AUSSIE WHAT YOU MEAN

January 26 . .

Today is Australia Day. Watch ‘Crocodile Dundee’ (1980) if you like – that’s perfectly OK, mate – but I’d suggest a radically different view of Down Under: Nicolas Roeg’s visually mesmerizing and haunting ‘Walkabout’ (1979). An in-depth look at the harsh glories of the Australian Outback, ‘Walkabout’ is a film unlike any other, visually seductive and dreamlike in its approach. Director Roeg has an uncanny ability to readjust the viewer’s internal clock and cultural compass.

This poetic story of two English school children (Luc Roeg and Jenny Agutter) lost in the outback after their father abandons them and kills himself plays like a langerous dream. When the two wanderers come across an Aborigine boy on his ‘walkabout’ – a rite of passage into manhood involving months of solo survival – they become dependent on the seemingly primitive being to get them back to civilization. With no common language, the trio embarks on a long journey back to ‘civilization’, which has irrevocable changes for all. ‘Walkabout’ casts a cinematic spell – sometimes unspeakably beautiful, sometimes chilling – packed with unforgettable images and with an ending that is at once ironic and heart-wrenching.

‘Walkabout’ is a journey you won’t forget.

Check out the trailer here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utSgS3fnHN4