A vastly popular entertainment form, grandiose melodrama comes around every so often to provide that luxurious bumpy ride full of dramatic bounce and cinematic beats, heightened romance, dark villainy and unexpected destiny. The colorful motif of these epics sweep across the screen like paint thrown against the canvass, the brillance of the stars and landscapes, both beautifully lit, with the appeal of a central love story more than anything is eager to please a general audience—even if the crowd is not entirely swept away by the narrative’s social consciousness. In broad, simple strokes the characters are archetypes, not real people, letting the audience in on all they need to know.
AUSTRALIA (2008) directed by Baz Luhrmann stars Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman and tells the tale of Lady Sarah Ashley (Kidman) a prim Englishwoman who in 1939 has arrived at the remote Northern Territory ranch of Faraway Downs to deal with her husband’s infidelity, but finds instead that he had been murdered on the rundown estate occupied by uncouth cattlemen and Aborigines. This revelation puts her on the brink of hysteria, yet determined to hold onto their ranch by driving 1,500 head of cattle across the Australian Outback to the Port of Darwin for the military to purchase. Managing the drive is Drover (Jackman) a rugged Aussie. She and this cowboy are destined for each other. Bad guys attempt to thwart the drive but fail, when ultimately they’re caught up in the Japanese wartime bombing of Darwin…and someone dies. A sweeping romantic epic adventure styled after….
COLD MOUNTAIN (2003) written and directed by Anthony Minghella stars Jude Law, Nicole Kidman and Renée Zellweger, and tells the tale of Ada Monroe (Kidman) at the fledgling stages of a relationship W. P. Inman (Law) on the eve of what will become the American Civil War. Soon, Inman and every other able-bodied young man marches off to do battle against “northern aggression.” A city woman who only recently moved to rural Cold Mountain, North Carolina, Ada is abandoned by her only family; her father suddenly dies, leaving her alone to run a farm with little prospect for help. She is completely inept, a flowering aristocratic southern belle now struggling to survive—and manages thanks to Ruby Thewes (Zellweger) a young woman who has lived a hard-scrabble life and is very adept at running a farm. Together, they put the agricultural enterprise into working order. Inman, now a deserter, eventually finds his way back to Ada and Cold Mountain. They consummate their erstwhile platonic love for each other with plans to start a life together when “the Home Guard” (a militia under authority of the Confederate States tasked to track down deserters) finds Inman who is shot and soon dies. A sweeping romantic epic adventure styled after….
FAR AND AWAY (1992) directed by Ron Howard tells the tale of Shannon Christie (Nicole Kidman) a young Irish woman who leaves Ireland for America to stake claim to land that's being given; and with her help, Joseph Donelly (Tom Cruise) a young man with troubles of his own joins Shannon in her journey. Joseph, aware of the reality about free land, has plans to lay claim to his own. To claim this land, she must travel to Oklahoma and race for it along with others. During the race, Joseph falls to the ground and is crushed by a falling horse, mortally wounding him. Shannon rushes to his side, tries keeping Joseph alive, but as he dies, Joseph confesses his love for her—that without her, the land which seemed so important means nothing. He dies…but not for long. A sweeping romantic epic adventure styled after….
OUT OF AFRICA (1985) directed by Sydney Pollack tells the tale of a Danish aristocrat, Karen Blixen (Meryl Streep) upon her arrival at the turn of the 20th Century in the bush country of Kenya (British East Africa) with her husband, a blue-blooded baron, where they will start what she thought would be a dairy farm. Looming large is the figure of Denys Finch Hatton (Robert Redford), a local big-game hunter she meets, and a “relationship” between them develops. However, after many unsuccessful attempts at turning their affair into a lasting relationship, she realizes that Denys is impossible to tame as Africa itself. His eventual death in a plane crash and a catastrophic fire that destroys her farm forces Karen’s return to Denmark. A sweeping romantic epic adventure styled after….
“(Australia’s) the best movie I've seen in a long, long time," Oprah Winfrey gushed after a private showing with her distaff audience, the target demographic for the film. "They just don't make movies like that anymore.”
They do, Oprah. Every so often filmmakers embrace this old-school idea about a woman who could scarcely be more out of place…whenever they run out of ideas. 
And, of course, there's always, ALWAYS Nicole Kidman.
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