Character Review -- Nullah (AUSTRALIA)

AUSTRALIA

(by Baz Luhrmann)

Nullah, a half-caste child in the movie “Australia” is played by Brandon Walters. In India, Nullah means a watercourse, especially one that is often dry. He is the son of an aboriginal woman, Daisy (Ursula Yovich) and Neil Fletcher (David Wenham), the cruel yet cold-blooded station manager. His grandfather is an ever-present Gullah or Medicine Man, named King George (David Gulpilil). Nullah as a member of Australia’s “Lost Generation” is derisively known as “creamy”, he is neither a white fella nor a black fella who looks small but mentally and physically strong. A dark skin with a head of short curly brown hair, embellished with a pair of big watery and heart-warming eyes make Nullah stands out among the children although he does not own a deep and beautiful feature. He always looks innocent and pitiful especially when his mother died. He is always in tattered clothes, usually in a white loosen singlet with slippers, or sometimes without shoes. Being ostracised by the whites, he does not mingle around with other children much.
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The eleven years old mixed aboriginal and Caucasian boy Nullah is not erudite as he lives in deprived area. He is fatherless and he lives together with his mother in the Faraway Downs. He is unschooled and only taught the story of life by his grandfather, King George who guilds him through the mysteries of maturation to the way of “Walkabout”, or exploring . He speaks Australian-English concocts with the chanting in their languages. He loves singing and the famous quote from him is “I sing you to me”.

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Besides, Nullah is also an obedient and loving son of Daisy. He obeys what his mum says and never think of rebelling her words. Since he is a half-caste “creamy”, he has to be stripped from his aboriginal mother and sent to the church on another island to be westernized and married the whites under the Australia’s policy to “breed the black out”.
He will run whenever his mum asks so when the whites are coming after him. The tight relationship between the mother and the son makes Nullah collapses in agony when Daisy passes away in order to protect Nullah. Lady Ashley(Nicole Kidman) enfolds him and sings him “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”. Although he seems to be came out from the tragedy, but the void left by his mother’s death is still difficult to be filled.
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It is undeniable that Nullah is courageous and harsh. He volunteers to join the droving team even though he is only a small kid with inept skills. In addition, he is brave enough to run away from the mandatory custody. He promises Lady Ashley that he will be fine on that island because he is no more an immature small child, but he is bold enough to take good care of himself. After the bombing, he even assists the Drover (Hugh Jackman) to lead all the still-alived children who are trapped on the island to the boat without the conscious of the japanese. His bravery helps a lot at the juncture and he manages to rescue all the children on the island.
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“Mama say, I Galapa. I magicman. I wizardman!” says Nullah. He inherits the magic from his kind. It can be proven when the bulls are frightened and running directionless in stark terror. Nullah, with superhuman magical ability runs to the end of the cliff and tries to stop the bulls by using his cystal-clear and haunting voice, and they stop miraculously before heading down from the cliff. He could also transmit his thinking and blessings as well through singing.
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Although Nullah is uneducated, but he is smart in the way that he is observant and analytical enough to figure out what is happening in his surrounding. Nullah is the only one who sees Lady Ashley (Nicole Kidman) differently as the saviour of the Northern Territories. He even addresses Lady Ashley as “Mrs.Boss”. He believes that Mrs.Boss comes in answer to his people’s magic song. Although he is a young kid, but he is smart enough to reveal Fletcher’s fraud by showing Lady Ashley the working windmill which is locked upon the fake faulty reason.
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At the end of the movie, Nullah once again shows his bravery characteristic as an adventurous half-caste child who is born to go off “walkabout” to become a real man. After saying goodbye with Lady Ashley, he takes off his shirt and shoes, and goes explore with his grandfather.
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From this impressive little character, we could understand how tough a kid would be in such a dire misery condition. They, the aboriginal children are forced to become mature to protect themselves and their love ones. Frankly speaking, it is not an easy task for a young child to undergo all these things, not even an adult living in the city. Learn from Nullah, and we will come to the bright endings after overwhelming all the challenges and obstacles of lives.

::prepared by SL::