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Symbols in Australia Film

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Symbols in Australia Film
“Symbols are useful in films as they help to communicate underlying meaning to the audience”

Symbols are significantly important in the film Australia by Baz Lurhmann. They assist in depicting and understanding underlying meaning in the text. Symbols in the film are used to represent central themes such as, social class or standing through aspects like dress code. For instance, Lady Ashley’s umbrella and fancy hats are evidence of her wealth and power. Adventure and travel are also shown through traveling scenes, depicting horses and planes. Furthermore symbolism portrays levels of theology through the boab tree, which played a big role in depicting Nullah’s spirituality. Hence, symbolism is a key technique that is used to convey underlying meaning in the film Australia.

Dress codes assist in developing an interpretation of social standing. In the film we first see Lady Ashley with a classy hat and a fastidious jacket, which helped us form an idea that Lady Ashley is wealthy. The Drover also implied that such a wealthy person like Lady Ashley would be easy to spot of the wharf, as he speaks to his friend ‘boong’ he says “when you see her, wave your hat” this suggest that dress codes are a successful symbol of wealth. Good costuming not only looks good but also enables viewers to make judgments about characters almost instantaneously

In the film Australia aspects of travel such as planes and horses are a symbols of travel and power. We first see Lady Ashley on a horse speaking with a great level of confidence as though the horse was boosting her level of self-confidence. This is also evident through the low angle shots that emphasis her power when on the horse. Thus we relate the horse or plane to power or travel.

The film begins with an establishing shot of the Boab tree which then slowly moves on to a long shot where Nullah is with his grandfather, King George. The movie commences with an establishing shot of the Boab tree, demonstrating that

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