Australia

Well so I saw Australia The Movie yesterday. My impressions were: sets great, costumes gorgeous, acting good, dialogue corny at times, music horrible, scenery and cinematography fabulous, plot engaging but at times confusing. Before I saw the movie I had assumed that it distorted historical time so as to fit the bombing of Darwin into the story. I mean I knew that Nicole Kidman's character arrived at the outbreak of war, so surely it didn't take her three years to drove the cattle to Darwin so she arrived just in time for the Japanese attack? I didn't realise that there were 2 story arcs , one about "the drove", and the other about the war.

The strange thing about the film is that it is called "Australia" but the only really sympathetic Australian characters are the Aboriginal characters such as Nullah and his mother, the alcoholic accountant, and Hugh Jackman. The rest are mostly snobbish or racist or criminal, although some redeem themselves towards the end.

The first scenes in the movie were for me some of the most powerful and show what a great director could do with some of the stories of Australia that haven't been told.

Elizabethan Gardens

I've just finished reading Elizabeth in the Garden, by English historian Trea Martyn. This is a study of the gardens created in an attempt to entertain and win the favour of Elizabeth the First, by her two closest advisers and rivals at her court Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester and Robert Cecil, Lord Chancellor. Dudley created a romantic garden for her at his castle Kenilworth, which featured knot gardens and an aviary. It was the site of music, fireworks and masques to try to persuade the Queen to marry him.













Cecil's garden at his palace Theobalds, sounds even more spectacular. It's design was inspired by gardens in Italy such as the Villa d'Este. Martyn also looks at the symbolism of gardens, plants and flowers in Elizabethan times, and how important the garden was in the iconography of Elizabeth herself in paintings and poetry.



Martyn has a website where you can read more about the book. The fascinating news is that while both gardens were demolished long ago, there are plans to recreate them and in fact the gardens at Kenilworth have been recreated by English Heritage and are due to open in May 2009 (see picture above). After reading about all that went on there, I can't wait for an opportunity to visit.