cusp of World War II and features the star# power of Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman.

It's also an unusual instance of one of the# world's leading film directors getting a redo,## reworking his own earlier# material into something new.

Jeffrey Brown speaks with Australian director Baz# Luhrmann for our arts and JE FFREY BROWN: In the 2008 film "Australia,"# Nicole Kidman plays an English aristocrat## who goes down under to sell a ranch# she owns, but falls in love with the## land and with the man, the rough-living# cattle drover played by Hugh Jackman.

It was epic melodrama, nearly three hours'# long, a big hit in Australia and Europe,## but not so much with critics and not at# all at the box office in the U.S.

In 2020,## when the pandemic shut down production of his# film "Elvis," director Baz Luhrmann decided## to go back at his old Australia footage, so# much of it left on the cutting room floor,## to see if he could refashion it in a new format.

BAZ LUHRMANN, Director: I knew# that I had all this material.

And as I looked at the material, I realized# that episodic the epic nature of it.

And I just thought# about, I could really lean into the idea,## particularly from the indigenous# child's point of view, from his telling.

JEFFREY BROWN: The result is "Faraway Downs,"# now a miniseries that unfolds over nearly four## hours in six separate episodes, with new scenes,# even -- spoiler alert -- a completely new ending.

BAZ LUHRMANN: It isn't really just# "Australia" with a bit of extra seasoning.

JEFFREY BROWN: What is it?

BAZ LUHRMANN JEFFREY BROWN: Most important, Luhrmann# says, a greater focus on the indigenous,## through new music composed and performed# by contemporary musicians and a storyline## centered on the then-official government# policy of separating biracial children like## Nullah played by Brandon Walters# from their indigenous families.

The practice, impacting what came to be known as# the Stolen Generations, ended only in the 1970s.

BAZ LUHRMANN: My idea was to take# a very old melodrama form and put## in the middle of this kind of# old-fashioned movie-telling## style this extremely horrendous and# ugly chapter in Australian hi JEFFREY BROWN: A serious subject, but, as he says,## wrapped within broad strokes, even# high comedy, as in from "Australia" in which Kidman watches the# well-muscled Jackman have an outdoor rinse.

Luhrmann, who got his start in theater# and opera, loves both high and low in art.

BAZ LUHRMANN: Shakespeare would use broad comedy# to get you kind of discombobulat d and then hit## you with the meat of the issue.

And I do# that in "Faraway Downs" and "Australia."

Now, whether it works or not or whether people# buy into it, that's up to the audience.

But the## idea is to sort of disarm with like Katharine# Hepburn, Spencer Tracy kind of broad comedy,## and then suddenly a child is# grabbed by the cops and stolen.

JEFFREY BROWN: As much as any director working# today, Luhrmann has developed a storytelling,## visual, and aural style all his own, instantly# recognizable, playing with the Bard himself in## his version of "Romeo and Juliet" with a# young Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes.

EWAN MCGREGOR, Actor: Think you could# fall in love with someone like me.

NICOLE KIDMAN, Actress: I can't fa anyone.

I make JEFFREY BROWN: The over-the-top spectacle# and thrilling featuring Kidman.

"The Great Gatsby."

Note the# hip-hop music grafted around jazz era scenes,## another Luhrmann signature mash-up,# in this case, created with Jay-Z.

BAZ LUHRMANN: It's a way of letting you feel# the modernness of it.

That's an access issue.

JEFFREY BROWN: Most recently, the# not-your-ordinary biopic "Elvis."

Always, Luhrmann says, the look, sound,# and substance are conceived as one whole.

BAZ LUHRMANN: In terms of design,# development, script development,## I do all three, the text, the written word,# the visual language, simultaneously.

So it's extremely all involved.

JEFFREY BROWN: They have to work together.

BAZ LUHR JEFFREY BROWN: You're# orchestrating the thre BAZ LUHRMANN: Yes, like, orchestrating is a# wo rk in concert, but the music metaphor is a good# one, b language as a background issue or the music# as a background issue.

They are a language.

And I think, when you say I have a# style, probably a way of saying it is,## I have a particular cinematic language# that I work in.

It's a way of telling.

NICOLE KIDMAN: This place is so barren, I can't# understand what he would have seen out here.

JEFFREY BROWN: He sees "Faraway Downs" as an# experiment, big screen mov small screen episodic experience,# now existing side by side.

You still love the big theater experience.

BAZ LUHRMANN: Oh, I'm devoted to it.

I'm devoted# to the cin JEFFREY BROWN: But you're open to, clearly,## in this case, an episodic I# can sit at home and watc BAZ LUHRMANN: Yes.

I look at# storytelling architecturally.

For the big screen, it's# horizontal.

It's l C. It's flat, horizontal.

But in streaming,# you can go like this a come back to horizontal, vertical, come# back.

So I just -- I'm not scared of form.

I mean, I'm -- but I am experimenting.# I'm not constrained by anything,## except, do I think that is a# legitimate way to tell something?

JEFFREY BROWN: In fact, Baz Luhrmann is so# excited by his "Faraway Downs" experiment,## he's already considering an# episodic reworking of "Elvis" next.

NICOLE KIDMAN: I'm going to# bring Faraway Downs back to life.

JEFFREY BROWN: For the "PBS NewsHour,"# I'm Jeffrey Brown in