'Australia'

lesweeks

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\'Australia\'

SWMBO invited me to take her to see the new film 'Australia' last night. The film was OK(ish), but the scenery is magnificent and there's some really nice shots of a wooden ketch at the end, which manages not to get blown apart by the Japs, which is worth waiting for if you're similarly afflicted.
 
Re: \'Australia\'

All the reviews I have read suggest it's not really worth spending the time and/or money to see this film. Total pants by all accounts and 'OK-ish' doesn't fill me with optimism even if there is a nice boat in it.
 
Re: \'Australia\'

I haven't seen the film yet, [and tend to disregard the professional film reviewers anyway] but I suspect that the gaff ketch may be one of the old 'pearling luggers' which used to be common in the waters of the Arafura Sea and Torres Strait. In spite of their name, they were gaff ketches of about 70ft or so. They would have a diver [invariably Japanese] who wore a Siebe-Gorman 'hard-hat' suit which was fed air by a manual pump on the deck. The many Japanese graves at Broome give voice to the terrible cost in lives of this industry. There are also many locally-born people of Japanese and Malay descent still living in Broome.
Peter.
 
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