Australia (2008 film)

The longest tourism commercial ever.

For those interested in the country itself, you may wish to try All The Tropes' Australia: Useful Notes, or the search results for "Australia".

Set in the Northern Territory of the 1940s, Australia centers around the lives of the English aristocrat Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman), a half-Aboriginal boy, Nulla, and an Australian known only by his occupation: Drover (Hugh Jackman). The trio, accompanied by friends, attempt to drove the herd of 2,000 cattle from the property to the army's meat ship in Darwin. The town, port and the island that Nulla was shipped to when Australia would send Aboriginal children to Christian Missions is subsequently bombed by the Japanese.

Did we mention that it's not only called Australia and set in Australia, but stars Australians, was directed by an Australian, funded by an Australian (albeit one with US citizenship), written by several Australians, filmed in Australia and premiered in Australia. In AUSTRALIA! ^[1]

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Tropes used in Australia (2008 film) include:

• Actor Allusion - In a possibly unintentional one, David Wenham plays a completely evil bastard named Fletcher, just like in The Proposition.
• Anyone Can Die - A total of six plot-important characters die throughout the course of the movie. Seven if you count Drover's dog.
• Are We There Yet? - "How long till we reach Faraway Downs?"
• You Fail History Forever
• Australian Accent - Well, yes.
• Awesome Aussie - The Drover; at least, that's what his character is supposed to be.
• Cattle Drive - Of epic proportions
• Chekhov's Gun - The prelude notes about how Australia sent Half-Aboriginal children to Missions in order to "clean" them (culturally speaking). Of course Nulla gets sent away.
• Chekhov's Skill - The Drover explains that cattle will fear a man standing alone and staring them in the eye. Guess how Nulla stops a cattle stampede?
• Corrupt Corporate Executive - King Carney, and Neil Fletcher when he feeds King Carney to crocodiles so he can take over the business.
• Defrosting Ice Queen - Sarah
• Epic Movie
• Fake Brit - Nicole Kidman as Lady Sarah Ashley
• George Lucas Throwback - Arguably. To the old-school period epics and Westerns of the Sixties and earlier, which probably would evoke the same lukewarm reactions as Australia today, but were beloved classics then.
• Happy Ending - Oh, yeah.
• Heroic Sacrifice - Magarri distracts the Japanese and then draws them off so they don't spot the escaping children.
• Hollywood Kiss
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice - Fletcher dies via impalement by a metal rod thrown by King George.
• Karmic Death - Fletcher speared the husband of Lady Ashley at the beginning of the movie in order to gain his property and frame King George. Take a wild guess how he dies, and who kills him.
• No Name Given - Thoroughly played straight with Drover.
• Orange-Blue Contrast - And how. It's almost easier to count the scenes in the movie that aren't bathed in orange-blue contrast.
  • Much of that is probably helped along by the Scenery Porn. The Australian Outback is bright orange, sandy desert contrasted with deep, cloudless blue sky. Not to mention the orange tinting on the human characters and often-appearing dark blue lighting.
• Oscar Bait - Boy Howdy. Amusingly received only a nomination for its costumes.
  • Hugh Jackman spoofed this in his Academy Award opening monologue: "In The Reader, Kate, English, plays a German, nominated. In Tropic Thunder, Robert Downey, Jr., who was an American, playing an Australian, playing an African-American, nominated. Where's me? I'm an Australian, playing an Australian in a movie called Australia... hosting."
    • Which prompted a writer at Television Without Pity to quip, "Yeah, that's the reason, Hugh."
• Precision F-Strike - After mostly refraining from harsh language, The Drover delivers a particularly effective "fuck" near the end of the movie.
• Recycled in Space! - (It's Out of Africa IN AUSTRALIA!)
• Scenery Porn - It sure is pretty Down Under.
• She Cleans Up Nicely - played straight... with Hugh Jackman!
• Shirtless Scene - The Drover has a wash at one point... mmm... wet, soapy Hugh Jackman...
  • Although the camera lingers a tad too long on his naked torso, getting dangerously close to crossing the awkward line. Of course, Luhrmann may have done this on purpose.
• Slap Slap Kiss - Basically the relationship of Lady Ashley and Drover in a nutshell. At least at first anyway.
• Wilhelm Scream
• World of Ham
• The Western - Recycled... IN AUSTRALIA!
• World War II

1. ↑ (and as Hugh Jackman told in the Oscars, "everything is being downsized due to the recession. For example, next year I'll be starring in a film called New Zealand.")