Freedom, Beauty, Truth. Love.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge might just be the best film ever made. Well, perhaps not, but I have enjoyed seeing it again because it is full of cleverness. I have had the passing idea, all too passing actually, to attach new songs to old stories, to incorporate songs from various artists into a single show, like the ones playing in London at present yet not limited to one band. Baz has already done it, and done it well linking his story through the songs to an historical time, an infamous revolution in the arts, one of its great heroes, and its great downfall.

I am especially pleased that this film was made in Sydney, and features some of Australia’s finest actors in its many roles, indeed only Ewan McGregor is out of place among the leads.

Australia has no need for cultural cringe when such work as this can come from its shores, yet still the story is one of Montmartre and not of Melbourne. It reminds me of a panel discussion I saw on one of those Sunday afternoon’s arts shows on the ABC, where cultural cringe was being discussed by a group of Australians, including a koori. What was most notable about this panel was that all except the koori spoke in French. The French facilitator described what France knew of Australian culture and summed it up in the equation 32 and 17, not for the purpose of maths but for the purpose of sport, that being Australia’s winning margin over France in the 1999 RWC played at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Australia’s is not a Bohemian culture, but then, having recently visited Prague, I must say Bohemia’s isn’t a Bohemian culture either. The four great pillars of Freedom, Beauty, Truth, and most of all Love are somewhat forgotten, or perhaps only belittled, in our postmodern land girt by sea; but we still have much to be proud of beyond our prowess as a nation of wannabe Wallabies. (Especially following the 2007 RWC.) Australia is however a clever country, a creative country, a can-do nation of battlers, of Bazzas and Shazzas who can make art work just as easily as they can find water in a drought or convert a try from the sidelines. Australians have travelled beyond the Fatal Shore to establish themselves in all corners of the planet, how great it is that Baz Luhrmann is able to fly the flag from the Emerald City itself.

I dream of an Australia where we are known for more than just our green and gold; although may those great endeavours never cease. May we be proud of our clever Baz, and shine more light on Australian arts in cinema, literature, fine arts, and music of all genres. May we be proud of our Nicole, (born in Hawaii), but continue to shine light on Australian science and discovery. I love the sunburnt country, a land of untamed imagination.