Australian director Baz Luhrmann ("Moulin Rouge", "Romeo + Juliet") is in pre-production for his next film which stars Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman in a sweeping romance set in northern Australia prior to World War II.
Yesterday ABC Radio National spoke with Luhrmann who revealed some new details about his film which will cover the period from 1938 to the bombing of Darwin by the Japanese in 1942.
The story has a English aristocratic husband and wife inherit a large cattle property in Northern Australia. Needing cash more than land, the husband goes to try and sell it off. Taking longer than expected to return, she (Kidman) begins to suspect he is having an affair and sets out after him.
Together with a rugged drover (Jackman) she sets off on an "African Queen" style adventure to reach the property. Upon arrival she ends up inheriting the cattle station and to save it, she and the drover undertake an epic cattle drive to Darwin - falling in love along the way.
Helping to bring them together though is an Aboriginal boy between the ages of 8-10. The character is Luhrmann's biggest focus right now, and they're undertaking a long series of workshops to find the right kid in the next few weeks. Any young, budding Aboriginal actors interested in trying out for the film can call the casting agency on (02) 9699 1377
Baz is trying to shoot as authentically as possible - "I want the audience to really feel that they are in this magnificent landscape that we have... in the next couple of weeks we're going to make decisions about how much we could shoot here, and how much we shoot in other parts of Australia".
Most of that shooting, if they can get it, will be in the Kimberley region of Western Australia - an area about twice the size of England and filled with some of the greatest natural wonders and rock formations in the world.
Music wise "there's an actual unique sound that was happening at the time of this film here, which is, as I'm getting into it, which is fresh and alive and unique and belongs to Australia. It's music from the time. I mean, it's really exciting because you had all of the [Japanese] pearlers up here at the time and there's kind of a mixture between folk and country and sort of Hawaiian, actually".
A actual start date is "no later than the beginning of March". Whilst Luhrmann is up in Kununurra for the film, pre-production is happening in Sydney's Fox Studios complex.
Whilst it doesn't have a title as yet, Luhrmann says in the next few weeks he's going to commit to one.
A quick thanks also to Baz the Great and the Australian Epic Discussion Forum for their help with this article. For an mp3 of the entire interview, click here.
