Australian promotional poster
Pre-viewing activities
I. What do you know about Australia? Brainstorm your ideas and share with the class.
II. Baz Luhrmann’s film Australia is set in the 1940’s. Look at these pictures.
What do you think are the main themes of the film? Refer to the timeline below.
II. What do you know about Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman?
III. Match the words to the definitions (worksheet)
Post-viewing activities
I. Write about 2 of these topics (about 100 words each writing assignment). We will discuss orally all the other questions in class after the Christmas break.
- Both Lady Ashely and Drover change a lot during the film. Describe both characters from when they first meet to the end of the movie.
- Love epics are romantic films done on a large scale, usually in a historical setting. Do you think Australia is a good example of a love epic. Why (not)?
- What is the relationship between Lady Sarah Ashley and Nullah?
- In most films we can easily pick out the star. However, who do you think is the real star in Australia: Lady Sarah Ashley, the Drover or Nullah? Why?
- Describe King George under the following headings:
- Appearance
- Character
- Role
- What do the Indigenous Australian traditions in the film tell you about the Indigenous’ way of life?
- Who is Australia’s narrator? Why do you think the story is narrated by this character?
- In the film Lady Sarah Ashley tells Nullah the story of The Wizard of Oz to comfort him when his mother dies. He later sees the film at an open air cinema. What song does Lady Sarah Ashley sing to Nullah? When does the song appear again in the film? What do you think is the significance of this?
- Look at the film poster designed to promote the film Australia. What does it tell you about the film? Do you think it’s an effective design? Why/not? Which element in particular might influence audiences?
- For exteriors, the director relied on the beauty of the Australian landscape as a backdrop for his epic tale. Do you think the use of these stunning landscapes would attract people to Australia? Why/not?
II. Did you like the movie? Submit your opinion in a comment to this post.
III. What is “The Stolen Generation”? Find out about it.
IV. The ‘Outback’, ‘bush’, ‘never never land’ and ‘big backyard’ are all names which refer to remote dry areas of Australia. Why do you think one of the names for the Outback is ‘never never’? What kind of landscape is this?
[Thanks to the Irish Film Institute]
I liked this film because it mixes nice themes as love or family but in dark and hard times, the war. Although in the movie it appears some mystical themes and they talk about Indigenous Australian traditions. So, mixing all these themes in a movie and making it pleasant to watch makes the movie a good movie.
Glad you liked it!
I like the movie very much, because I like the plot, and the characters that appear.
It’s a different movie to which I often see and that I liked.
Well, so you should try and watch “different” movies and you’ll be amazed!
I had already seen this movie and I loved. I like that it is possible to enjoy a good movie, with a few good actors and as well as you have the opportunity to learn history. But I think that in English it’s a little difficult to understand for the vocabulary.
Difficult to understand in English but also a pleasant way to learn new vocabulary…
II. Did you like the movie?
Yes, I really enjoyed the film. The love story between Lady Ashley and Drover was very beautiful and emotional. I also loved the way Lady Ashley changed during the film and how Nulah and her, loved each other so much at the end. While I was watching the film I thought it would end up tragically but it did not, and that’s why i love the film.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Yes, I love this movie. I love the story of love about Drover and Lady Ashley. I love Nulah too. Is a fantastic boy. And Nulah’s grandfather sometimes frightens because he appears when you don’t wait his. The final of this film is beutiful but is sad too because Nulah go with this grandfather and the farewell between Lady Ashley and Nulah is very sad.
Happy you loved it!
This movie likes me a lot. I think it is a good way to learnt words which do not appear in class due to we work with another kind of words there. Finally, it ‘s a film which I would see more times and I recommend it.
I agree, a first approach to Australian English!
Yes, I really like the movie. The plot is interesting because it appears a lot of different themes that makes the film more dynamic and attractive, I mean it is not boring.
The love story between Lady Ashley and the Drover is very beautiful and I love it.
Personally, it was difficult to me to understand some of the vocabulary but I think it’s a good way to learn and useful for us.
Yes, I really liked the movie. Actually, this movie it’s a good one because the plot is very interesting but sometimes I was lost about what had happened. At the end of the movie, I already understood the whole story and I liked. I think I’ll watch it again because maybe my parents would like it too!
II. Did you like the movie?
I liked the movie and I enjoyed it. I liked the change and the evolution that all the characters have made during the movie. The truth is that seeing the evolution of the film really thought that it wouldn’t end well but finally everything ends in it’s place.
This film has been a love movie, interesting, tragic and fun at the same time.
Did you like the movie?
I had already seen this movie and I really like the plot because is very interesting and the characters too. Also I love the story of Nullah because I think that his life is very unfair but he is brave during the movie. The love story between Lady Ashley and the Drover is very beautiful because during the film being together makes them change their way of seeing things and that makes them fall in love.
From my point of view the movie has been difficult to understand because it is a vocabulary that I have never seen before but it’s interesting to learn more.
In spite of that I already had seen the movie, I really like it because of the plot that the movie has and because I love the BSO that it has. I really like how Lady Ashley developes her love for Drover and has the love for Nullah despite that he is not her son.
As the actors of the movie has a different accent from the one that we are used to, is a little dificult to understand at first. Also, the vocabulary is a little dificult to understant because I have never seen it before but from my point of view, it is a good way to learn more things while your are enjoying watching a movie.
II. Did you like the movie?
I liked the movie. The plot it was interesting and how it all happens during the movie.
I also liked the love between Lady Ashley and Drover, and how they loved Nullah as their kid even if he wasn’t.
Although the vocabulary is difficult, but it’s a beautiful story.
I would watch it again.
I really liked this movie a lot, since well-known celebrities like the great character Nicole Kidman appear. This type of movies are not what I usually see but I still liked it a lot.
It has been very entertaining. Also, this movie appears a diversity of genres: Action and adventure, Classics, Romance, Mystery and suspense.
The only difficulty I found watching the movie was the vocabulary.
II. Did you like the movie?
I really enjoyed this film. I watched a long time ago and I didn’t remember how beautifully done it was. Australia is a film which has splendid interpretations from talented actors such as Hugh Jackman. Moreover, we have a story that makes you wonder what will happen to the characters and how will they end.
In addition, the romance that blooms between the two main characters grows naturally, it’s neither forced nor artificial. And Australia, where the action takes place, it’s depicted as the cultural paradise it is.
I would totally watch it a third time!
II. Did you like the movie?
I didn’t like this movie very much.
Firstly, the theme it didn’t catch my attention because I like another tipe of films and also, the duration of this film it’s very long and for me It’s a bored.
Secondly, I didn’t like the beginning because it use the same steriotype based on the rich woman that falls in love with the poor man.
The film maybe have a good intention but in my opinion it is not very good.
I never watching this movie before but now I love it! The relationship between Lady Ashley and Drover it’s very interesting because at the beginning it looks like they don’t going to along well, but as pass the film they fall in love. I like the reaction Ashley had when Nullah’s mother died, since she protects him as if he were his son even though he is not.
From my point of view, referring to the vocabulary used in the film, it is a little difficult to understand because there are appeared some words that I had not heard before but it’s interesting learn more.
II. Did you like the movie? Submit your opinion in a comment to this post.
In general I really liked this film when I watched it. I think It couldn’t be more beautiful because the romance between the three main characters (including Nullah) was so real. Also the natural Australia landscapes fitted with this natural love. The character I liked the most was Nullah, because I think it’s nice, kindly and he talks from the voice of the goodness.
Even though I said I liked this film, I can’t love it because it was impossible for me to understand many words although we had that paper with some vocabulary, I couldn’t mix reading the paper and watching the film
II. Did you like the movie?
I didn’t like this movie. I think the picture of the film is amazing and the costumes too, but the plot is totally ridiculous. It’s a long and boring film.
From my point of view, I think that the two main characters (Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman) didn’t know what kind of film they were doing and they made one of the worst role of their lives.
Finally, I have to say that Australia is one of the most beautiful countries over the world and it was nice seeing all the landscapes.
I really like it. At the beggining of the film I didn’t like it, because I though that it was a typical american film. With that I mean that all what happens in the film is too easy to discern. Then the situation changed and the film returned more interesting. We can watch the true love in this film, learn history of the situation of this country in the Second World War and apreciate all the landscapes of this unknown part of the world.
In my opinion in a film that the name is ”Australia” the aborigian people must have more importance, but racism in this time to this people is real.
II.
Personally I don´t like really much the movie because I think that the main plot is a little bit silly and don´t have rithm at the time to develop the plot inself.
The movie makes me feel bored because the duration of the film is too long and in my personal opinion 30 minutes of the movie are unusefull.
The only think that I think that is beautifool in the film is the scenography of Australia.