Review of Walkabout (1971) by Yash S — 23 Apr 2009

Nicolas Roeg's anthropological adventure tale is absolutely breathtaking. Its a great companion piece to William Golding's 'Lord Of The Flies', albeit far more hopeful and redemptive, and far less violent. Living as we all do in bureaucratic and alienating city-scapes, most of us have no idea what our true primal nature is. We have never encountered the wild in all its raw and pure 'wildness'. Walkabout touches on so many sociological ideas that it is absolutely bewildering to watch the first time around. For example, note how Roeg contrasts the lust of "civilized" men for women, with the near-chastity of the "savage".

The photography in this film is absolutely amazing. Lots of scenes that make you wonder "how did they do that ?" For instance, the scene where a wombat brushes its nose against the little boy's hair was delightful. Its like nothing you've ever seen or are likely to see again. This is what is called "transcendental filmmaking", because it goes way beyond the bounds and parameters of normative films.