Luhrmann epic 'still not finished'

Albertina Lloyd,Pa
Tuesday 09 December 2008 15:47 GMT
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Baz Luhrmann says his epic Australia is still not finished.

The director, who has taken four years to create the two-and-three-quarter-hour romantic adventure starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, has premiered the film in Australia, America and Europe ahead of its Boxing Day release but confessed he still has one scene to complete.

Luhrmann confessed: "It's not finished yet. It's so crazy. Only three weeks ago I was sitting at a mixing desk finishing the final voice-over.

"The truth is films are never finished they just get taken away from you. I'm sort of mixing and guys with balaclavas and gaffer tape come in and I say 'It's my movie you're not having it!' But that's what happens they get taken away from you.

"That was a Friday, then Tuesday, 3,000 people saw it in one sitting in Sydney. We got on the plane the next day we went to Los Angeles and showed it there, we went to New York and showed it. We've been in Paris, Madrid, Rome now we're in London and I still want to finish one more little scene.

"But that's the way it is with me. I will just keep working. None of the films are really finished in my eyes, but they've crossed a line, they sort of live. It's different."

The BAFTA and Golden Globe-winning and Oscar nominated director has already won global acclaim for his first three films, he calls his "red curtain trilogy" - Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge!

Luhrmann has said Australia is the first in a trilogy of epics, but admitted he is starting to regret making that statement on the record.

He admitted: "I was a fool to say I was doing three epics because one has nearly killed me.

"But what I will say is this - I do have them. I have a room full of things I want to make before I shuffle off this mortal coil and they're of varying sizes.

"The only thing I will say is once I work out what's worth doing next, or what our life needs for my wife and I and our family, then don't be surprised if it's not something fun and quick before I get on to do the next major work, because they just take a lot of time."

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Luhrmann, his costume designer wife Catherine Martin, Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman are all due to attend the premiere of Australia in London's Leicester Square tomorrow night.

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