This 1971 film opens in the concrete jungle and canyons of Sydney, where people are crowded into apartment buildings. Then a man takes his 14-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son to the outback for what seems like a picnic -- but then starts shooting at them, sets the car afire, and kills himself. The two kids wander in the dry wilderness until they encounter a young aborigine male in the middle of his "walkabout" -- the six-month ritualistic banishment from the tribe which tests his ability to survive and achieve manhood. The native helps the kids manage in the wild, and sexual/emotional sparks fly between the two older characters, but they have no way to communicate their needs, interests, and dreams. Though the white kids eventually return to "civilization," all three protagonists remain "lost." Nicolas Roeg directed this mostly dialogue-free, beautifully shot, but deeply pessimistic film based on a novel by James Vance Marshall. Jenny Agutter makes a deep impression as the white girl (although she was a little more proper 18-19 when the film was made).
Click here to see the rest of this review...
The review of this Movie prepared by David Loftus
WALKABOUT is a movie directed by Nicolas Roeg in 1970.
A teenage girl and her young kid brother are stranded in the australian desert after their father has committed suicide. Almost exhausted, they meet an aborigenes on "walkabout", a ritual followed by the 16 years old male aborigenes just before becoming adults. The three of them will cross fabulous landscapes and try to understand each other. But the girl feels a strange unspoken attraction towards their new friend.
Rousseau in Australia. Nature versus Civilization.
The review of this Movie prepared by Daniel Staebler
