FEBRUARY 2007
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24 February 2007
Romeo + Juliet CD Competition!
- I am delighted to announce that, in association with Sideways Media, I will be running a competition for your chance to win a copy of the Romeo + Juliet 10th Anniversary Edition Soundtrack CD! Sideways Media have set up their own My Space page to promote the release of the CD, and they have also created a special slideshow tool that can be accessed here. All you have to do is create your own slideshow using the instructions provided. You can upload up to 20 images of your choice, which will be used to create a slideshow to the music of Baz Luhrmann's hit song, Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen. Your slideshow can feature pictures from any of Baz Luhrmann's films, or even images of Baz himself! Sideways Media have created their own slideshow using images from Romeo + Juliet here. And I have gone ahead and created my own slideshow using images of Baz Luhrmann here. Feel free to check these out for ideas on what to use in your own slideshow!
When you have completed your slideshow, you will have the option to send it to friends, and you will also be provided with a link. Simply e-mail me this link for your chance to win a copy of this excellent CD! I will award prizes to the most creative entries! :)
I have also gone ahead and created my own My Space page in association with Baz the Great. Feel free to check it out! Slideshows can also be added to My Space pages, and I have added my own slideshow. I have also added a variety of videos to my page, including the video for Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen , the Chanel No. 5 film, and also several videos that have been uploaded by fellow fans featuring images from Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge.
Baz in Bowen
- As reported in my last news update, Baz Luhrmann was in Bowen on 15 and 16 February 2007. On 21 February 2007, The Bowen Independent printed an amusing article entitled 'Watch the Birdie'. Click here to view the full scan (Special thanks to BowenGirl for providing the scan).
The images seen here of Baz Luhrmann when he was in town last week were taken on the same block of vacant land that was previously shown in BowenGirl's location photos. This block of land at Front Beach is apparently referred to by locals as the 'hole in the ground'. However, not for long it would seem, as the article says it will be a central location for the five week shoot in Bowen. It has previously been speculated that the sets of 'old town' of Darwin will be built here. While surveying the land, amusingly, a bird called a plover was pictured dive-bombing Baz and his associates! While his companions ducked out of the way, Baz was unfazed by the bird and just continued on with his work! :)
The newspaper even made fun of the incident by printing this cartoon:
Click here to view the full scan, again provided by BowenGirl. The cartoon is accompanied by musings from the editor's desk. The editor muses about how things are already starting to hot up in the town. He also says that the future of the horse racing meeting he was trying to reschedule looks bleak, as they have had "difficulty finding an available race date while the movie people will be in town". The editor further reveals that Bowen mayor, Mike Brunker, had his interview with State Focus this week. You may recall that the host of State Focus was in contact with me a short time ago asking for permission to use information from this website during the interview. The interview was delayed, and she was supposed to get back to me regarding when it would go ahead. Well, apparently it went ahead this week, and will screen on Channel 10 in Queensland, Australia tomorrow morning! If you have any further information about this interview, please feel free to contact me.
Bazmark Seeking Old Vehicles
This 1940 Chevrolet ute
still runs and will star in the film.
- Bazmark Films are currently searching for "larger military type vehicles" to be used in filming in Bowen for Australia. Apparently, there will be a big scene of a military convoy leaving Darwin after the bombing, so vehicles pre-1942 will be required. Bowen will also be used to represent Darwin in 1936-38 when Nicole Kidman's character arrives to take possession of the cattle station, so they also need vehicles pre-1938 to dress the city streets. The Townsville Bulletin has reported the following article detailing how the production company has already booked several vehicles from Chick Searle from Collinsville, who will also feature as an extra in the film. But they are seeking even more vehicles, and there is a contact number for anyone who may have a suitable vehicle at the end of the article.
Plenty of rust just what Baz wants
By John Andersen, 22 February 2007
To some people they may be rusting
eyesores, but to Collinsville's Chick Searle they are beautiful works of art and
what's more, a few of them will play leading roles alongside Nicole Kidman in
Baz Luhrmann's movie Australia to be filmed in Bowen in May. Chick, 78, who
talks about Blitzes and Chevy one-tonners the way a gallery director might talk
about a rare Rembrandt or Picasso, cut his teeth on the back axle of his old
man's horse-drawn coal wagon.
Old Damper Searle used to haul coal from the Collinsville mine to the railhead
in the days before World War I. A round trip would take him a day. Damper was a
tough nut and Chick followed in his dusty footprints.
Trucks and machines have never been far from Chick's reach. In 1954 he hauled
the first overburden and the first coal from Collinsville's first open cut mine.
Before 1954 all of the mining had been underground.
Over the years Chick has indulged his passion for collecting old vehicles and
has a back paddock full of rust-coloured Blitzes, Chevys and Studebaker trucks.
Geoff Naylor, the action vehicle supervisor from Bazmark Films Pty Ltd, the
production company behind Australia, has already been to see him and has booked
seven of Chick's vehicles for the film. He's even booked Chick himself in for a
part.
"I haven't told Chick, but he'll be an extra," he said yesterday.
Mr Naylor said he was after vehicles from pre-1938 and pre-1942.
"And we're still looking for larger military type vehicles backwards from 1942.
There's a big scene of a military convoy leaving Darwin after the bombing," he
said.
Mr Naylor said Bowen was being used to represent Darwin in 1936-38 when the
character played by Nicole Kidman arrives to take possession of a cattle station
left to her in the Kimberley.
"So we need vehicles back from 1938 and we'll dress the streets of Bowen with
these vehicles to make it look like Darwin," he said.
He said Nicole Kidman's character does not return from the Kimberley until 1942
when Darwin is bombed.
"That's why we need vehicles and military type trucks from 1942 backwards," he
said.
Mr Naylor said Chick's vehicles would be repainted and some would be used to
illustrate the devastation in Darwin after the bombing.
"Some of them will be painted to make them look as though they've been burnt
out. They'll be on their sides and will look like they've taken a hit. There
will be a lot of craters in the street," he said.
Mr Naylor hopes to also source a locomotive from CSR's Victoria Mill at Ingham
and steel rail track from CSR and the Proserpine Mill.
If you have a vehicle you think Mr Naylor might be interested in phone 0418 485
036.
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17 February 2007
Baz in Bowen!
- Bowen is currently enjoying its growing status as a 'boomtown', with The Sunday Mail today reporting an article called Boomtime in Bowen, which features the above picture of Baz and mentions, "The town also is set to gain international exposure when filming begins on the much-anticipated Baz Luhrmann movie Australia in May. Bowen's main street will be transformed to look like 1930s Darwin as part of the $130 million production, which stars Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman."
Baz Luhrmann was in Bowen on Thursday
and Friday this week, but it is understood he left the town yesterday. The
Townsville Bulletin reported the following article detailing Baz's
movements:
Bowen gets a taste of Baz
Townsville Bulletin, By Isis Stuckenschmidt, 17 February 2007
He snuck in and out of the small
community without a whisper.
World famous director Baz Luhrmann was in Bowen yesterday – and hardly anyone
knew.
It is believed Luhrmann dined at the Yacht Club on Thursday night before heading
to Sinclair Bay yesterday to source further filming locations for his
forthcoming epic Australia.
Bowen Mayor Mike Brunker said Luhrmann had been in the town since Thursday on a
visit to do some 'workshopping' for the film.
"He was in Bowen with a few crew to pull a few things together before filming
starts," Cr Brunker said.
Cr Brunker said he believed Luhrmann had arrived in Bowen via Mackay.
"He was on a different flight to the (technical) crew, and the crew plane ended
up in Townsville because it got cancelled from Proserpine and had to be
diverted," he said.
Townsville Airport transport provider Noel Evans said he was the lucky man who
had to drive the crew from the Townsville Airport to Bowen.
"I took eight of them, they were from Fox Studios in Sydney and were were all
part of the film crew," Mr Evans said.
"There were cinematographers and props men with their silver equipment boxes and
they were going down to get some final things done before they start actually
taking the cast down there," he said.
Mr Evans said he knew Luhrmann was in Bowen because the crew had told him. "When
I dropped them off at their accommodation in Rose Bay and Horseshoe Bay they
said they were going to meet up with Baz for lunch."
So the question on everyone's lips now is whether Luhrmann is still in Bowen for
the weekend?
"I think he was leaving today (Friday)," Cr Brunker said.
As for when the director will be back in town with his stellar cast including
Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, Cr Brunker said it would be at least two weeks
later than the originally scheduled date of April 29.
"The filming has been put back two weeks because the actors were on other commitments which stuffs the race day up," Mr Brunker said. The gala race day was expected to be held over the May Day long weekend. "It was going to be a meet and greet for the cast and crew of the movie and for the Bowen community to get to meet them," Cr Brunker said. He said if Queensland Racing could accommodate the later date, Luhrmann would try to get Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman to go along. "Baz (Luhrmann) said he can't get the stars to Bowen early but once the shooting starts he said he could get them to the races," Cr Brunker said. "If that doesn't happen we will run a meet and greet seafood festival that will showcase the seafood industry and let the stars mix with the locals."
This article reveals quite a lot of information. First of all, it has now been confirmed that the crew are staying in the Rose Bay and Horeshoe Bay areas. Also, as reported in my last news update, the gala race day has been put in jeopardy. However, it looks like if that doesn't happen they will have a 'meet and greet' seafood festival instead. :)
The biggest news is that filming in Bowen has now been pushed back by 'at least' two weeks. The shoot was originally scheduled to begin on 29 April, but it looks like filming will now begin around mid-May. The reason given here is that the actors have other commitments. I am not sure what commitments these could be. It is my understanding that both Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman's schedules are free from late next month so they would be ready, so what would cause such a hold up?
Filming of Australia is
reportedly supposed to begin some time next month. As well as Bowen, filming is
also set to take place at Fox Studios and Camelot in Sydney, and also in the
Kimberley region. I had assumed that filming would take place at at least one of
these locations before the shoot moved on to Bowen. Perhaps filming has
therefore been pushed back in Bowen by at least two weeks because Baz has
realised the shoots at the other locations may run over schedule?
There has been a lot of media attention regarding the Bowen shoot, but hardly
any news about the other locations. We still don't know when or where the movie
shoot is supposed to begin. Therefore, I can't help but wonder whether
filming has been pushed right back to begin in May, with Bowen being the first
shoot? But then, how on earth would they wrap filming by August, which according
to previous reports, is around the time the movie shoot is supposed to finish?
I must admit, it's all a bit of a mystery at the moment. We've heard lots of news about Bowen and we know what's happening there, but what about the other locations? Is the movie shoot still set to begin next month? Hopefully we will hear more information soon!
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15 February 2007
Baz the Great in Bowen Independent!
- Many thanks to the Editor of the Bowen Independent for featuring my website in a recent editorial! I would like to point out though that I'm actually located in Scotland, and I don't know if this fansite is really a blog, but hey, that's good enough for me! And the "mad keen fan of Baz" part is definitely correct! :)
Special thanks to BowenGirl for providing the above scan. She is obviously thrilled that there is now speculation about her identity but, for now, she would like this to remain secret!
Click here to see the full scan, which also features an article about the proposed 'Bowen Cup'. A decision should be made this week regarding whether or not the horse racing event over the May Day long weekend will take place. Organisers say it can't go ahead unless they know people from the movie will attend. Mayor Mike Brunker is apparently in contact with Bazmark, and hopefully the event will go ahead, but we will have have to wait and see!
Joel Edgerton NOT in Australia
- Despite previous reports in the media that Joel Edgerton would star in Australia, Joel himself has now confirmed that he is not involved with the project. The following is a snippet from an article dated 10 February called 'A Long Haul of Fame' by The Daily Telegraph:
Another role he won't be taking on anytime soon – despite some reports to the contrary – is alongside Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman in Baz Luhrmann's romantic epic, Australia. "Look, I'd love to work with Baz, but I'm not involved in that project. Not unless Hugh falls off his horse," he adds with a laugh.
I have now removed Joel Edgerton from the Cast List. I had listed him under the 'Speculated Cast' heading after a brief mention in an article reported at the end of December 2006. However, his casting was never confirmed, and now it can be safely said that he was never involved. Another Australian actor, Barry Otto, was also reportedly being considered for a role and was mentioned in the same December 2006 article. I am now wondering whether he is involved with the film at all, but I will keep him under the 'Speculated Cast' heading until we hear otherwise.
Catherine Martin at Tropfest
- Catherine Martin will be presenting an award at Tropfest 2007 this Sunday, 18 February 2007. The Tropfest website has reported the following inspirational article, along with some quotes from CM herself about how excited she is to be presenging the Cointreau Women In Film Award.
It's a Woman's World
Tropfest Press room, 9 February 2007
Catherine Martin to present "Cointreau Women in Film Award" at Sony Tropfest
2007
Sydney, Australia: Cointreau and Sony Tropfest are pleased to announce that
Catherine Martin will be presenting the second "Cointreau Women in Film Award"
on Sunday 18 February 2007.
From the other side of the camera, Catherine Martin’s excellence and innovation
in art direction, costume and set design, producing and business, continues to
encourage current and future generations of women to explore and pursue a career
within the industry.
Catherine Martin's contribution within her individual field of expertise has won
her numerous accolades for Costume Design, Production Design and Art Direction.
Her high profile success has helped to enhance the perception of women in the
film, theatre and entertainment industry on a worldwide scale.
As an ambassador for Cointreau's "Women in Film" Award at Tropfest 2007,
Catherine Martin will lend her unerring support to a cause that she is
intrinsically connected to. Her involvement with the award illustrates her
experience, insight and understanding of the realities of the industry to
inspire, empower and nurture the female film-makers of Australia’s present and
future.
"I am thrilled and proud to be presenting the Cointreau Women In Film Award. It
combines two of my great loves - my French heritage and movie making. It is
wonderful to feel part of an ongoing tradition of women in film. I feel glad
that I am part of a community that encourages my colleagues and I can't wait to
see what the new generation bring to our very precious industry." - Catherine
Martin, on behalf of Cointreau for SonyTropfest
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10 February 2007
Romeo + Juliet Articles
- The Romeo + Juliet Music Edition DVD and the Romeo + Juliet 10th Anniversary Edition CD were released in the USA this week, and the resurrection of this film has resulted in a variety of online articles about the movie. Two particularly interesting articles have been reported today. The Australian has discussed how Romeo + Juliet is underappreciated, which is a notion I very much agree with. And The Toronto Sun has conducted a telephone interview with Baz Luhrmann about Romeo + Juliet's re-release. Both articles are featured in full below:
Baz as a Bard man
Baz Luhrmann's take on Romeo and Juliet is
underappreciated
The Australian, Michael Bodey, 10 February 2007
Of the multitude of new information formats now dumped in our inboxes, the
Google Alert is one of the more fascinating, if infuriating. Enter a search
item, say Baz Luhrmann, and every day Google will send you any news items on the
internet about him. Among the mountains of chaff, there can be revelations.
Sifting through the endless references to his work something striking about the
film director emerges. We tend to misrepresent him, or at least undervalue one
of his films.
Luhrmann is forever referred to as the maestro behind Strictly Ballroom and
Moulin Rouge!. Fine films both, but almost every day, somewhere across the
world, a new article refers to the influence of his second feature film, William
Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet. Any reiteration of a Shakespeare play is
inevitably compared to Luhrmann's. History has treated it well.
But the dual Academy
Award winner and Catherine Martin, his wife and creative partner, seem to be
suffering the same anonymous fate as this country's only triple Oscar winner,
Orry-Kelly, who won awards for his costume design for Gypsy, Some Like it Hot
and An American in Paris. And he was Cary Grant's New York flatmate. You've
probably never heard of him.
Martin received Romeo + Juliet's only Oscar nomination, for art direction; she
was responsible for the film's indelible image of the lovers spying each other
through the fluorescent fish tank. Her influence can't be understated.
Luhrmann and Martin's 1996 collaboration is the forgotten sibling in their Red
Curtain Trilogy but its impact continues to resonate louder than that of Moulin
Rouge! or Strictly Ballroom. (Incidentally, at a practical level, Luhrmann's
shrewd licensing of the film's hugely successful soundtracks established him
financially and enabled him to concentrate on his artistic visions.)
Artistically, its influence is far more important, though. It has become one of
the few Shakespeare films to transcend cinema's otherwise stodgy adaptations of
the greatest playwright's work. Yet Romeo + Juliet rarely receives the kudos it
deserves.
The recent British publication of Screening Shakespeare in the Twenty-First
Century is typical of the blase attitude many have to Luhrmann's most wholly
realised work. The academic treatise, edited by Mark Thornton Burnett and Roman
Wray, devotes chapters to such piffle as The Maori Merchant of Venice, Don
Boyd's My Kingdom and Stage Beauty, among others, but not to Luhrmann's
adaptation. Yet all the book's contributors refer to the dashing film. It is the
talisman of modern Shakespeare, but referred to only grudgingly.
The film was a commercial success on its US release but Luhrmann's kinetic
delivery - which reviewers derisively referred to as "MTV-style", as if MTV was
still a cutting-edge cultural force - infuriated critics. Just as Moulin Rouge!
would do years later.
Film adaptations of Shakespeare's canon are hardly novel. There have been more
than 40 screen adaptations of Hamlet alone. There were even adaptations of the
Bard's work during the silent era. So Luhrmann wasn't treading virgin ground.
Indeed, Shakespeare's work continues to be adapted, re-engineered or bowdlerised
to varying degrees of competency. These misjudged reinterpretations clutter our
screens and stages because the cultural imperative to keep Shakespeare relevant
holds firm.
The BBC's recent TV series Shakespeare Retold was cloyingly desperate in its use
of modern concepts to freshen up the Bard. Recasting Macbeth as a celebrity chef
in one episode said more about our inane culture, and more quickly, than could
be said in a sonnet. But it added nothing to Macbeth. Australia's Bell
Shakespeare company has also struggled in recent times to present an exciting
new context for his plays on stage.
Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet was striking. And contemporary, which was half its
problem. The best Shakespeare film adaptations have been "classic"
interpretations: Laurence Olivier as Hamlet, Henry V, Othello or Richard III,
Richard Burton as Hamlet, Orson Welles as Othello. No tricky new future proofing
in those versions, nothing to outrage critics raised on the pure iambic
pentameter. Luhrmann and co-screenwriter Craig Pearce's transposition of the
Capulets and the Montagues to a modern-day gang setting didn't fawn in the
romantic - or should that be traditional? - style of Franco Zeffirelli's 1968
version of Romeo and Juliet.
Nor did it veer far enough away from the conventional Romeo and Juliet tales as
seen in disparate reimaginings such as West Side Story and 10 Things I Hate
About You (a 1999 high school riff on The Taming of the Shrew). Those films were
far enough removed from Shakespeare to have their liberties excused.
I sense that much of the reason Luhrmann was buffeted by the critics at the time
was because he dared to maintain the integrity, largely, of Shakespeare's
dialogue. Zeffirelli protected his young leads, 15-year-old Olivia Hussey and
17-year-old Leonard Whiting, from much of the tricky dialogue, but Luhrmann
threw newcomers Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes into the tempest, daring them
to drag a younger audience into the story with them. No apologies; no
compromises. But everything Luhrmann gave his film clashed with the perceived
image of the loved tale. It was meant to be poetic and touching, not
rambunctious and coarse. Shakespeare was meant be revered, not retooled.
Today, it appears to have been accepted as the finest modern example of
Shakespeare on film. Many will argue the toss. Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About
Nothing is sweet, Richard III starring Ian McKellen is powerful and Julie
Taymor's Titus is diverting.
Nor is Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet the perfect film. It's just the best modern
Shakespeare.
---
Director's Eternal Love
Film fanatic Baz Luhrmann readies his Romeo + Juliet, the
Music Edition, for release on DVD
Toronto Sun, Bruce Kirkland, 10 February 2007
Good films are
like old friends for Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann. Hence his keen interest
in DVDs -- his own and those of the classics.
Luhrmann, on the phone to Toronto from his Bazmark production office in Sydney,
cites Werner Herzog's sprawling South American epic Fitzcarraldo as a prime
example, even though our conversation was sparked by this week's release of
Luhrmann's new DVD. It is the Music Edition of his edgy romantic drama from
1996, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio and
Claire Danes.
"If I like a film like Fitzcarraldo, then I'm a fan and it's a fan-driven
exchange. You change and the filmmaker changes but the film doesn't change. The
film becomes like a friend, and what I find with good-quality DVDs is that, like
with a friend, you discover different levels of that relationship.
"The relationship to a film deepens as it goes on and the DVD format allows you
to go in to a different part of the personality of that film."
In the case of Fitzcarraldo, Luhrmann was initially fascinated by the
extraordinary lengths Herzog went to in shooting the picture. More recently, he
has become more interested in Herzog's tempestuous relationship with his star,
the late German actor Klaus Kinski.
In the case of
his own Romeo + Juliet, on an obvious level, he hopes to deepen the relationship
to the film for its music. Romeo + Juliet broke ground by staging the story as a
musical in modern Miami Beach with contemporary 1990s songs, including hip-hop.
Yet the actors still speak Elizabethan English.
The notion of a Music Edition actually came from Fox Home Entertainment
executives, Luhrmann admits. He signed on because he liked the concept -- and
because Bazmark still controls the rights to Luhrmann's red-curtain trilogy,
Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge.
Fox originally marketed Romeo + Juliet as "MTV Shakespeare" in North America,
Luhrmann says. "They said: 'We'd really like to go out again with R + J!' And it
was their idea that it was so music driven."
'THE VANGUARD'
The new DVD breaks down the music component of the film, highlights how it was
developed and shows fresh behind-the-scenes footage of the scoring and the song
recordings.
There are three commentaries, one by Luhrmann and one each by co-composers Craig
Armstrong and Marius DeVries.
Romeo + Juliet helped usher in a new era of musical films in the 1990s, Luhrmann
says.
"Whether it was singularly responsible -- although I think it wasn't -- it
certainly was in the vanguard of those films that had that particular kind of
music, that particular kind of soundtrack. So this was an obvious door that they
wanted to step through. And I have such an interest in music and I am so
intimately involved in the music (in his films) that was a way in for me that
held some interest. That is why I said yes."
In addition, Luhrmann hopes to intrigue viewers with his insights into how he
was simply trying to do what Shakespeare was doing 400 years ago. He is trying
to break the myth that The Bard is high art and inaccessible.
"In fact, he was absolutely driven by having to walk the razor's edge," Lurhmann
says, referring to Shakespeare's need to satisfy commercial interests while
simultaneously making artistic statements, develop the language and be
politically and socially active.
"He had a commercial goal: He had to fill the theatre," Luhrmann says of the
Romeo And Juliet saga. "At the same time, it came from a very personal place. So
he combined an internal personal gesture -- something he wanted to get off his
chest -- with a very popular story that was hanging around in Romeo And Juliet.
Out of that came an unprecedented and unmatched ability to identify the
universal humanity in stories."
Trying to emphasize that and the music elements in his version, Romeo + Juliet,
justifies the new DVD release, Luhrmann says.
Asked the why question, he says: "I think the one-word answer is quality!
Whether or not there is a fan out there who is interested in the music life of
the film, I can say that I have personally been involved to try and deliver a
product of quality -- which means your purchase, I hope, will allow you to
understand and engage in the film on a deeper level."
The goal was keeping the film out of a cheap promotion, such as a box set of
stripped-down versions of his films packaged with other titles by other
directors.
"That's when it becomes a negative. But, if it's a trashy film -- a bit of a
quickie -- then maybe it's not so bad that it's thrown into a bargain-basement
bin wrapped with some other things." Just not Romeo + Juliet.
________________________________
6 February 2007
Bowen Welcomes Baz!
- The Townsville Bulletin has reported a great article about the current buzz in Bowen as the countdown to filming continues. As we know, filming is expected to begin in Bowen on 29 April 2007. However, crew members are expected to arrive later this month to begin building sets, including transforming the Main Street into 1930's Darwin and creating a 'shanty' town (which will be built on a vacant block of land, as featured in previous Bowen location photos).
The article indicates that accommodation has now been found for most of the cast and crew, which was causing some concern a short time ago. Although accommodation for Kidman and Jackman is yet to be finalised, it seems there's plenty of offers! :) It's also great to hear that the town residents are all so supportive of the production. And the sign is very eye catching, especially with the symbolic red curtains! The Tourism Bowen website is also featuring news of Australia being filmed in the town, and includes the above image which can be enlarged. Baz Luhrmann will definitely be appreciative. Let's hope he rewards them with lots of 'meets and greets', and perhaps even a mini premiere!
The sign says it all: Bowen's buzzin'
By Selina Sharratt, Townsville Bulletin, 7 February 2007
Baz will get a buzz out of these welcome signs, soon to be put up around Bowen.
Bowen Tourism has created the signs as a way of welcoming the cast and crew of
Baz Luhrmann's flick, titled Australia.
The celebrity sideshow – including Nicole Kidman, Bryan Brown, Jack Thompson and
Hugh Jackman – are expected to arrive on April 29 to begin filming.
"We're just trying to add a bit of buzz for Baz," Bowen Tourism Manager Therese
Saad said.
Ms Saad said Bowenites were 'extremely excited' about the start of filming and
the town's 15 minutes of fame.
Accommodation was yet to be finalised for the Holywoods A-listers, Hugh Jackman
and Nicole Kidman, she said.
But there has been no shortage of residents willing to give up their homes for
the stars.
"As far as accommodation goes, there is a lot of cast and crew that are coming
but it's looking like we can house them all here in Bowen," Ms Saad said.
"We have some beautiful homes here. We even have people offering their homes up
for them."
Bowen Mayor Mike Brunker said the movie countdown was on. "We're still looking
over the fence waiting to see them all coming," Mr Brunker said.
He said representatives of Mr Lurhmann's were expected to arrive later this
month in Bowen, to begin talks with the community.
"We're working out things for the main street . . . they'll have a town meeting
to talk with affected businesses in regards to road closures and power outages,
and the public will be invited along as well," Mr Brunker said.
The Main St will be transformed to replicate Darwin in the 1930s. Mr Brunker
said power lines would be removed for the filming and construction of the
'shanty town' should start in early March. Power outages are a possibility.
"But people are really excited – they really don't mind," Ms Saad said. Ms Saad
said once filming was complete, Tourism Bowen would push for a 'mini premier' in
the beachside town: "I'll be first in line for Hugh," she laughed.
Baz Family Photos
- These two images of Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, and children Lillian, 3, and William, 10 months, were featured in The Sun Herald on 4 February 2007. The family was photographed together after an outing to the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and the images were accompanied by a small article about Australia which confirms that filming will begin next month. Click here to view the full scan and article.
There have not been many family photos released featuring Baz and CM's two young children. Another article by The Sun Herald back on 26 November 2006 was the first to reveal a photo of Lillian since she was snapped as just a baby. Click here to view the full scan and article.
Romeo + Juliet Released Today!
- The Romeo + Juliet Music Edition DVD and the Romeo + Juliet 10th Anniversary Edition CD were released in the USA today. As previously reported, I will not be able to get my hands on either of these for a while, but if anyone is lucky enough to get copies, please feel free to contact me with your comments. I am currently awaiting a comprehensive review from a fellow fan which I hope to feature on this website very soon :)
________________________________
4 February 2007
Baz Luhrmann Interview
- The LA Daily News yesterday posted online an interview with Baz Luhrmann. The interview discusses Australia, and also the 10th anniversary edition of Romeo + Juliet and Luhrmann's goals in general. The full interview reads as follows:
Luhrmann's landscapes
Aussie filmmaker heads for brutal land down under to make his new 'Australia'
By Rob Lowman, Entertainment Editor, 3 February 2007, LA Daily News
When last we saw Baz Luhrmann, five years ago, he was undergoing a dizzying
Oscar whirl because his dizzying "Moulin Rouge" had eight nominations.
Except for a short sojourn in 2003 to our shores to annoy some opera fans while
delighting others with his hipster version of "La Boheme," with its hunky guys
and sexy gals, the Australian filmmaker has pretty much been down under. An
attempt to do a biopic of Alexander the Great went by the wayside when Oliver
Stone beat him to it.
Now he's releasing a 10th-anniversary special musical edition DVD of his "Romeo
+ Juliet," one of the films in his "Red Curtain Trilogy," just as he's about to
start filming an epic big-budget romantic saga called - yes - "Australia,"
starring all Aus-sies, most notably leads Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman.
We recently got ahold of Luhrmann, just before he headed to the wilds of the
bush. It was Australia Day, appropriately enough, complete with the local air
force flying overhead. During our conversation, the 44-year-old director talked
about a shift in his filmmaking from the rapid editing of his "Red Curtain" trio
to the big landscapes of films such as "Giant." The change reflects his new
family life (he has two children) with
his wife, costume designer Catherine Martin, whom he calls CM.
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It's been quite awhile since you made a film.
So you're basically asking me where I've been. I'm about to shoot "Australia."
We've been on it for a number of years. It's a fundamental shift from all those
films that belonged to the "Red Curtain Trilogy." Those films came from an
interpretation of the Hollywood musical. This really comes from the love of big
romances that use landscapes to tell stories.
I've got to be really careful not to say I'm making "Gone With the Wind" or
"Giant" or "Lawrence of Arabia." But those films share something in that they
take a heightened emotional story and use the landscape to kind of amplify it.
They're mythological pieces, and that's what I'm making.
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You told me after you made "Moulin Rouge" you might make a small psychological
drama, but I guess you didn't do that.
Actually ... no I didn't do that. We we're pursuing "Alexander" as we did "La
Boheme." ... But we came to a point where we had to race or not race. It's
nothing against Oliver. I have great respect for him. The world had changed, and
we have changed. CM and I were buried away from public life. ... Having children
was a natural gear change, and the work we were doing has come out of that. So I
suppose having children is a psychological drama. It was for us.
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How does that relate to your new film?
Having children is a journey in itself, but it's having an immediate effect on
the work I'm doing. You can't not be affected by that. ... The film "Australia,"
set in the '30s, is about a woman who thinks that it's all over, thinks that she
can't feel anymore. And she's trapped out in the far deserts of northern
Australia.
Then she gets involved with a rough-hewed cowboy played by Hugh Jackman, and in
the quest they go on, she discovers that her life can be reborn. She chooses to
feel, but it takes a degree of risk.
We relate to that in our own lives. That's the best you can hope for - to find
what you're dealing with in your own life in the work you're creating.
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In your commentary on "R+J," you said everything now looked slow.
The irony is that many of the choices we made in "R+J" are so commonplace today
that they are not even remarkable. ... In the U.S., it was interpreted and sold
as an MTV "Romeo + Juliet," but the film was created on a lot of academic
research on what the Elizabethan stage was. ... Did Shake-speare use pop music
on stage? Yes. Did he swing wildly from in-your-face comedy to tragedy? Yes. Did
he grab-bag quotes from topical things that were happening? Yes.
-
You also made some interesting casting choices.
"R+J" really burst out in a really good place - Leonardo (DiCaprio) and Claire
(Danes) and John Leguizamo and Jamie Kennedy and all those young fellows.
Whether people agree or disagree about how the material was interpreted, it's
kind of a moot point because the story lives. In fact, it's time for someone
else to do it now. It's 10 years old. It's time for someone else to interpret it
for a new generation.
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You did some very inventive things musically with "Moulin Rouge" and "R+J." Are
you going to go with a traditional score for "Australia"?
I guess in the same way "Out of Africa" had a very romantic score. John Barry
brilliantly took indigenous music and didn't just layer it in. He interpreted
it. That is what we're going for in this film.
"Australia" ends when the attack force that hit Pearl Harbor came down and wiped
out the northern city of Darwin. At the time there was a lot of
country-and-western influences from America in the music, a lot of folk
influences, Hawaiian influences and jazz band music was the rage. But yet it
will be a rather lush romantic score.
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The "R+J" set in Mexico looked like it was adventure.
It was like "Fitzcarraldo" meets the Rolling Stones tour in the '60s. It was
far-out whether it was hurricanes or kidnappings. It was very intense.
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You're in Australia for your new shoot, so you should be on safer ground.
I don't know. Where we're shooting is some of the most brutal landscapes in the
world. And we're doing something people really don't do anymore. We're going out
in tents. ... It's going to be a test.
-
But you got some great actors again. Hugh Jackman ...
He's always really good, but he's really going into new territory. There's
something real Clint Eastwood about him at the moment.
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Will you disappear after this film?
I have more projects than I'll ever live long enough to do. But I am driving on.
I usually take many years to make a film, but now that we have our children, CM
and I will be as creative as we can for the next 10 years, and then we might
disappear again. Finally become recluses.
This interview contains some interesting information. Having his two children has obviously had a huge impact on Luhrmann's outlook in life. He is reflecting on his past works, such as the re-release of Romeo + Juliet, which he is now saying could be done again by someone new. Personally, I think this film has withstood the test of time and is still very relevant and creative. But it will indeed be intriguing to hear Luhrmann's new commentary on the Romeo + Juliet Music Edition DVD.
Also, I had no idea that Baz Luhrmann was planning to make a small psychological drama after Moulin Rouge. I have never heard anything about this. However, I only created this site in November 2002, which was some time after Moulin Rouge had been released and I was not as knowledgeable about Luhrmann's past projects and ideas back then. At the end of the interview, Luhrmann also comments that he and CM will stay creative for the next decade, but then they may disappear. I, for one, hope they continue to work together to create new works for as long as they possibly can! :)
TV interview postponed
- In my last news update, I reported that a regional Australian television programme called State Focus was interviewing Bowen Mayor, Michael Brunker, this week. However, I have now been informed that this interview has been postponed for now, but will hopefully still take place next week. Therefore, the interview will not be aired on Sunday, 11 February 2007. However, it might be aired on Sunday, 18 February 2007 instead. I will post another news update as soon as I find out any further information.
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1 February 2007
Australian TV Interview with Bowen Mayor
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This week I have been
approached through this website by the host/producer of an Australian television
programme asking permission to use information from my site in an interview with
Bowen Mayor, Michael Brunker.
The programme is called State Focus. It is a weekly half hour television
studio talk show discussing what affects regional Queensland, from far north
Queensland to the Sunshine Coast and Darling Downs. They record the show on
Mondays and Tuesdays, with the program going to air at 8.30am Sundays on
Southern Cross Ten (a regional Australian television station). They have
interviewed many famous guests including Andrew Denton, Tina Arena, Rove
McManus, Michael Palin and Australia star, Jack Thompson.
The town of Bowen is in Queensland, and obviously the filming of Australia here has caused much local interest. Bowen Mayor, Michael Brunker, has been in the Australian media a lot recently. He is understandably very excited about the movie being shot in Bowen. Next week, he will be interviewed by State Focus. If you are living in Queensland, be sure to watch Mr Brunker's interview at 8:30am on Sunday, 11 February 2007! For the rest of us, I am hoping to get a copy of the interview, which I will transcribe and post right here when it becomes available.
Romeo + Juliet 10th Anniversary Edition
- As I reported a couple of weeks ago, the Romeo + Juliet Music Edition DVD is about to be released in the USA on 6 February 2007. Click here to order your copy from amazon.com.
I have now discovered that on the same date, they are also re-releasing the soundtrack as a 10th Anniversary Special Edition CD with bonus tracks! Click here to order your copy from amazon.com, and click here to visit the official My Space website.
Both the DVD and CD look absolutely amazing! However, it seems that they are both only being released in the USA at this stage. Until they have been released here in the UK, I will be unable to review them! However, if you are lucky enough to get your hands on a copy, or have any further information about other country releases, please feel free to contact me. In the meantime, check out these reviews from Soundtrack.net:
CD:
A dazzling and unconventional contemporary re-telling
of William Shakespeare's classic love story, Romeo+Juliet comes to life in a
whole new way on February 6 as Capitol/EMI and Fox Home Entertainment celebrate
the 1997 hit film's 10th anniversary with new commemorative releases. On
February 6, Capitol/EMI will release an expanded 10th Anniversary Edition of the
film's hit soundtrack on CD and digitally, and Fox Home Entertainment will
release an expanded Music Edition DVD. Both releases include previously
unreleased and newly produced material. Capitol/EMI's soundtrack is expanded to
18 tracks for the new 10th Anniversary Edition, featuring the original
soundtrack's songs by Garbage, Radiohead, the Cardigans and Everclear, as well
as five new additions, including a brand new 2007 remix of Baz Luhrmann's
"Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)" by Quindon Tarver, and, also making its
release debut, Tarver's version of "When Dove's Cry" as it was performed in the
film.
DVD:
Filled with an array of bonus materials produced by writer/producer/director Baz
Luhrmann's (Strictly Ballroom, Moulin Rouge) production company Bazmark, Fox
Home Entertainment's Romeo+Juliet Music Edition DVD takes audiences on a
spectacular journey through the sonic montage of the lavish musical odyssey.
Special features include three new audio commentaries including one by Luhrmann,
a comprehensive 40 minute documentary that takes you on an exploration of the
soundtrack creation - a crucial part of the film's creative success - with music
producing icons Craig Armstrong (Moulin Rouge, World Trade Center) and Marius
DeVries (Moulin Rouge, "Madonna: The Video Collection 93:99"), three new
"Journey of The Song" featurettes and the Music Machine, a juke box function
that takes you to your favorite music in the film, and more. The wildly
inventive and utterly unforgettable Oscar®-nominated* adaptation features
scintillating performances from the brightest stars in Hollywood, including
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Departed, Titanic), Claire Danes (Shopgirl, The Family
Stone), John Leguizamo (Summer Of Sam, Moulin Rouge), Harold Perrineau ("Lost,"
The Matrix Reloaded), Paul Rudd (The 40 Year Old Virgin, Anchorman), Jamie
Kennedy (Scream, Malibu's Most Wanted) and Pete Postlethwaite (The Omen,
Jurassic Park: The Lost World).
The Toronto Star has today released an excellent article about Romeo + Juliet, including direct quotes from Baz Luhrmann himself, and featuring information about the soundtrack for Australia:
In the style
of the bard
Director follows Shakespeare's
lead, turns up the music
1 February 2007, Ben Rayner, Pop Music Critic
It seems a bit early to be reminiscing about the mid-1990s as a sort of "golden
age" for film soundtracks. But on a small scale, it was.
Hollywood's tilt to "blockbuster" filmmaking ushered in a similar approach to
the business of determining what music we hear when we go to the movies.
Striking original scores and thoughtful collections of songs lovingly keyed to
the action onscreen have long taken a back seat to shrewd hits packages aimed at
offsetting production costs and creating cross-promotional opportunities for
movie studios and record labels.
On the heels of Quentin Tarantino's long-simmering 1992 sleeper hit, Reservoir
Dogs – whose accompanying parade of obscure AM-radio chestnuts like "Little
Green Bag" and "Stuck in the Middle With You" was integral to the director's
vision and eventually became as much of a pop-culture touchstone as the film
itself – there was a renewed emphasis on soundtracks that actually meant
something, soundtracks that actually played a role in the pictures they graced.
There was Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, of course, but films as varied as
Trainspotting, Judgement Night, The Crow, Natural Born Killers and even lesser
lights such as The Doom Generation and Love & a .45 were suddenly producing
albums one could enjoy just as much (more, in some cases) in their own right
long after the theatre lights had come up.
The king of these, however, was perhaps the soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann's garish
1996 retelling of William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet.
Not only was the film's kinetic, contemporary retelling of the age-old love
story a surprise hit accomplished with the aid of hot young leads Leonardo
DiCaprio and Claire Danes, it also inspired one of the post-MTV era's most
dazzling fusions of image and sound.
An inescapable soundtrack disc featuring huge hits by Garbage ("#1 Crush") and
the Cardigans ("Lovefool"), along with the lofty likes of Radiohead, Stina
Nordenstam, Des'ree and Gavin Friday, was every bit as big as the movie, moving
a whopping 8 million copies. But divorced from the film and the stirring Craig
Armstrong score with which they were seamlessly meshed onscreen, the songs alone
told only a fraction of the story.
Mindful of the fact, Luhrmann has now overseen a 10th-anniversary DVD re-release
of Romeo + Juliet – dubbed the "Music Edition" – that highlights the meticulous
efforts poured into making the film sound as great as it did. And, for that
matter, still does.
"I wanted the soundtrack to be not only a memento of the film but also a
distinctly different experience from the film," says Luhrmann from the
Australian outback, where he's currently preparing to shoot the epic Australia
with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman.
"And that idea came from Shakespeare himself and my own investigation of how
Shakespeare, on the Elizabethan stage, approached storytelling.
"When you think about Shakespeare telling stories, he's speaking in a very
musical language. It's not that dissimilar to rap in that it's poetic and very
rhythmic.
"But also, when Shakespeare was staging his plays, he had to reach the widest
audience possible, and to do that he would employ the music of his audience,"
says Luhrmann.
"So he would use not only classical music, but the popular music of the day and
church music – all the means of storytelling at his disposal."
Luhrmann preceded Romeo + Juliet with 1992's swingin' Strictly Ballroom and
followed it up with the smash musical Moulin Rouge! in 2001, so music is
obviously inseparable from his filmic vision. He's actually composed his own
music for film, opera and theatre — including the tune "Everybody's Free (To
Wear Sunscreen)," which caused a minor sensation when remixed for Romeo + Juliet
— over the years, too.
No wonder, then, that he fought so strenuously on the soundtrack's behalf when
making Romeo + Juliet. He initially used the idea of a contemporary soundtrack
packed with "more hits than you can possibly imagine" to win over a studio
dubious about selling Shakespeare to kids in 1996, and – wooed by their
collective contributions to the work of Massive Attack and Bjork – called in a
dream production team that included Armstrong, super-producer Nellee Hooper and
remixer extraordinaire Marius DeVries to help him construct the perfect mash-up
of traditional and modern sounds.
The Romeo + Juliet Music Edition is, in fact, notable for its detailing, through
commentaries (by Luhrmann, Armstrong and DeVries) and generous documentary
features, the unseen backroom wranglings, budgetary sleight-of-hand and frantic
post-production sessions that make it possible for any music to be heard in any
film. At one point, we see Luhrmann auditioning the young vocalist who sings
Prince's "When Doves Cry" in the film through an ancient cellphone while wading
waist-deep in a swimming pool on set.
Luhrmann is departing from his musical roots, in a sense, with the $100-million
Australia, which he envisions as a Down Under version of such "landscape"-driven
epics as Giant, Gone With the Wind and Lawrence of Arabia.
The landscape itself, he says, has "musical" qualities of its own that he hopes
to coax out onscreen. But research has also revealed the variety of sounds –
country and western, indigenous music, jazz, American big band, classical – that
were heard in the particular chunk of 1930s cattle-ranching Australia he's
chronicling, so it will be the job of the soundtrack to digest, assimilate and
synthesize it all in an original manner.
A mad pursuit, perhaps. But the
Romeo + Juliet Music Edition does demonstrate how dogged Luhrmann can be when
he's on a mission. Plus, if you're into music, the bonus materials are
considerably more interesting than the usual DVD filler – likely because
Luhrmann, no fan of DVDs that cram themselves with lame extras that "pretend to
be an exciting revisitation of these films," is quite hands-on with such
matters.
"If you're a fan of a film, I liken it to a friendship. That relationship should
forever be evolving and changing as time goes on," he says.
"Every time you go back to it, you should know a little something more about
it."
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