Walking the Red Carpet - 'Australia' Premiere Sydney

There is so much hype and anticipation about the movie 'Australia' its hard not to get caught up in it. My Mum is so excited, she has been cutting out paper clippings for over two years and cant wait for opening day to see it and even Dad is willing to head off to the movies (not bad considering the last film he saw at the movies was either 'The Man From Snowy RIver' or 'Crocodile Dundee').

Walking the red carpet was an experience, the rain fell, George St was alive with screaming fans and there was a small butterfly of excitement waiting to see how Baz had pulled this one off. Right up to the end, things were a little wobbly, the film just did not want to play and a packed cinema watched as interviews played and replayed and sound was lost. Im sure the film projectionist was in some state trying to rectify the problem. Quite fitting it would be shaky to the end.

But as the screen came alive with the 'IONA' logo, a cheer went up and the cinema relaxed again. The movie is epic in every sense of the word. Its like watching four movies rolled into one... 'The Wizard of Oz' and 'Gone With the Wind' similarities and themes very heavy. And while in the making of we were not sure how Baz would camp this one up, or if he in fact could camp up such an Aussie film, he manages to, and manages it very well. This is a camp, over the top film. 'The Wizard of Oz' overtones I find at times painful.

Did I like it? Well yeah, I did, Its taken me a few days to digest it, and I think I will have to see it again. Because for alot of it I was too busy looking at all the sets and seeing all the things that had been made, remade and passed through the workshop. 13 months on a film and its not hard to get so caught up in something and at times lost. The film is long, I dont think I felt the time. The acting, apart from a few scenes that were just too tacky for me but for the most part I enjoyed. The stolen generation attempt at apology ill be very interested to see how it is received. And Nicole, well, I like her. She gets alot of flack and Im sure she will for this roll as well. But hey cut the girl some slack.

Watching the film has kinda closed the door on that part of my life. Im now ready to move onto the next epic. And would I work with Baz again? In an instant. The sets that we made and the experience of such a huge production was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Drinks at the Ivy at the after party were not so bad either!