#10 - Walkabout

#10 - Walkabout is an Australian film by Nicolas Roeg.  This was his first time in the director's chair, and he walked out in the desert with 3 young actors, a 14 page script and lots of improvisation.   He was already an accomplished cinematographer at this point, and it definitely shows in this film   This is a visually striking film about two children stranded in the Outback who are rescued by an Aboriginal boy on his "Walkabout", or basically, a rite of passage into adulthood where the kid goes out and lives off the land.

I had never heard of this one or the Director.   It does a tremendous job of putting you in the wilderness, with almost as much time on the wildlife as on the actors.   There is a political message, and a message of, as Roger Ebert puts it, the Noble Savage and the crushed spirit of City Dwellers.   There is a sense of growth as they learn to survive in the outback, and as time goes on, you almost root for them not to be rescued and sent back to civilization, as one sees what civilization has brought to the wilderness.

I liked this film, and it looks great on Blu-ray, and is considered one of the great modern films of our time - I am surprised I hadn't heard of it up till now - The Criterion extras includethe female lead and director providing the DVD commentary and some documentaries with or about all three of the principal actors in the story  I must confess that I am generally more creeped out by the "Man vs. Nature" movies than I am by Man vs. Man or any other conflict out there.   I'd like to take the time to watch it again someday, but with Criterion releasing them faster than I'm watching them that's not looking too likely :D

tiny warning - there is some brief full frontal Female nudity in here from the principal actress who was 16 or 17, I think at the time - I guess due to her age they had to get an exception in the UK from film censors or else it would be illegal to distribute there, but point being - you might have to explain a few things if you let the kids watch it - it's the first Criterion release I've seen it in up till now.

On a side now, I'm very glad to have made it thru the first 10 films :)  -