20 November 2008

Baz or bust for Tourism Australia

SYDNEY ââ¬' It is not just Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, and fellow Aussie, producer Baz Luhrmann, who will be anxiously awaiting the publicââ¬â¢s verdict on the about-to-be-released movie epic, Australia.

Tourism Australia has invested in a $40 million campaign, including two ads directed by Luhrmann, that piggybacks on the filmmaker's movie.

After two under-whelming marketing campaigns, Australia in a Different Light and the much-ridiculed Where the Bloody Hell Are You campaigns, Tourism Australia cannot afford another stuff up.

So far, the majority of film critics in Australia have been less than enthusiastic about the movie.

"There is a lot of narrative flab and longueurs," wrote Jim Schembri in the Canberra Times, adding the film "often has the pace of a steamroller with engine trouble".

The Sydney Morning Herald chipped in. "It's also much too long at almost three hours, deliriously camp and shamelessly overdone - an outback adventure seen through the eyes of a filmmaker steeped in the theatrical rituals and hectic colours of old-fashioned showbiz.

ââ¬ÅâœTo quote Oklahoma, one of the few Hollywood classics not to lend its influence to Luhrmann's style, or rather medley of styles, the corn is as high as an elephant's eye."

Mark Naglazas, film editor for the West Australian newspaper, went even further, claiming - ââ¬Åâœa film of such unrelenting awfulness will struggle to return its massive budgetââ¬~.

Naglazas added, ââ¬ÅâœThereââ¬â¢s not enough perfume on the planet to sweeten the odour that will inevitably rise from Baz Luhrmannââ¬â¢s ham-fisted, dead-on-arrival attempt at a sweeping romantic epic between now and its release next Wednesday.ââ¬~

Naglazas said, ââ¬ÅâœAustralia is closer in spirit and lookââ¬~¦.to his previous studio-bound campfest Moulin Rouge, replete with leering close-ups, frenetic editing, fake-looking cinematography and a thundering, melodramatic soundtrack.ââ¬~

There are plenty of examples of films which have been box office successes after being panned by the critics, but the real test for this movie ââ¬' and Tourism Australia - is not whether Australia the movie becomes a smash hit Down Under, where it is pretty well assured of being successful given its outback location together with a cast heavy in Australian movie star favourites.

The real test for Tourism Australia will come when the film is shown later this year in many of its leading source markets for overseas visitors.

Unless the movieââ¬â¢s scenes of outback Australia, with its cattle drives, dust, charging horses and spectacular scenery resonates with audiences in Tokyo, Tulsa and Stoke on Trent ââ¬' enough to persuade them to pop down to their local travel agent and book a Qantas flight to Sydney ââ¬' then Tourism Australia may have done its money yet again.

By Ian Jarrett

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