POST-MODERN AUSTRALIA
REVIEW: Australia (2008) d. Baz Luhrmann
When I think of some of my favorite contemporary filmmakers (The Coen Brothers, Tim Burton, Peter Jackson, and Baz Luhrmann) one word links them all and that is the term “Post-Modern.” These auteurs are among the generation of filmmakers who grew up with total access to the archive of world cinema, still, at the time of their respective youths, less than 100 years old. Such total access has empowered them to both learn and keep at their disposal proven techniques and story telling devices which find their way back into their personal body of work, not as an out and out rip off, but rather as pastiche of elements designed in homage to the masters. “When you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em,” “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” and “I learned from the best” are phrases that subconsciously reflect such “sampling” and account for the underlying feeling of “deja vu” the seasoned moviegoer feels when watching any modern auteurs body of work!
Baz Luhrmann’s AUSTRALIA starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman (see photo) is perhaps one of the most easily accessible post-modern works since pretty much any Quentin Tarantino film.
