Welcome back to Movie Recap. Today I'm gonna show you a 2008 adventure drama film called,
Australia. Spoiler’s ahead. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the video.
The movie starts with Nullah’s story, an aboriginal young boy. He shares that while he
is catching fish, he sees white fellas guiding the cattle across the river to Carney land.
King George holds Nullah’s spear and tells him to make himself invisible and hides.
All of a sudden, a dead man that has an arrowhead on his chest falls into the water.
Nullah rides the horse to Faraway Downs. When he arrives home, he sees a car coming
and thinks that they are the coppers who will bring him to the Mission Island, a place where
mixed bloods like him are training to become servants of the white fellas, so hurriedly
runs and hides in the water tank. He peeks in a tiny whole and realizes that they aren’t white
fellas after seeing Lady Sarah Ashley of England, the strangest woman he has ever seen. He mentions
that it doesn’t start on that day, it begins a little while ago in a faraway land called England.
Lady Sarah Ashley of England wants her husband to see the Faraway Downs
but he doesn’t like it because the offer of Mr. Carney, the cattle king who wants to buy
it is very low compared to its worth. Sarah thinks that her husband is busy with women and not cows
so she decides to go to Australia to sell the cattle station and bring her husband
home despite her husband’s objection. Her husband writes a letter that he cannot meet
her because of his busy schedule so he just sends his trusted man nicknamed, the Drover.
In a pub, the Drover is being teased by a drunk man and says that he doesn’t belong
there because he hangs out with black people. Magarri, the drover’s main man,
asks the Drover to just let it pass because Sarah’s plane is coming but he refuses and
just commands him to wave his hat if he sees her then he starts to fight with the men in the bar.
Mr. Carney, owner of a lot of cattle stations, worries that Lady Sarah and her husband will
be his competitor in supplying meat in the Army that’s why he is eager to buy the Faraway Downs.
A man named Neil Fletcher tells him to relax because he already
prepared something for Sarah that will make her leave their place right away.
Sarah enters the bar and looks for the Drover without realizing that he is at her back fighting
with a lot of men. When she goes out, she is very surprised to see that her luggage flies open,
scattering her undergarments all over the place. The Drover successfully
knocks down all his opponents and picks up Sarah’s undergarments.
The Drover takes Sarah to Faraway Downs using his big truck which is loaded with a lot of things.
She doesn’t feel comfortable because the truck looks disgusting.
Margarri and his cousin come along with them too.
Lady Sarah is amazed upon seeing kangaroos for the first time when all of a sudden,
Margarri’s cousin shoots the kangaroo and loads it on the top of the truck.
Sarah is speechless as she stares at the blood stains on the windshield.
The next morning, a woman with a truck being pulled by camels arrives
and pushes off a drunk man named Kipling Flynn, out of her truck to ride the Drover’s truck.
The Drover tells Sarah that he is her accountant.
An aboriginal girl runs and greets Drover on the side of the truck. She asks if the
Drover would like to stop by for a while but he responds that he needs to deliver things first
then asks for a kiss and bids goodbye. Sarah tells the Drover that he and her husband
share the same interest. The Drover thinks that Sarah is referring to breeding animals then the
two get into an argument for Sarah assumes that the Drover exploits Australian women
and would like to make her as one of his victims. The Drover gets offended
and exclaims that he will not choose Sarah even if she’s the only woman left in Australia.
They finally arrive in Faraway Downs. It seems like something’s off so the Drover gets out of
the truck and tells Sarah not to go down but she still gets out of the truck and goes inside
the house despite the Drover’s restraint. Upon entering the house, she sees women crying. She
enters a room and finds the body of her dead husband lying on the table beside Fletcher.
Fletcher gives his final speech at the funeral of Sarah’s husband.
He says that his family has been serving the owners of the Faraway Downs for three generations.
That's why they know how hard the land can be but Sarah’s husband never gave up.
He also adds that the murderous black, King George is the one who kills her husband.
That night, Nullah sings a song for Sarah. She cannot sleep so she goes outside to find
where the song is coming from but doesn’t find anything so she goes back to her room. She’s
very surprised upon seeing Nullah inside. He introduces himself and tells Sarah that
he finds her husband nice so he brings him to the Billabong to show him the big bulls.
Sarah then realizes that it was the place where her husband was killed.
The next morning, Nullah reminds Sarah about Billabong but is interrupted when Fletcher
arrives. Nullah, at the back of Fletcher, points to the direction of Billabong.
Sarah curiously asks Fletcher about Billabong. He responds that their cattle don’t cross that river
because that is Carney’s property. Sarah tells Fletcher that Nullah is the one who told her the
story so he calls Nullah and whispers that he will beat his mother if he will speak a word. Nullah’s
mother goes out very scared and tells that her son might have mistaken Carney’s cow for their cow.
When they are about to leave, Nullah goes up to the windmill and shouts that Fletcher is a liar.
Nullah successfully makes the windmill work that surprised all of them because Fletcher says that
it has not worked for years. Fletcher runs after Nullah then hits him as well as his mother and
grandmother for they try to interfere. Sarah tries to stop Fletcher by smacking
him with a riding crop then fires him. Fetcher threatens her that he will leave with his men
and no one will be in charge of her land but Sarah’s decision is final.
He asks Flynn to go with him but he decides to stay with Sarah.
Sarah wonders why Fletcher blocked the water pump so she goes to Flynn’s room and demands for
the truth. Flynn shows her a ledger that contains information about the bankruptcy of their company;
however, he shows another ledger that has the lists of the unbranded fat cows that
Carney steals. Sarah also realizes that Nullah is Fletcher’s son. She wants to go to the authorities
to inform them of the truth but Flynn warns him that Carney is the authority so he suggests to
her to follow her husband’s plan, to sell the cows to the Army to break Carney’s monopoly,
use the profits to help Faraway Downs to recover then go back to London and live peacefully.
The Drover arrives with a herd of wild horses. Sarah tells the Drover that he fired Fletcher
together with his men. At first, he gets angry but eventually calms down after knowing that
Fletcher connives with Carney to steal thousands of their best cattle. Sarah makes a deal with
Drover, if he will help her, she will give her Capricornia, her husband’s thoroughbred horse.
At first, they are very concerned because they need at least seven people to manage the cattle
and there are only three of them, the Drover, Magarri and his cousin. Eventually, Sarah,
Nullah, Nullah’s mother and grandmother join the group that makes it almost complete.
As they prepare to leave, police arrive. Nullah and his mother hide in the water tank.
The police officer sympathizes with Sarah and tells her that they will do their best to find
King George, who they assumed was the one who killed her husband. A man who is with the police
officer, uses the faucet to cool down. As a result, the water tank fills up. Nullah
tries to ask for help but her mother stops him because she doesn’t want her son to be caught.
The police officer tells Sarah that Fletcher informs him that there is an aboriginal
child in Sarah’s land. Sarah just answers that she will surely look out for him.
When the police leave, Sarah hurriedly informs the Drover that Nullah and his mother are in the tank.
He hurriedly gets up to it but unfortunately, Nullah’s mother is already dead.
Sarah tries to comfort Nullah by telling her the story of the Wizard of Oz.
She then sings the song, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. Even if she isn’t good at singing,
Nullah likes the song. It brings back his courage and determination in helping Sarah get the fat
cattle into the metal ship. The next day, Sarah, the Drover, Nullah, Nullah’s grandmother, Flynn,
Magarri and his cousin, and the cook start their journey in bringing the cattle to Darwin.
Back in town, Carney encourages the captain to sign the contract that will allow them to
supply beef to the army but the captain refuses to sign it right away because he receives news
from the Air Force that they spotted a big mob of cattle crossing the Marmont River.
They think that someone must be helping Sarah so they should act fast so they do not get that far.
Sarah hears a chanting. The Drover informs her that Magarri and his cousin are singing to calm
the cattle so she needs to learn it because she must sing during his shift. The Drover gives
each of them a schedule to watch the cattle but Sarah opposes the idea of Nullah working.
The Drover informs her that when he was at his age, he was already manning an outstation
and reminds Sarah the rules that everyone should follow his orders.
Nullah tells Flynn that Sarah’s husband was killed by a glass-tipped spear.
Suddenly, Fletcher and his team pour gasoline on the brush then light a match that results in
fire. The cattle are very afraid which resulted in a stampede. Everyone wakes up and tries to
round the cattle back to the canyon. Flynn and Nullah are the closest to the front so they try
to stop the cattle but Flynn’s horse breaks a leg making him fall towards the ground.
Nullah tries to help him but the cattle already trample on Flynn.
Flynn is already at the edge of the cliff; he focuses and looks directly to the eyes of
the cattle then sings a chant together with King George. Magically, the cattle stop. Nullah loses
consciousness but Sarah catches him. The Drover goes to Flynn who is very hurt, before he dies,
he gives the Drover his harmonica and then confesses that Nullah
tells him the secret behind Sarah’s husband’s death, after that, he dies.
The Drover talks to Sarah that the last thing Flynn told him before he
died was that her husband was killed by a glass-tipped spear and assumes
that Fletcher is trying to put the blame on King George but he doesn’t have proof yet.
They decide to continue their journey to Darwin. Later that night, they get Flynn’s rum and give a
toast for him. The cook sings and plays a guitar so Sarah asks the Drover to dance under the tree.
They look at each other and eventually share a kiss but are interrupted by Nullah who is at
the top of the tree. The Drover shares that he used to be married but his wife died with TB.
That time, the hospitals wouldn’t treat because she was black
then Sarah shares that she cannot bear a child. The two build a romantic relationship.
The next day, they go across a very dry place.
They see a small pond with water but it is already poisoned. Margarri says that the nearest place
with water is a three-day ride but they need to cross Kuraman but it is very dangerous.
Suddenly, Nullah informs them that King George is there to help them. King George
guides them to a place with water where five rivers meet. It is a very tough journey.
Back at Darwin, the women at the salon read the headlines that Sarah and his team died in
the Kuraman. Carney pressures the Army leader to sign the contract because they don’t have
any competitors to wait for. All of a sudden, the place starts to rumble then a whole herd
comes running on the street. Sarah introduces herself and says that they are there to deliver
1,500 of premium cattle and offers a 20% discount to the Army leader but Carney says that it is too
late because the contract is already signed. The Army leader answers that the contract isn’t valid
until the cattle are loaded so he hurriedly orders Fletcher to load the cattle to the ship right
away. The Drover and his team try to load their cattle before Carney’s. Luckily, it is a success!
The next day, Sarah asks the Drover to go with her. She also tells him that she would
like to continue her late husband’s plan to bring back the life of Faraway Downs
and she would like to be the manager but it seems like he doesn’t agree to any of Sarah’s ideas.
At the ball, Sarah meets the doctor who runs and expresses her desires of adopting Nullah
but he opposes. Since it is Sarah’s first time in the place, her first dance is being auctioned off
and Carney wins the bidding. He tries to convince her to sell the Faraway Downs to him
and he promises to take care of the people there including Nullah.
When Sarah is about to agree, she sees the Drover, all dressed up, in the front door that
makes her very excited then bravely tells Carney that the Faraway Downs is no longer for sale.
The life at Faraway Downs is back. All of them are living happily until one day,
Fletcher visits Sarah and tells Sarah that Carney died in an alligator attack
but the truth is he pushes Carney into the waters then the alligator attacks him. Fletcher is now
married with Carney’s daughter. He convinces Sarah to sell the land to him and he promises to
help her in adopting Nullah. Sarah threatens him that she will tell his wife that Nullah is his son
but Fletcher threatens her back with the spear, same with the spear that killed her husband.
Sarah and the Drover argue on what to do with Nullah. Sarah wants him to stay
but the Drover says that they should let Nullah choose his own path. The next day,
King George goes to see Nullah and tells him that it is time to go but Sarah stops them.
One day, Sarah panics because she cannot find Nullah. She prepares to find him but the Drover
tries to convince her to let Nullah on his journey. The two argue and decide to part
ways. Unfortunately, Nullah is captured by the police and put King George to prison.
One day, Sarah goes to town and finds out that Nullah is about to go to Mission Island.
Sarah tries to stop it but she fails then promises Nullah that she will find him.
Nullah stays in Mission Island and Sarah works at the radio station
while the drover continues his own journey.
He sees a mob of army men and worries about his loved ones so he decides to go back to the city.
Unfortunately, Mission Island and Darwin are attacked by the Japanese. The Drover arrives
and is surprised that the whole town is covered with fire. He looks for Sarah but doesn’t find
her. Meanwhile, in a hospital, soldiers carry a body to the morgue and tell them that the name
of the person is Sarah Ashley, but the truth is it is Cath Fletcher, the wife of Fletcher.
The Drover finds out that Sarah and Nullah are in Mission Island so they hurriedly go there.
Luckily, he finds Nullah together with other aboriginal children. The Japanese army arrives
so they hurriedly go to the boat but Margarri is left behind and killed by the Japanese.
In the morning, Sarah is hesitant to leave. She suddenly hears a harmonica playing, it is Nullah.
Sarrah runs towards the dock and sees Nullah and the Drover. Finally, the three reunite. Fletcher
sees everything and shoots Nullah. Fortunately, King George throws a spear at him that kills him.
The family goes back to Faraway Downs. Sarah sees King George sending a signal to Nullah,
then allows him to go with his grandfather to continue their journey.