that branded itself in the public consciousness and proved triumphantly that the Bard of Avon was the original rock star. The film was “William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet”. I remember watching the film entranced and as the end credits rolled, running out of the theatre to buy a ticket for the next show and watching the movie all over again.
The hypnotic opening sequence was blisteringly edited. The energy was such that the film practically leapt out of the frame. Young, pre-“Titanic” golden boy Leonardo DiCaprio played Romeo to a delightfully charming Claire Daines’ Juliet.
The film mixed an amazing sound track with contributions from stalwarts like Radiohead and Garbage and the exquisite “Love fool” by Cardigans with Shakespeare’s lines.
The kinetic visual style, the mixing of religion and rock and characters speaking in iambic pentameter created an unforgettable punk rock version of the bard’s immortal story of star-crossed lovers.
It was not just that Verona Beach stood in for Verona or that the overture is part of a news telecast and the captain of police comes in a helicopter — those were “but the trappings and the suites”. It was the way the play was internalised by including the advertisements with Shakespearean quotes as tag lines among other things, to create a vastly entertaining experience, that was so exciting and new.
The movie was directed by Baz Luhrmann, and all one knew about the Australian director was that “Romeo + Juliet” formed the second part of his Red Curtain trilogy, with his debut feature “Strictly Ballroom” (1992) being the first.
In 2001, Luhrmann came out with “Moulin Rouge!”, the concluding part of the trilogy. Talking about the film, Luhrmann said during his travels in India, he watched a Bollywood film (he unfortunately did not say which one) and “Moulin Rouge!” is the result of that.
The film is a loving tribute to Bollywood. We can hail all our beloved tropes — the courtesan with a heart of gold dying of tuberculosis, the battle between paisa and pyaar, the penniless sitar player, the evil maharaja and the eye-popping song and dance numbers.
The film is set in the turn-of-the-century Montmartre. Nicole Kidman plays Satine, the courtesan while Ewan McGregor plays the economically-challenged poet Christian who is besotted with her. John Leguizamo, who played Tybalt in “Romeo + Juliet”, plays the artist Toulouse-Lautrec.
Like “Romeo + Juliet”, the soundtrack was an intoxicating mix of genres. From Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” and Police’s “Roxanne” to the classic “Diamonds and a Girl’s Best Friend” and our very own Anu Malik’s “Chamma Chamma”, the songs were an electric accompaniment to the striking visuals complete with bejewelled elephant set and the moody moon.
“Moulin Rouge!” got a slew of nominations at the Oscars including Best Picture and Best Actress for Kidman. Post “Moulin Rouge!”, we heard of Luhrmann making a bio pic on Alexander.
Oliver Stone’s “Alexander” with Angelina Jolie playing the conqueror’s mum with a weird accent came out but there was no sign of Luhrmann’s version.
And then we heard of “Australia”, which is supposed to be Luhrmann’s version of “Gone With The Wind”. Set during the Second World War, the film tells the story of an aristocratic English lady (played by Kidman) who undertakes an arduous journey across the country with 2,000 heads of cattle to save her ranch. She is helped by a cowboy (sexy Hugh Jackman).
Like every Luhrmann film, “Australia” has also got extreme reactions with some loving it passionately while others have hated with equal single mindedness.
The film is grand in scale and is supposed to be a tribute to hearty, wholesome, swooningly romantic big budget extravaganzas of the Fifties and Sixties and we can hardly wait for the curtain to go up!
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