CHARACTER ANALYSIS:
LADY SARAH ASHLEY
Lady Sarah Ashley is a central character in the Australia. She is an English aristocrat who inherits a cattle station the size of Maryland. At first, Sarah plans to sell Faraway Downs even though a man, trying to convince Sarah not to sell it. She plans to go down to Australia and sells it herself. Her husband tells her need not come down to Australia but she has strong determination. She comes down to Australia and land in Darwin, where she meets with the Drover. At first, she is unfamiliar and uncomfortable with the new environment. This can be seen on the way go to Faraway Downs, when she wearing glasses, hat with a net around it, gloves, and everything else that makes her overdressed for heat and outback. Sarah also wonders when she sees a group of kangaroos running next to the truck. They are very beautiful for her but suddenly shock when the aborigine shoots one and watches the blood drip from the top of the windshield. Sarah is a very brave woman. When they reach Faraway Downs, Drover tells Sarah to stay in the truck. However, Sarah angrily gets out of the truck and walks into the house, although Drover tells her not to go in. She does anyway, and she sees her husband lying dead on the table. She is very sad and depress. Her braveness can be seen when Fletcher hits Nullah and his mother, Bandy, she runs over and smacks Fletcher with a riding crop, and fires him on the spot, although Fletcher tells her that she not has anybody for the driving the cattle. She is friendly to everyone and treat them in the same way whether white or Aborigine. She tries to protect the right of every people. She very disagrees with the Mission Isand plans, the Stolen Generations. At the ball, she insults the group by saying that they never ask the mothers about taking children away from them and they certainly cannot ask the fathers because they are all there (men like Fletcher). She never looks down the drover although he associates with aborigines. They dance together at the ball and she looks very charming and beautiful. Her toughness and strong determination is brightly shines when she has to look after the Faraway Downs by herself and get their 1500 cattle to the Darwin to the Army before Carney. She begs drover to drive the cattle promising her Capricornia to him if he help. They not have enough people to drive the cattle but she notes that she can ride although the drover explains that it is not easy riding, but she insists. She is not easily given up and has high self-confidence. She tries her best to learn and practice riding the horse and finally she can ride horse and control the cattle very well. When they are driving across a really dry place and Fletcher has poisons the source of water there. The nearest water is a five-day ride, but Magarri remarks that across one of, a three-day ride, there is water. Everyone seems to lost hope but Sarah convinces everyone that we can and we have to try and yet we must try. After they go through many tough situations, finally with their strong determination and not easily give up they manage to sell the cattle to the army. Besides that, Sarah can be a very great mother. She has motherly love towards Nullah. Nullah is very sad and heartbroken when his mother dies. She tries to mothering Nullah although she is not good at it. At first, he wants her to go away. After trying to offers her condolence, she asks if he wants to hear a story. She tells him a bit about the Wizard of Oz, the twister, and attempt to sing “Somewhere over the Rainbow”. What a wonderful woman!!!! The day onward, she looks after and takes on a caring role for Nullah . She guides him towards the man he is dreams to become. She wants Nullah to get a good education. However, Nullah has to follow his grandfather, King George to go ‘walkabout’. It is a culture. At first, she is reluctant to let him go, but at the end she understands what must be done. Another touching scene is when she runs after Nullah, tries to get him back by pleading with authorities. Then, she works for the army at the radio headquarters, occasionally she gets to see Nullah. By these entire heartfelt scenes, we can sense the true love and care that Sarah gives to Nullah. She has a quality to be a good mother. Sarah falls in love with the drover after they have gone through many tough situations together. Together they face the happiness and sadness. The relationships reassess their life and priorities and let love into their heart once again.Eventually, she falls in love with many aspects of Australia-the landscape, the way of life, the Drover, Nullah, and the home where she decides she belongs, Faraway Downs. While she is there, the landscape, people and experiences of this faraway exotic country bring renewal to her life."
My comments
‘Australia’ is one of the interesting and adventurous movies that I have seen. I can see the variation in this movie-mystery; magic (Kalapa), discrimination, adventure, love and the war. Peoples there are heavy drinker. Flynn, Faraway Downs’s accountant is a good example. It’s become his habit until his last breath, he still thinks about the rum. This is not good habits to practice. Discrimination by the whites against the aborigines is common thing in the society. This can be seen when the aborigines are not allow to go in the bar. Besides that, Fletcher also cruel towards the aborigines at the Faraway Downs. His cruelty can be seen when he lies that the windmill is not work in years and when Nullah turns on the faucet, he hits Nullah and his mother. They also send the half-cast kids or commonly known as ‘creamy’ to the mission without asking their mothers about taking their children away. This is really unfair. Everyone has the same right. We should treat everyone the same way and not base on races, religions, or skin colours. These make our world livelier. One thing that very disgusting is that Fletcher treats his own son, Nullah very badly. He hits his son and tries to shot him. Where is the love of a father that should has towards his child???? Parents should take a good care to their child, guide and support them toward the right way, and not a useless father like Fletcher. For me, Sarah is a wonderful woman. She is charming and posses high self-confidence, strong determination, tough and brave. She also can be a great mother. I can feel her motherly love toward Nullah though many scenes in the movie. It is very touching. That why I choose character of Lady Sarah Ashley to write in my blog. She posses many good examples. Finding her husband dead, corrupt caretakers, and an Aboriginal family with nowhere to turn to, Sarah has to take control of the land, and much to the dismay of King Carney with eyes on purchasing Faraway Downs, she is left without help. Yet, she has strong determination and high fighting spirit to take all the challenges and tries her best to handle it. The love between Sarah and Drover make the movie more interesting in another way. I keep guessing how it is going to end. Yeah!!! It is happy ending at last. On the other point of view, we learn one lesson. Peoples must make a new start, move forward and do our best for your future. It is no point to live with the past. We must live with today and happy with it. Sarah and drover have lost their love once but they start their fresh journey. The relationships reassess their life and priorities and let love into their heart once again. Sarah and Drover teach each other how to love again. So, they live a happy life together at the end. Finally, I want to say that ‘AUSTRALIA’ is an interesting and powerful movie. I really enjoy the breathtaking and adventurous landscapes in the movie. Oh!!! One more thing that I have learnt in this movie is when an aborigine dies, we can’t call his or her name anymore... that interesting…
MESSAGE…..
"Just because it is, doesn't mean it should be"
Review on “Australia” Movie
In 1939, Lady Sarah Ashley travels from England to northern Australia to force her husband to sell hi Faraway Downs. Her husband sends a "Drover" to Darwin to transport her to Faraway Downs. Lady Sarah's husband is murdered shortly before she arrives. Meanwhile, Faraway Downs' manager Neil Fletcher is trying to gain control of Faraway Downs for Carney. Lady Sarah befriends with Nullah, who was born to an Aboriginal mother and a white father. Nullah tells her that Carney has stolen her cattle. Fletcher mistreats Nullah and threatens him and his mother. Nullah proves that Fletcher is a liar by showing Lady Sarah that the windmill, which Fletcher has deemed broken, works. Fletcher violently attacks Nullah, his mother and but is stopped by a horrified Lady Sarah. She fires Fletcher and decides to run the cattle station herself. Nullah’s mother died and Lady Sarah comforts Nullah by singing, "Over the Rainbows”
Lady Sarah persuades Drover to take the cattle to Darwin so that Faraway Downs can be saved. Drover leads a team of six riders, including Lady Sarah, Magarri, Nullah, and Flynn to drive the 1,500 cattle to Darwin. Carney's men set fires to make the cattle stampede, killing Flynn. Nullah stops the cattle from charging over a cliff by apparently using magic learned from his grandfather. Lady Sarah and Drover develop a romance, and she gains appreciation for Australia. Carney's men poison the water sources along route, so the group risks driving the cattle through the Never Never desert. Reaching Darwin, the group races the cattle onto the ship before Carney's are loaded. That night, Lady Sarah and Drover attend a ball for the "Children's Island Mission", where she attempts to make the upper class whites realize that half-Aboriginal children belong to their mothers and not the government. Lady Sarah, Nullah and Drover live together at Faraway Downs. Fletcher kills Carney and frames it as an accident, marries his daughter Catherine, takes over Carney's empire, and continues menacing Lady Sarah. It is determined that Fletcher was the actual murderer of Lady Sarah's husband and that Fletcher is also almost certainly Nullah's father. While Nullah is walkabout with "King George", they are captured by the authorities and sent to live on Mission Island ("Stolen Generationsgrandfather is imprisoned, accused of murdering Lord Ashley. Lady Sarah prepares to sell Faraway Downs to Fletcher, believing that it will aid her in gaining Nullah back. The sale is interrupted by the surprise attack on Darwin by the Japanese. Drover, who had quarrelled with Lady Sarah and gone droving apparently never to return, hears that she has been killed in the bombing. Drover, Magarri, Ivan volunteer to help, Brother Frank, to rescue the children. Magarri sacrifices himself to buy the others time to escape. Lady Sarah and the inhabitants of Darwin prepare to evacuate. When Drover and the children sail back into Darwin, Nullah plays his harmonica with the tune of "Over the Rainbow". Lady Sarah hears the music and reunites with the three. Fletcher attempts to shoot Nullah. King George sees Fletcher just as Fletcher is about to fire, and spears him through the chest just as he pulls the trigger. Lady Sarah, Drover and Nullah return to Faraway Downs. On the way, King George calls for Nullah to go walkabout. Lady Sarah and lets him go with his grandfather, who tell her that, "I'll sing you to me." King George says they will return to his land, then, looking at Lady Sarah says, "our land." Lady Sarah says, "I'll hear you."
sitting here in the boring room...