Nature vs. Civilization: A Review Article of Films by Luhrmann

Despite the media's constant interest and close attention to Baz Luhrmann's exotic films one important side of his cinematic achievements remains untouched by critics, namely--the director's conceptual basis and philosophical framework. The neglect of these two matters creates a drama and arouses anger in critics and viewers who try to apply standard rules to his films, judging and reviewing them within the framework of genre categories. Luhrmann's films, however, do not belong to any particular category, although the elements of various genres can be found in them. Some of the elements are better elaborated than others, which makes critics define the niche in which his next film should be considered. The frustration starts right after the assumption about the genre is made since Luhrmann is not a director who is concerned with film categories. I postulate that he should be judged based on "director categories," i.e., as a phenomenon, not an artisan. Luhrmann's films are not story-based or character-based. They are concept-based. Concept is what cements and puts together all the details he thoroughly incorporates in his epic cinematography. Regardless of a highly entertaining nature of his films, their goal is not to entertain, but to make one think. Luhrmann belongs to a small elite of directors/conceptualists for whom plot, characters, cinematography, and editing revolve around a solid concept and an artistically grounded philosophy. Without grasping the philosophical core the viewer risks to be "lost in translation." The goal of the review offered below is to show the common conceptual and philosophical ground of Luhrmann's two major films released twelve years apart and to see how his basic theme, "nature and civilization," attains new developments in the course of time. The first film I discuss is Australia--a film that some critics designate an "epic romance" and others "a character story"--but if one has not grasped Luhrmann's concept he methodically develops throughout his major films, one would be confused, skeptical, and even angry while watching it. Some of Luhrmann's critics also feel that way because they have difficulty putting together the romance, the aboriginal magic, the allusions to The Wizard of Oz, and many other overwhelming and seemingly disjointed details in his latest offering. On the meta-level, Luhrmann's films depict an epic struggle between two grand "entities," civilization and nature. Australia is yet another attempt to reveal that struggle.