Baz Luhrmann’s 2008 epic film, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, has undergone a transformation into a six-part miniseries on Hulu, titled Faraway Downs. This adaptation incorporates previously unreleased footage and features an alternate ending, providing viewers with a fresh perspective on the original cinematic experience.
Television critics often debate whether certain shows would have been better suited as movies, and vice versa. Hulu’s Faraway Downs serves as an intriguing experiment in this context, expanding on Luhrmann’s Australia. The miniseries includes approximately an hour of previously unused footage and a reworked ending, aiming to potentially enhance the film’s initial mixed reception. However, the series falls short of restoring the movie’s reputation, highlighting the limitations of format changes in storytelling.
The six-episode season closely follows Australia‘s plot, set in 1939 as World War II looms. Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) travels from England to Australia with the intention of selling her late husband’s ranch. However, circumstances lead her to take charge of the business herself, forming unexpected connections with the rugged drover (Hugh Jackman), the half-Aboriginal boy Nullah (Brandon Walters), and others on the property. While some additional scenes address gaps in the original’s narrative, they do not significantly alter the overall experience.
One notable departure occurs in the closing minutes, where Faraway Downs opts for a different and arguably improved ending compared to Australia. The miniseries maintains the sentimentality of the story but introduces a welcome note of bitterness. Unfortunately, it still leaves certain character aspects unexplained, such as the Drover’s real name.
Critically, Faraway Downs fails to address a long-standing criticism of Australia: the relegation of characters of color, particularly Aboriginal characters, to one-dimensional archetypes. This issue persists in the new version, and despite the absence of new footage, the racial dynamics feel even more uncomfortable in 2023.
The comparison between Australia and Faraway Downs extends beyond narrative changes to the viewing experience. The transition from a sprawling epic to a limited series reveals the thinness of characters and the lack of intimacy in their relationships. The grandeur that worked for a movie feels diminished in the TV adaptation, which, despite gaining extra details, loses some of its original scope.
In the late Peak TV era, Luhrmann’s extravagant style, successful in projects like The Get Down, struggles to translate the specific cinematic essence of Australia to the television medium. The miniseries emphasizes the characters’ shallowness and the absence of nuance in their relationships, underscoring the challenges of adapting a film of such scale for the smaller screen. While Faraway Downs adds minutes and details, it compromises some of the grandiosity that defined the original cinematic experience.
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