For all its melodrama and grand gestures, Baz Luhrmann’s masterpiece consummates his genuine faith in beauty and romanticism, no less his national pride for Australia. As a litmus test for the cynical, this film can only age gracefully for certain of us as we mature into an acceptance of our yearnings for beauty and fulfillment.
Really quite awful. Mostly it got my attention because it incorporates music from various of John Adams’ orchestral compositions. Now that I have sat through this bland drama, I am shocked that the composer consented to this appropriation. And the torrent of praise given this film, from even our most insightful professional critics, confirms simply that a tale about a woman who feels trapped but escapes in the end will milk, without fail, any faux-progressive’s heart (like auditing coursework from a women’s studies program). This is basically a second-rate revival of Tilda Swinton’s early feminist film “Orlando” in a rather different era and with much less subtlety.
@Jirin: Totally academic; you know what I meant. And I quite agree with you that the film is not moralistic; it is quite deliberately anti-moralism; and as such (for being rare in that regard) showered by love regardless of its simplistic methods (e.g., “lightning” as you put it), its failure to apppropriate the vintage epic, and its armchair feminism.
What does “caught out” mean (or, for that matter, Ehrenstein’s outburst, “YOU POINT”)? Yes, that is “beneath me.” If you can’t construct sentences, then take your debate to Netflix Customer Reviews, or Amazon.com. This is MUBI.
'Australia', by Baz Lurhman over 2 years ago
For all its melodrama and grand gestures, Baz Luhrmann’s masterpiece consummates his genuine faith in beauty and romanticism, no less his national pride for Australia. As a litmus test for the cynical, this film can only age gracefully for certain of us as we mature into an acceptance of our yearnings for beauty and fulfillment.
Go to Comment
'Australia', by Baz Lurhman over 2 years ago
@Den: Quoting myself.
Go to Comment
I AM LOVE over 1 year ago
Really quite awful. Mostly it got my attention because it incorporates music from various of John Adams’ orchestral compositions. Now that I have sat through this bland drama, I am shocked that the composer consented to this appropriation. And the torrent of praise given this film, from even our most insightful professional critics, confirms simply that a tale about a woman who feels trapped but escapes in the end will milk, without fail, any faux-progressive’s heart (like auditing coursework from a women’s studies program). This is basically a second-rate revival of Tilda Swinton’s early feminist film “Orlando” in a rather different era and with much less subtlety.
Go to Comment
I AM LOVE over 1 year ago
@Ehrenstein: Thnk harder.
Go to Comment
I AM LOVE over 1 year ago
Mubi is a bit more sophisticated of a community than this. I am not responding.
Go to Comment
I AM LOVE over 1 year ago
@Jirin: Totally academic; you know what I meant. And I quite agree with you that the film is not moralistic; it is quite deliberately anti-moralism; and as such (for being rare in that regard) showered by love regardless of its simplistic methods (e.g., “lightning” as you put it), its failure to apppropriate the vintage epic, and its armchair feminism.
Go to Comment
I AM LOVE over 1 year ago
What does “caught out” mean (or, for that matter, Ehrenstein’s outburst, “YOU POINT”)? Yes, that is “beneath me.” If you can’t construct sentences, then take your debate to Netflix Customer Reviews, or Amazon.com. This is MUBI.
Go to Comment