Any movie representation of a place — or of a person or thing, for that matter — will bring the filmmakers' sensibilities to bear on it.

That's certainly true of Australia, a land with a rich film history that covers the gamut, from something as silly as "Crocodile Dundee," as beautiful as "Gallipoli" and as souped-up and bad-ass as "Mad Max." Yet the one thing that links Australian films, no matter what the subject or sensibility, is a fierce, almost stubborn independent streak as wild as the Outback.

"I think they're quirky," says Nicole Kidman, who stars in director Baz Luhrmann's "Australia," which opened Wednesday. "I say that affectionately ... We're a smaller nation, but I think we have a lot of passion, and we have big stories. We've had 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' all the way through Baz's type of film — 'Strictly Ballroom' ... 'Babe' and all the different things in between."

Luhrmann says, "I think to be working in film, to be making a movie, is not an industry in Australia yet. It is, but it's not a real business. It's a privilege. There's still an attitude that every single movie that gets made is a privilege.

"You have to do it in a way that's particular. Otherwise, you get lost in the wash. There's no point in making something that's already been made. I think that brings out the sense in the moviemaker, 'Don't squander the opportunity.' "

Certainly, the country has an unusual history, one that lends itself to an idiosyncratic world view.

"Australia was, of course, founded by the ultimate independents ... convicts shipped from England and the colonies," says F. Miguel Valenti, the Lincoln Professor of Ethics and the Arts and assistant director of the School of Theatre and Film at Arizona State University. "They were, in essence, abandoned to their fate and left to live or die, no one really caring which. This means the population got there by not playing well with others and continued not playing well with others for some time after. That streak of fierce independence seems to run through everything Australians do."

Australia has a long film history. "The Story of the Kelly Gang," made in 1906, is generally considered to be the first feature-length motion picture — which is fitting.

Although plenty of films were made in the intervening years, the first Australian film to make an international impact was Peter Weir's haunting "Picnic at Hanging Rock," released in 1975. An open-ended mystery about the disappearance of schoolgirls at a rock formation, its lack of a concrete resolution befuddled some audiences but wowed critics.

In 1979 came "Mad Max," George Miller's pedal-to-the-metal futuristic action film, starring an unknown named Mel Gibson in the title role. The film became an international hit, launching Gibson to stardom and training the world's eye on Australia and its filmmakers.

" 'Mad Max' has a huge influence on cinema around the world," Luhrmann says. "That post-apocalyptic storytelling was a very, very original, fresh voice from George."

Kidman agrees. " 'Mad Max' was groundbreaking," she says. "That was more than just relatable. I think that helped change the way people made action films, and the way people viewed them."

It also changed how people saw Australian films. Soon to come were intelligent dramas, such as "Breaker Morant," "Gallipoli" and "My Brilliant Career," all released from 1980 to 1982. But it took "Crocodile Dundee," a goofy, fish-out-of-water film starring Paul Hogan, to lift Australian movies out of the cult category. Seems an odd film to make the leap — "Now that's a knife" — but maybe not.

" 'Crocodile Dundee' was a broad entertainment, but it was basically Tarzan set in Australia," Luhrmann says. "Think about how idiosyncratic that is. Paul Hogan was the host of the Oscars that year! It had a freshness about it. It had its own voice. It wasn't a copy of a Hollywood movie."