Star-struck interlude
By BEN LANGFORD
BAZ Luhrmann rounded the corner
from Knuckey St into Cavenagh
St in Darwin city yesterday, looking as calm as a man strolling about on
holiday.
Gone was the fired-up hyperactivity he brings to his work as
a film director, stashed on hold somewhere until it was needed next.
Nicole Kidman and most of the all-star cast had left town
and the wharf was being restored to its former state.
Turning right into
Old
That's why he chose to film most of the
But while the landing of English aristocrat Lady Sarah
Ashley (Kidman) on a Qantas Empire Airways flying boat will be created using
computer imagery, some things can't be recreated.
So to catch the exact tint of
The filming held
And they got more than a glimpse, with onlookers able to
watch Oscar winner Nicole Kidman cruising on a small boat, accompanied by a
team of extras, and many got a wave from the A-lister.
Tourists watched and giggled and locals brought southern
visitors along to have a look, glad to have a close-up view of production.
Just as people were getting used to Nicole being around,
Hugh Jackman arrived and drew even bigger crowds to
the fences around the film set.
Breathless women grabbed autographs and the odd sly kiss
from the home-grown
Luhrmann must have been thanking
his lucky stars Russell Crowe had been replaced by Jackman.
Meanwhile, the thinking women's sex symbol, David Wenham,
enjoyed regular quiet coffees at the Roma Bar, where Kidman and her husband
Keith Urban cut such a swell on Tuesday.
Often Wenham went undisturbed, perhaps the women around were
happy to keep it quiet so they could have him all to themselves.
The Northern Territory News was unable to confirm rumours Wenham was approached by people looking for
red-headed ABC reporter Chris Glassock.
Moulin Rouge director Luhrmann
says there was no public relations purpose to the decision to film in Darwin;
it was just the beauty of the harbour.
But with a film as ambitious as
And with a title that shows he aspires to make a defining
film for this country, filming around the nation won't hurt when it comes to
generating bums on cinema seats.
The $200,000 the Territory Government kicked in would have
helped too, as would the assistance of a bevy of high-ranking public servants
tasked for weeks with helping the production.
But the cash would be a drop in the harbour
for the film's budget, reported as $120 million, a figure of course denied by
producers.
Luhrmann can have a polarising effect -- people seem to love his films or give
them a wide berth.
And as a bloke he seems to produce similar reactions -- some
folks ``abso-lutely lurrve
him, darling'', others find him arrogant and difficult to talk to.
Some businesses at the wharf reported takings dived while
access to the wharf was restricted; some wanted compensation.
But there were days that saw bumper crowds arrive.
At the end of it all this week plenty of people were glad
the film called into
The Government will love all the publicity -- tourism will
get a boost before and after the film is released -- and the bombing of Darwin
will be elevated from the murky depths of forgotten history to star in the
film's climax.
And the term ``Territory handshake'', used as a headline for
a shot of Kidman getting squeezed on the behind by actor Bill Hunter, has been
digested by Luhrmann, to be taken and spread around
the country.