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Structure
Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 25 general entries.
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Australia
She wants to bring her husband back to England.. When we first meet Lady Ashley, at her estate in England, she is discussing her husband's fascination with his ranch, Faraway Downs, in Australia. She expresses her belief that he is having an affair with someone there and clearly states that she intends to go to him, assist him in selling the ranch and bring him back to England.
Lady Ashley is played by Nicole Kidman, an Australian actress who, ironically, plays an Englishwoman in an epic film set in Australia.
Drover. Sarah's husband does not want her to come, but as she insists, he arranges for Drover to meet her in Darwin and take her on across the outback to the ranch, a journey of a couple of days. In exchange for this service, Lord Ashley has promised Drover the job of droving his 1500 cattle to Darwin for sale to the army.
Unfortunately when Sarah arrives, Drover is involved in a barroom brawl which he wins by using some of Sarah's luggage pieces. She is mortified as her personal belongings (including her lingerie) are strewn across the street.
Drover is played by Hugh Jackman, another Australian actor who has been named "People's" sexiest man alive for 2008.
King George. King George is a local Aboriginal magic man, who is often hovering around Faraway Downs because his grandson is there. He remains distant for most of the movie, usually interacting only with his grandson.
At the very beginning of the movie, we see Lord Ashley killed, with a spear. This happens near the billabong, after he watches some of his cattle herded across the river to King Carney's ranch. King George is there with his grandson at the time and always carries a spear. However King George's spears are metal tipped and we later learn that the spear that killed Lord Ashley was glass tipped and came from a set in his home. Neil Fletcher, Lord Ashley's station manager, who is actually working for the Carney family, is the one who really killed Lord Ashley.
King George is played by David Gulpilil.
| Nullah is a young boy who works at Faraway Downs with his mother. His mother is Aboriginal and his father white, so Nullah is in danger of being removed by the police and taken to live on a mission. Where does Nullah hide, whenever he thinks the 'coppers' are coming to get him? | "Australia" (2008)
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in the water tower. The water tower on the ranch is initially empty, so it is a safe place to hide. It is empty because Fletcher had blocked up the water supply, claiming that it had dried out, as another way of persuading Ashley to sell his ranch to King Carney.
For almost a century, the Australian government removed Aboriginal children from their families, sending them to missions to be raised. While the reasoning for doing this differs, depending on what source you read, there is little doubt that it was an attempt to remove them from their heritage and culture. These children are referred to as The Stolen Children, or Stolen Generations. Removal of these children from their families was still being carried out in some places as late as 1973.
Although the film implies that Nullah is in danger of being removed because he of mixed race, all Aboriginal children were at risk. Perhaps those of mixed race were more likely to be taken.
Nullah is wonderfully played by Brandon Walters.
| How does Lady Ashley learn that Neil Fletcher is stealing from Faraway Downs? | "Australia" (2008)
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Nullah tells her.. Fletcher works on the ranch as a station manager, but he is secretly working for the only other beef producing ranch in the area, owned by the Carney family. Nullah has seen Fletcher herding Faraway Downs' cattle across the river. He decides to take a risk and tell Sarah Ashley this. Fletcher vehemently denies this, and chases the boy around the yard, hitting him when he catches him and threatening to beat the boy's mother. To prove that Fletcher lies, Nullah pulls the pin the Fletcher has installed to stop the water from filling the tower, claiming that the source has dried up. Sarah fires Fletcher, as much for his cruelty to the boy as for his theft. Later Sarah consults with her accountant who substantiates the boy's story, showing her the two sets of books he's been keeping, one that includes the value of the unbranded cattle that have been taken to Carney's land.
Neil Fletcher is played by David Wenham.
| What does Sarah offer Drover as additional payment for droving her cattle to Darwin? | "Australia" (2008)
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her horse. With Fletcher and his men gone, there are not enough people left to get the 1500 head of cattle to Darwin. Sarah is determined not to let Fletcher win and wants to continue with the plan to sell the cattle to the army. She suggests that she, the accountant and the ranch hands who did not leave with Fletcher, make up the missing bodies. Drover is reluctant because of the inexperience of the group, until Sarah offers him her horse. Drover has a real way with horses and previously mentioned that he would love to breed a thoroughbred with an Australian Brumby, to see what the offspring would be like. The offer of her horse seals the deal.
She drowns in the water tower.. Until she fired Fletcher, Sarah had good relationship with the local 'copper', Sergeant Callahan. He would have tea with her and ignore Nullah's presence. After Fletcher's dismissal, however, Callahan comes looking for Nullah, having been told by Fletcher that Nullah is there. Nullah hides in the water tower, with his mother climbing in with him. One of the 'coppers' turns on the pump to get a drink, causing the water level to rise. Inside the tank, the rusted out ladder breaks away and Daisy exerts her energy making sure that Nullah is safe, drowning in the process. Drover gets her out as soon as possible, but it is too late.
Daisy is played by Ursula Novich and Callahan is played by Tony Barry.
Kipling Flynn. Kipling Flynn is the ranch's accountant - he also is a drunk. He has been keeping two sets of books for Fletcher, but willingly offers them up to Sarah when she asks. One wonders if his drinking problem isn't at least partially caused by Fletcher making him complicit in the deception.
When they need able bodies for the cattle drive, Sarah appeals to him, but Drover only agrees to take him if he stays sober.
On the trail, Flynn pulls out the harmonica which entrances Nullah, who has a great love for music. Flynn plays "Over the Rainbow", at Nullah's request. This is a song that Sarah tried to sing to him after Daisy died, except she didn't know the words.
Kipling Flynn is played by Jack Thompson.
He is run over by stampeding cattle.. The Australian army is looking to make a huge purchase of beef. King Carney wants a monopoly on the beef industry and sends Fletcher to make sure that the cattle from Faraway Downs never make it to Darwin. Fletcher and his men start a stampede in the very early hours of the morning, herding the cattle in a direction that will send them plummeting off the cliff. The drovers are all riding desperately to get in front of the cattle, to stop them from their plunge. Flynn's horse trips and falls and Flynn is trampled by the onrushing cattle. Nullah manages to stop them single-handedly.
Flynn lives long enough to reveal that he had indeed hidden a bottle under the wagon, but not long enough to have a drink. The group toasts him after his passing.
Neil Fletcher. This is revealed at various points in the film, most powerfully when King George, the boy's grandfather, confronts Fletcher, after Fletcher has aimed a gun at Nullah. At one point Sarah threatens to tell Fletcher's fiancée that he fathered the boy, but Fletcher tells Sarah, in no uncertain terms, that that would be a big mistake.
Even though Fletcher is the boy's father, he treats him as scum, frequently referring to Nullah as 'the little creamy'. He is disdainful of Sarah, because she is very fond of the boy.
| Who wins the bid for having the first dance with Sarah, at the charity ball? | "Australia" (2008)
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King Carney. Sarah manages to underbid Carney for the sale of her cattle, and get them on the ship before Carney can load his cattle, thereby nullifying the contract that had just been signed between him and the army. She agrees to be patroness at the ball that evening, somehow finding a gorgeous dress to do so (she might have brought it with her as she did pack a ridiculous amount of clothing for a cattle drive).
As part of the fund raising activities, the gentlemen bid on the right of the first dance with Sarah, as patroness. King Carney sets a new record, by bidding £500 for the privilege.
Carney is a large, egotistical man, used to getting his own way. He is determined to convince Sarah to sell her land to him and uses this time as an opportunity to press his case. Instead of being successful, she fills him in on the fact that she suspects that Fletcher murdered her husband. While Carney had instructed Fletcher to make sure that none of Asherly's cattle made it to Darwin, he does not hold with murder, which we learn from his subsequent conversation with Fletcher.
Carney is played by Bryan Brown.
The Wizard of Oz. Nullah wants to see the film, but is worried about being taken by the coppers because of his skin. Black charcoal, from a log from the fire, is applied to his skin to make him darker.
"The Wizard of Oz" (1939) stars Judy Garland and tells the story of a girl whose house is caught up in a tornado and put down in the land of Oz, somewhere over the rainbow. Her adventures there, with her dog and her friends, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion, teach her that she really wants to be home after all.
Nullah is entranced by the film, which includes the song " Over the Rainbow", that Sarah had tried to sing to him earlier.
He is eaten by a crocodile.. After Fletcher marries Carney's daughter, Cath, his role of heir to the ranch and fortune is secured. While out with Carney, he hits him over the head and pushes him into the water, where he is eaten by a crocodile.
The area of Australia where the movie was filmed is home to both saltwater and freshwater crocodiles - both of which provide a risk to people. Saltwater crocodiles are more aggressive and have been found several miles inland, in rivers. The film does not address which type of crocodile attacked King Carney.
She is killed when the Japanese bomb Darwin.. Drover leaves for a six month job for the Army, upsetting Sarah who does not want to be separated that long. She tells him that if he goes, he should not bother coming back. Nullah is caught, running away from he coppers, when he stops because they shot and killed his dingo. Sarah moves into Darwin, to be closer to the mission where Nullah has been taken. While working out a way to get him back, she works at the communications office for the Army.
She finally agrees to sell Faraway Downs to Fletcher, in exchange for the release of Nullah. She has switched shifts with Cath Fletcher (nee Carney) so that she can go and collect Nullah from the mission. Before she can get there, the Japanese attack, bombing both the island where the mission is located and the communications' office, where Cath is working Sarah's shift.
Cath Carney/Fletcher is played by Essie Davis.
King George. Believing Sarah to be dead (because she is supposed to be working in the centre when it is bombed), Drover heads out to the bombed island to look for Nullah, even though he is discouraged from doing this. Drover succeeds in getting Nullah and a bunch of other boys off the island, because his friend, Magarri, sacrifices himself. About to board the truck evacuating people from Darwin, Sarah stops, because she hears Nullah playing "Over the Rainbow" on his harmonica. A joyous reunion occurs, infuriating Fletcher, who feels that he has lost everything and blames Sarah and 'the little creamy' for all of his misfortunes. He aims his rifle at Nullah, intending to kill him.
King George, who has never been far away from his grandson, impales Fletcher with a spear, accurately thrown from an impressive distance. Fletcher lives long enough to hear King George's scorn, as he berates Fletcher for trying to kill his own son.
Nullah returns to Faraway Downs with Drover and Sarah, but before too long King George shows up to take him on a walk-about and teach him how to be a man. Sarah reluctantly allows him to go.
| The main character of the film is Lady Sarah Ashley. At the beginning of the film Sarah travels to Australia to bring her husband, who owns a large ranch, back home to England. What is the first name of Sarah's husband? | Australia
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Maitland. Lord Maitland Ashley owns a large ranch in Australia. His wife, Sarah (Nicole Kidman), comes to Australia to find him dead, presumably by King George's (David Gulpilil) hand, the leader of an Aboriginal tribe. We later find out that King George is innocent.
Sarah. Sarah Ashley does not want the job of running a ranch, but the determined woman takes on the job. Neil Fletcher (David Wenham) is one of the main villains in the film. He fathered a child with Daisy, one of the local women, but he despises the boy. When Sarah witnesses Fletcher abusing his son, Nullah, she fires him. Fletcher had been cheating the Ashleys by working with the biggest rancher in the area, King Carney. After he is fired, Fletcher just works with the Carneys and courts Carney's daughter.
She was ill but the local hospital would not treat her.. Drover (Hugh Jackman) reveals to Sarah that he was married once, but when he came back from the war he found his wife had tuberculosis. The local hospital would not take her in because she was Aboriginal. We later find out that his wife was the sister of his best friend, Magarri (David Ngoombujarra).
| Whose appearance at the charity ball prompts Sarah not to sell Faraway Downs? | Australia
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Drover's. Sarah asks Drover to come to the charity ball with her and to run her ranch. He tells her that he cannot run a ranch; he is a cattle drover who needs to be on the go. Disappointed, Sarah almost agrees to sell cattle monopoly leader, King Carney (Bryan Brown), Faraway Downs. Suddenly Drover appears at the ball, clean shaven and dressed up, and Sarah tells Carney to forget about buying her ranch.
| Which song from "The Wizard of Oz" becomes Nullah's favorite? | Australia
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Over the Rainbow. The famous song, performed in the 1939 classic by Judy Garland, is a recurring song in "Australia". Nullah (Brandon Walters) likes the theme of the song, after he hears it sung (somewhat) by Sarah. Nullah continues to play it on the harmonica and is finally able to see the film on the big screen while Sarah is at the charity ball.
| What country attacks Australia in the second half of the film? | Australia
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Japan. World War II is on, and northern Australia is attacked by the Japanese in 1942. According to the film, the mission island that Nullah is on is the first to be attacked, and the boys on the island are presumed dead. However, Drover and his best friend make a daring rescue of the children and bring them all home.
| At the very beginning of the film, what animal is killed and then placed on the top of Drover's truck, much to Sarah's horror? | Australia
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Kangaroo. While Sarah is being driven to Faraway Downs by Drover, she is captivated by dozens of jumping kangaroos outside the window. Unfortunately for Sarah and the kangaroo, the animal is shot and swung onto the roof of the truck by one of Drover's men.
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