Spoilers are ahead for both Australia (2008) and Faraway Downs.
It’s no secret that director Baz Luhrmann changed the ending of Faraway Downs, the 2023 miniseries that serves as a recut of the movie Australia. Perhaps surprisingly, however, Faraway Downs‘ ending is different from the feature film in several crucial ways. The new Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman show isn’t actually that new. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Luhrmann had to pause production on Elvis, leading him to explore a trove of unused footage from Australia, his 2008 epic adventure romance film that clocks in at a bloated 165-minute runtime. Leveraging the melodrama’s episodic nature and unused sequences, Luhrmann remade his vision.
The premise of Faraway Downs remains the same as Australia: Kidman’s Lady Sarah Ashley, an English aristocrat, treks to Australia to convince her philandering husband to sell his faltering cattle station — the titular Faraway Downs. Before she arrives, Lady Ashley’s husband is murdered, leading Jackman’s character, known simply as The Drover, to teach her about cattle driving. The star-crossed pair soon meet Faraway Downs‘ Nullah (Brandon Walters), a mixed-race Aboriginal boy who’s in danger of becoming part of the tragic “Lost Generation.” Set against the backdrop of World War II and the displacement of Australia’s First Nation peoples, Faraway Downs sees Lady Ashley struggling to forge ahead.
Hugh Jackman’s Drover Dies At The End Of Faraway Downs
While viewers will recognize many familiar plot beats in Faraway Downs, the six-part miniseries completely rewrites Australia‘s ending. Interestingly, Luhrmann didn’t film any new footage for the show, which means he already had the alternate ending in mind 15 years early. At the time, he couldn’t go through with the tragic version of events, but, in Faraway Downs, Luhrmann kills off Hugh Jackman’s Drover character. At the end of the series (and the 2008 movie), Japanese forces attack Australia’s Mission Island as well as the town of Darwin. Lady Ashley, who has been working as a World War II radio operator, fears Nullah was killed in the attack.
Although she and Drover have split after not seeing eye-to-eye on Nullah’s future, Jackman’s character heads to Darwin after hearing of the attack. Amid the chaos of the assault and subsequent evacuation, the trio manage to find each other. Shortly after the attack, however, Drover is killed. Initially, Lurhmann thought the movie’s final act was an unrelenting showcase of tragedy. Given room to breathe, the version of the story in the miniseries allowed the filmmaker to “really go there” and without “pulling any punches” (via Variety). While Drover’s death is upsetting in its own right, the tragedy has a massive impact on the rest of Faraway Downs‘ ending.
Lady Ashley Realizes She Can’t Stop Nullah From Leaving
In both Australia and Faraway Downs, Lady Sarah Ashley comes to regard Nullah as an adopted son of sorts. For her, the narrative seems to be about discovering found family — but the same isn’t entirely true for the other characters. An outsider to Aboriginal customs, Lady Ashley learns the importance of letting Nullah go on Walkabout and be with his grandfather, the Indigenous elder known in the movie as “King George.” Eventually, Kidman’s character learns to see her white savior mindset for what it is, thanks in large part to Drover.
“Most people like to own things. You know — land, luggage, other people,” Drover tells her. “In the end, the only thing you really own is your story.” The couple’s fight over Nullah’s future causes a rift between them. When Nullah leaves Faraway Downs, Drover heads out on his own too. When Nullah is kidnapped and taken to Mission Island to undergo a kind of forced assimilation process, Lady Ashley follows him, hoping to help. At the end of Australia, Nullah ultimately rejoins King George, leaving Drover and Lady Ashley at Faraway Downs. The miniseries does the same — minus the Drover part.
Nicole Kidman’s Lady Ashley Is Alone At The End Of Faraway Downs
Unlike in Australia, Lady Ashley is completely on her own at the end of Faraway Downs. In Luhrmann’s feature-length film cut, Drover and Lady Ashley’s romance ends happily, with the two of them settling in at the cattle station, watching contently as Nullah heads to his grandfather. With Jackman’s Drover gone and dead before Nullah’s departure, Lady Ashley weathers this final moment of loss alone. It’s both a sad and reaffirming moment; while she’s upset to be parted from Nullah, she heeds Drover’s words about living her own story and not trying to control anyone else’s.
The Drover’s Real Name Was Never Spoken In Australia (But It’s Revealed In Faraway Downs)
For 15 years, Australia viewers wondered if The Drover had a given name. If so, it’s never spoken in the original film. Instead, Jackman’s character is defined by his occupation through-and-through. After losing his wife before the events of the story, he became a nobody. In Faraway Downs, however, Jackman’s Drover shares his name with Nicole Kidman’s movie character in his final moments. As he dies, Drover reveals he’s actually Jack Clancy. It’s a meaningful turn of events that only hammers home the miniseries’ focus on claiming one’s story. For romantics, Luhrmann frames it well: Jack wants to “remember forever” the sound of Lady Ashley saying his name.
Faraway Downs Makes Lady Ashley Claim Her Own Story
Ultimately, Lady Ashley is on her own at the end of Faraway Downs. Although fans of Kidman and Jackman’s on-screen chemistry will be disappointed by the miniseries’ departure from Australia, the new ending actually better complements the story’s themes. Upon arriving in Australia, Lady Ashley was alone. In fact, she was alone long before her husband died, but didn’t quite accept it. When her story intersects with those of Faraway Downs‘ cast of characters, Lady Sarah Ashley learns some valuable lessons about life, love, and, most importantly, herself.
When talking about how no one owns anything or anyone else, Drover points out that ownership and control make people feel “secure.” It’s the kind of lifestyle Lady Ashley is accustomed to as well. As Jackman’s character puts it, everything can be taken away, including people. In the miniseries’ final act, Lady Ashley has to learn to let go of two crucial relationships as they were for a time and learn to live her own story. Drover tells her to “live a good one,” and, at the end of Faraway Downs, that’s all Lady Ashley can do — it’s all that’s left.
