CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture ISSN 1481-4374 Purdue University Press ©Purdue University Volume 11 (2009) Issue 2 Article 15 Nature vs. Civilization: A Review Article of Films by Luhrmann Vera Zubarev University of Pennsylvania Follow this and additional works at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb Part of the Comparative Literature Commons, and the Critical and Cultural Studies Commons Dedicated to the dissemination of scholarly and professional information, Purdue University Press selects, develops, and distributes quality resources in several key subject areas for which its parent university is famous, including business, technology, health, veterinary medicine, and other selected disciplines in the humanities and sciences. CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture, the peer-reviewed, full-text, and open-access learned journal in the humanities and social sciences, publishes new scholarship following tenets of the discipline of comparative literature and the field of cultural studies designated as "comparative cultural studies." Publications in the journal are indexed in the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (Chadwyck-Healey), the Arts and Humanities Citation Index (Thomson Reuters ISI), the Humanities Index (Wilson), Humanities International Complete (EBSCO), the International Bibliography of the Modern Language Association of America, and Scopus (Elsevier). The journal is affiliated with the Purdue University Press monograph series of Books in Comparative Cultural Studies. Contact: <[email protected]> Recommended Citation Zubarev, Vera. "Nature vs. Civilization: A Review Article of Films by Luhrmann." 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UNIVERSITY PRESS <http://www.thepress.purdue.edu > CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture ISSN 1481-4374 < http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb > Purdue University Press ©Purdue University CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture , the peer-reviewed, full-text, and open-access learned journal in the humanities and social sciences, publishes new scholarship following tenets of the discipline of comparative literature and the field of cultural studies designated as "comparative cultural studies." In addition to the publication of articles, the journal publishes review articles of scholarly books and publishes research material in its Library Series. Publications in the journal are indexed in the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (Chadwyck-Healey), the Arts and Humanities Citation Index (Thomson Reuters ISI), the Humanities Index (Wilson), Humanities International Complete (EBSCO), the International Bibliography of the Modern Langua- ge Association of America, and Scopus (Elsevier). The journal is affiliated with the Purdue University Press monog- raph series of Books in Comparative Cultural Studies. Contact: < [email protected] > Volume 11 Issue 2 (June 2009) Book Review Article Vera Zubarev, "Nature vs. Civilization: A Review Article of Films by Luhrmann" <http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb/vol11/iss2/15> Contents of CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 11.2 (2009) <http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb/vol11/iss2/ > Vera Zubarev, "Nature vs. Civilization: A Review Article of Films by Luhrmann" page 2 of 6 CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 11.2 (2009): <http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb/vol11/iss2/15> Vera ZUBAREV Nature vs. Civilization: A Review Article of Films by Luhrmann Despite the media's constant interest and close attention to Baz Luhrmann's exotic films one im- portant side of his cinematic achievements remains untouched by critics, namely -- the director's con- ceptual basis and philosophical framework. The neglect of these two matters creates a drama and arouses anger in critics and viewers who try to apply standard rules to his films, judging and reviewing them within the framework of genre categories. Luhrmann's films, however, do not belong to any par- ticular category, although the elements of various genres can be found in them. Some of the elements are better elaborated than others, which makes critics define the niche in which his next film should be considered. The frustration starts right after the assumption about the genre is made since Luhrmann is not a director who is concerned with film categories. I postulate that he should be judged based on "director categories," i.e., as a phenomenon, not an artisan. Luhrmann's films are not story-based or character-based. They are concept-based. Concept is what cements and puts together all the details he thoroughly incorporates in his epic cinematography. Regardless of a highly entertaining nature of his films, their goal is not to entertain, but to make one think. Luhrmann belongs to a small elite of directors/conceptualists for whom plot, characters, cine- matography, and editing revolve around a solid concept and an artistically grounded philosophy. With- out grasping the philosophical core the viewer risks to be "lost in translation." The goal of the review offered below is to show the common conceptual and philosophical ground of Luhrmann's two major films released twelve years apart and to see how his basic theme, "nature and civilization," attains new developments in the course of time. The first film I discuss is Australia -- a film that some critics designate an "epic romance" and others "a character story" -- but if one has not grasped Luhrmann's concept he methodically develops throughout his major films, one would be confused, skeptical, and even angry while watching it. Some of Luhrmann's critics also feel that way because they have difficulty putting together the romance, the aboriginal magic, the allusions to The Wizard of Oz , and many other overwhelming and seemingly disjointed details in his latest offering. On the meta-level, Luhrmann's films depict an epic struggle between two grand "entities," civilization and nature. Australia is yet another attempt to reveal that struggle. Personal lives of the characters are intertwined with a history that is nothing but a chain of violent interventions of civilization in the Aboriginal (i.e., natural) world. This turns civilization into barbarians who invade violently the Kingdom of Nature, ruining it in the way only barbarians can do. Luhrmann creates a paradox by introducing the notion of the "barbarian" civilization versus the "civilized" Aboriginals healing and restoring the wounded world of nature. The space of action in Australia is divided into the kingdom of nature guided by "King George" (David Gulpilil) and civilization, aggressively pursuing its goals. The "mediators" between the two worlds are half-Aboriginal children, one of whom is the main character and the storyteller, Nullah (Brandon Walters). Nullah helps the childless Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) regain the cattle she was about to lose because of a treacherous cattle station manager, Neil Fletcher (David Wenham). Later on, Nullah rescues the cattle, stopping the herd from stampeding over a cliff by using his magic power. After his mother drowns tragically in the water tower where both of them were hiding from the authority he becomes a son- figure for Lady Sarah. All relationships in the film have their symbolism, rich in imagery and semantics. Like her biblical namesake who gave birth to Isaac when she was ninety, Lady Sarah is barren. Her romance with Drover (Hugh Jackman), the man who assists her in transporting the cattle to Darwin, becomes "illuminated" by the presence of Nullah. Nullah represents the Kingdom of Nature, whose magic forces may help Luhrman's Sarah restore her lost ability to "be fruitful and multiply." In the beginning, Sarah resists the world of nature. In fact, she comes to northern Australia to force her husband into selling his faltering Australian cattle station. Nothing looks more artificial and farcical in the rural Australian environment than this fashionably dressed woman with mincing manners. However, as she adapts to the natural world her behavior changes from affected to genuine and she opens herself to a true love. Her affection for Drover becomes a natural desire devoid of empty coquetry and nonsense. Metaphorically speaking, Drover is her spiritual guide "conducting" her "polluted" nature to "resurrection." His profession is symbolic since it is linked to transitioning, and so is their way to Darwin, the city named after Charles Darwin. At this point, the travel becomes a transitional stage for Sarah. She enters Darwin completely transformed and reunited with the primordial that is synonymous with aboriginal. In the end, all her close-ups reveal her natural beauty, not spoiled by a cosmetic makeover. Drover himself is a man of "two worlds" since his late wife was an Aboriginal woman. His dual nature makes him oscillate between the civilized and the Aboriginal, Vera Zubarev, "Nature vs. Civilization: A Review Article of Films by Luhrmann" page 3 of 6 CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 11.2 (2009): <http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb/vol11/iss2/15> and in the second half of the film he appears like a real dandy before Sarah (the scene at the party). However, their Hollywood-like romance depicted with Luhrmann's subtle sense of humor falls apart as soon as Drover rejects Nullah, saying, "He's not my son." This dangerous shift threatens to destroy the relationship between Drover and Lady Sarah -- a harmonious union between nature and civilization. Rejecting Nullah is a metaphor for rejecting the sacred world of nature -- the only source of true love, beauty, and fertility.