Walkabout
Nicolas Roeg's mystical masterpiece chronicles the physical, spiritual, and emotional journey of a sister and brother abandoned in the harsh Australian outback. Joining an Aborigine boy on his walkabout--a tribal initiation into manhood--these modern children pass from innocence into experience as they are thrust from the comforts of civilization into the savagery of the natural world.
Member Reviews
2010 Criterion release enhances a classic - gnox
This film is just as unusual and disturbing today as it was in 1971. It shines an almost painfully bright light on European-derived civilization by contrasting it with the aboriginal -- yet does not idealize life in the outback in the slightest. Life is harsh on both sides of the divide, and all the more so because there is so little communication across that divide between the two adolescents in the film. This leads quite naturally to the tragic (or ironic?) ending; yet the potential for joy and beauty also comes across in this truly remarkable film. The commentary track, though not the best i've heard, does enhance our appreciation of the film. The new Criterion edition (the one you will get if you Ziplist the Blu-ray) adds an hour-long documentary on the life of David Gulpilil, who made his screen debut here and went on to many other films. He is one of those rare people with the ability to cross the cultural barriers which are so realistically presented in Walkabout -- and the "One Red Blood" documentary also shows how much this has cost him, indeed how much the colonial invasion from Europe has cost indigenous people everywhere.Not For The Squeamish - peonygirl
Quite a disturbing film. A father seemingly goes mad, leaving his two children alone in the Australian Outback to fend for themselves.
The film is exactingly photographed--from the harsh conditions of the Outback, to the strange creatures who inhabit it, the landscape is a central character in the film.
The film takes a brutal look at Australian society (mostly white), contrasting it with Aboriginal society. Everything is contrasted, from Australian society's architecture (focusing on walls), to the vast and open Outback.
For the squeamish, there are many closeups of animals being hunted and killed by the Aboriginal boy.
Although there are many things to be admired in this film, I found the pacing very slow and was disturbed by the many brutalities vividly filmed.Welcome to the Outback - Superdave
Before Mad Max and Crocodile Dundee, Australia's Outback received little cinematic attention apart from this film. The scenery is evocatively photographed and the unforgiving harshness of the land is on full display as two English kids in rather impractical school uniforms try to make their across its dry and empty vastness. An aboriginal teen befriends them and shows them how to get water and how Australia's odd creatures are not just curiosities - they're food! The story plays out, however, as the story of English-Aborigine relations in microcosm: the older child (Jenny Agutter) insists on speaking only English, and takes advantage of the Aborigine's knowledge and skills while treating him as an inferior, almost a servant, and putting her own comfort ahead of everything. The drama plays out to a suitably tragic conclusion, as any story about British Colonial attitudes clashing with locals might be expected to do. Beautiful to look at and think about, this is a rare and special movie experience.
Member Reviews
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2010 Criterion release enhances a classic - gnox
This film is just as unusual and disturbing today as it was in 1971. It shines an almost painfully bright light on European-derived civilization by contrasting it with the aboriginal -- yet does not idealize life in the outback in the slightest. Life is harsh ...Not For The Squeamish - peonygirl
Quite a disturbing film. A father seemingly goes mad, leaving his two children alone in the Australian Outback to fend for themselves.
The film is exactingly photographed--from the harsh conditions of the Outback, to the strange creatures who inhabit ...Welcome to the Outback - Superdave
Before Mad Max and Crocodile Dundee, Australia's Outback received little cinematic attention apart from this film. The scenery is evocatively photographed and the unforgiving harshness of the land is on full display as two English kids in rather impractical ...