CRIKEY!

As many of you may have noticed, it seemed that Baz Luhrmann and the other writers were attempting to make a catch phrase of "crikey!" via numerous, mostly unhumorous uses throughout the movie. I can't be sure it wasn't their intention to use it as an homage to Steve Irwin or Australian culture in general, seeing as much of the flavor of the film was nostalgic, or if it was simply historically relevant for the film.

In any case, I thought I'd do a little investigating on the word's etymology to truly understand its history. The word is what is known as a "mincing oath," or more simply euphemism, used in place of the blasphemous explication of "Christ!" It is in fact considered a swear word by the Oxford English Dictionary, but that seems to only be relevant to Australian or New Zealand culture at this point in history. The first syllable is meant to mimic the initial sound of "Christ" (i.e. Chri- vs. Cri-) and is similar to the comparison of "damn" vs. "dang."

It's first recorded use in print was in 1838, though it's understood that the word was a part of the spoken language long before that. Surprisingly, the word originated in Great Britain and was adopted later by the criminals and English expatriates who migrated to Australia at its inception. "Cripes!" is an off-shoot of "Crikey!" and is essentially meant to convey the same sense of exasperation or displeasure.

Some info and examples

Overall, I found Australia to be a bit of a disappointment, and, like most people have already commented in some way, I found the performances and visuals to be strong but the story was trite and the dialogue was less than stellar. It was like Gone With the Wind sans the dynamic characters and compelling relationships. Though I did appreciate the ways in which it was almost a microcosm of everything we've been talking about in class this semester.

In memory of a great Australian, Steve Irwin, and the man who brought "Crikey!" into most of our vocabularies, I include a compilation of his bloopers that all deserve a hearty "Crikey!" or two.

Crikey!

- Matt Holden

The Japanese are Coming!

(Image Source here)

After taking some time off (ok, a lot of time off) yesterday to go see Baz Luhrmann’s Australia, I had a few questions about the Japanese attacks on Australia. I’ve taken several 20th century history courses in both high school and college, yet these events had never been mentioned. So, I did a little research and found out just what actually happened.

As it turns out, the Australian mainland was attached over 90 times over the course of the war. 64 of those raids were on Darwin, the first of which, occurring on February 19th, 1942, was shown in the film. Apparently, Darwin was a key defensive position against the Japanese onslaught in the Pacific, and on the day the Japanese attacked, there were 46 ships, both Australian and allied, in the bay. 8 ships were lost and many damaged, and the casualties are somewhere between 900 and 1100 people, just from the first attack. It is said that the Australian government suppressed this information in order to keep public moral up. Later in the day, the Japanese would attack again, destroying the Royal Australian Air Force base.

The Japanese attack was lead by a man named Mitsuo Fuchida, the pilot that also lead the attacks on Pearl Harbor (Fuchida was the one who radioed “Tora! Tora! Tora!”). They attacked with 188 planes and destroyed all but one (out of the ten) of the Australian fighters located there.

Darwin was attacked again and again until November 1943. I found a list of the attacks here.

For more information about the Japanese attacks, check out this site

Beauty in a land called Oz

I took in a screening of "Australia" this afternoon.

First, let us take a moment to mourn the loss of Nicole Kidman's beauty. Remember the days when her hair was red, her lips weren't inflated, and her forehead didn't resemble a windshield? I miss those days.

I was, however, quite taken with the visual beauty of the film. This is especially true ofthe cinematography- the shot compostion and lighting coupled with the outback landscape is really quite striking.



What is even more exciting to me is that these images were captured by a female director of photography: Mandy Walker. Woman DPs seem to be a rarity in Hollywood- one has never been nominated for an Academy Award in Cinematography.

She came into the business of moviemaking in the same way that most people do: working odd jobs on set and consistently pestering her superiors. Her first film as DP was a small Aussie film called "Return Home" in 1990. She worked steadily in the Australian industry throughout the 1990s.

One of her first films that was widely seen on an international level was 2001's "Lantana". Said in a Senses of Cinema interview that this was perhaps her biggest challenge, due to the use of natural light. This led into her first American job, "Shattered Glass". This was the last film she completed before working on "Australia" (which was apparently long in development). She spends time between features working on commercials.

Walker has won awards from the Australian Film Institute and has received Kodak Vision Award. She says that even though she is often a rarity within her department, she wishes that she be hired solely for her skills, and not for gender reasons.

"I had always loved going to the movies; I find it is like entering a dream," she says. I agree, and I wish to see more of her work in the future. I hope she inspires more girls to join the more male-dominated aspects of film.

To top things off, here's the Chanel commercial she shot for Baz Luhrmann, also starring Kidman:

Somewhere Over Australia

Luhrmann knows his audience. Americans will respond well to his latest feature, Australia, not necessarily with awe over the landscape (or should I say pastel skyscape?) but the film’s relationship to the American fairy tale The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  In the United States, we take pride in L. Frank Baum's fairy tale, the good ole’ story of a small girl on the Kansas prairie and her dreams of reaching some sort of home but realizing that it was right there in her backyard. "Home is where the heart is," in a sense.
The main characters of Australia must all learn what Dorothy learned, that they do not need to seek out their home and that Australia is the perfect nation to settle down in.   Lady Sarah Ashley finds a home in Faraway Downs (this link is great!),Drover realizes that his home is not miles away with cattle but with the woman he loves and Nullah realizes that he does not have to identify himself as either black or white. He can stay creamy.  He may be a half-caste but he is an Aborgine at heart. His story is like Dorothy’s, she feels lost in the real with her aunt and uncle and seeks a home away from home.

This film is made for us Americans that are always looking for that little something called the American Dream. Interestingly enough, us Yanks have a tiny cameo in the film and in the end, it is the American story, The Wizard of Oz, that saves the day.  The songs of the 1938 film relate to everyone’s search to adulthood and that greener grass on the other side.  This song was cut from the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nf1bcjQPO00

Movie Rating=It was okay.

Not worth three hours of my time but the references to The Wizard of Oz kept me amused.

David Gulpilil: Old Face of Australia

I too, wanted to blog about the mysteriously enchanting boy who played Nullah...but Kerry beat me to it. So now I will write about another face from the film, someone we should all recognize: David Gulpilil.

I had no idea David was in this film, so when I saw him I was very excited. I'd always assumed he was of Aboriginal descent (as opposed to an actor who had learned to play an aboriginal) but hadn't confirmed it before now. So if that was in question for any of you, yes  he is a legitimate Aborigine. And he has played an Aboriginal part in over 20 films and television series since his debut in Walkabout in 1971. Talk about type casting. He even has his own webpage, although he's not the one who created it or keeps it running, found at www.gulpilil.com.

No doubt that David has become one of Australia's most recognizable faces, maybe not internationally, but certainly within his own country. And now, thanks to Baz Lurhmann, maybe he will finally be able to claim international success as well.

The aspect of his career that intrigued me the most was what Aboriginal culture might think about his portrayal of their people. Is it frowned upon by other Aborigines for David to use their way of life as a means to make money? What do they think of his choice of career? And how has it affected him? Sadly, I could not find much in the way of an answer to my questions. Though I did find a short article on a film he made in 2002 titled Gulpilil: One Red Blood that may hold some answers if anyone is interested in seeing it. Here's the link:

http://www.australianscreen.com.au/titles/gulpilil-one-red-blood/

As far as Australia goes, I thought his performance was wonderful (as always) and seemed to be an honest representation of Aboriginal culture. The way he moves and speaks can be very haunting at times. His grace (and perhaps balance, he always seems to be on one leg in this movie) can be attributed to the fact that he is an extremely accomplished Aboriginal dancer. I dug up this youtube video of him performing a few traditional dances. You should check it out:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=L08e91HxX-w

Maybe David Gulpilil's legacy will open doors for new Australian actors, Aboriginal and otherwise, like Brandon Walters.

...and I never did figure out how to embed those links, my apologies for that.

-Megan R.

Brandon Walters: New Face of Australia?

(Here is the page I got the picture from.)

I had the pleasure of seeing Australia tonight, with my sister. I must say that when we got out of the theater and started talking about the movie, one thing we absolutely agreed upon was how much we enjoyed the performance of the boy who portrayed Nullah. Everything from his acting, to narration, to his hauntingly beautiful voice when he sings (I can't find any information saying it isn't him, so I assume he did that as well) is really captivating! His name is Brandon Walters and from what I gather, he is only twelve years old (I'm finding conflicting information online, but that is what most sources say. He is still a few years older than I actually would have estimated for his tiny size). It took a decent internet search to find anything on him, as this his is big debut, but I have a feeling there will be more to come very soon!

Very big things are expected from this little package in the future and Baz Luhrmann seems to be his main supporter. This Australian Herald Sun article uses the phrase "plucked from obscurity" when describing how Brandon was cast for the role and the UK Times Online reported about how he and Luhrmann bonded over the course of the casting and filming. A lot was also mentioned, in various articles, about how well Walters seems to have connected with Nicole Kidman. The term "maternal instinct" was used multiple times in describing her behavior around him at press conferences and public appearances. It doesn't surprise me at all, as the performances these two put on felt very genuine and mutually affectionate. This interview with Kidman explains their connection in a bit more detail.

There was just something about watching Brandon that made me very happy. He brought a certain brightness and presence to the screen that I feel might have been lacking without him there. That isn't to say I didn't enjoy any other performance or any other aspect of the film, I just feel like Brandon's role made the film extra special in helping Luhrmann to create that dreamlike note with the audience. I found this article in my search that states that at the age of seven, Walters overcame Leukemia. Again, I'm not sure of the details because there is so little information about him, but assuming this is a true statement, it could be said that perhaps this remarkable personal triumph accounts for that feeling of Walters' genuine optimism and true belief in that "somewhere over the rainbow" mentality. Regardless of why, the fact is that he does bring this charm to the screen and I would recommend going to see Australia so you may be introduced to this young actor!

Thanksgiving!

Hope you all have a nice holiday and break.

I will be away from email for the next two days, until Friday night.