Walkabout ***** (1971, Jenny Agutter, David Gulpilil, Luc Roeg, John Meillon) – Classic Movie Review 2991

Director/cinematographer Nicolas Roeg’s superb, haunting 1971 film Walkabout centres on a dangerous trek across the Australian desert by an English teenager (Jenny Agutter), her young brother (Lucien John, aka Luc Roeg) and the aboriginal boy (David Gulpilil) who leads them to safety after their father dies by his own hand. Walkabout is Roeg’s first film as solo director, following Performance (1970), which he co-directed with Donald Cammell.

The Australian boy is on a walkabout, a ritual separation from his tribe in a rite of passage into manhood, when he comes across the two young siblings, forced to cope on their own when they are stranded in the Australian Outback. To survive, the siblings have with them only their school uniforms, meagre rations, a battery-powered transistor radio and the son’s satchel.

Roeg’s stunning, spooky cinematography, the touching performances and an intelligent, powerful adventure yarn add up to one of Roeg’s best, most accessible films. Edward Bond’s screenplay, loosely adapted from the 1959 novel by James Vance Marshall, examines the themes of ‘civilised’ values and adolescent sexuality.

Walkabout is topped off with one of John Barry’s most notable scores. The film is Agutter’s finest hour in the cinema, after of course The Railway Children (1970).

John Meillon plays the father. Also in the cast are Robert McDarra as Man, Pete Carver as No Hoper, John Illingsworth as Husband, Hilary Bamberger as Woman, Barry Donnelly as Australian Scientist, Noeline Brown as German Scientist and Carlo Manchini as Italian Scientist.

The original film runs 95 minutes but the 1997 uncut, widescreen reissue runs 100 minutes.

Roeg summed it up as ‘a simple story about life and being alive, not covered with sophistry but addressing the most basic human themes; birth, death, mutability.’

David Gulpilil’s skill as a tribal dancer caught the attention of Nicolas Roeg, who had come to Maningrida scouting locations in 1969 and cast the 16-year-old unknown to play a main role in Walkabout.

Lucien John, aka Luc Roeg, is the director’s son, who became a film producer. Nicolas Roeg was married to English film actress Susan Stephen from 1957 to 1977. They had four children: Waldo, Nico, Sholto and Luc. Roeg married Theresa Russell in 1982 and they had two sons. After their divorce, Roeg was married to Harriet Harper from 2005.

RIP legendary cinematographer/ film-maker Nicolas Roeg (1928–2018), best known for directing Performance (1970), Walkabout (1971), Don’t Look Now (1973), The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), Bad Timing (1980) and The Witches (1990).

RIP Aboriginal Australian actor and dancer David Gulpilil (1953 – 2021). He died at his home in Murray Bridge, South Australia, on 29 November 2021 after a two-year battle with lung cancer. He was also notable for Storm Boy (1976), The Last Wave (1977) and Australia (2008).

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© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2991

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