Walkabout
A Lesson in Communication and Misunderstanding
Cultural Conditioning, Difference and Separation
Innocence Lost, and Found, then Lost Again
The Rite of Passage and Discovery
Love and Life In Dreamtime
And in the End
Innocence
Found
Again
The Earth is alive!These were the first words that came from the young man's mouth upon return from his walkabout. What's a walkabout you say? Well, without going on one yourself, I would recommend you first check-out the 1971 British film Walkabout by innovative cinematographer-director Nicolas Roeg. It will at least give you a hint.If you've never heard of this movie, it's not surprising. I just discovered it myself a month or so ago when I was asking Wizard Scott if he had seen the movie Brother Sun, Sister Moon...(which by the way is a 1972 movie about Saint Francis of Assisi, with a certain post-late 60s quasi-musical flair which I'm sure must have been the precursor to such early 70s biblical-takes as Jesus Christ Superstar, Godspell, and other Andrew Lloyd Weberish-stage-musical-come-movie epics. Brother Son, Sister Moon is pure Franco Zeffirelli however, and well worth a look)...So anyway, I was asking Scott about this movie, and he said he vaguely recalled seeing something like that at a Montana drive-in back in the mid-70s. He also vaguely recalled the movie being about two young kids lost in the Australian Outback and something about Donovan singing in it. Except he thought the movie was called Walkabout. That didn't sound right to me so we decided to settle the matter with a double feature. So what do I want to tell you about Walkabout without giving too much away or coloring it too much with my own perspective. Let's see...One thing to pay attention too is the cinematography, the very strong visual imagery presented by Roeg. Check-out the contrasts...the raw and primal Outback, feeling its full 50 million year old land-that-time-left behind self...and these young "civilized" British kids dressed in their school clothes, transistor radio in tow no less, lost in said desolate Outback...surreal for sure. Now add some music composed by the great John Barry---a soundtrack hauntingly beautiful and innocent in and of itself---and you have a real mythos in your face. In other words, this is about as close to Dreamtime you will get without going on a walkabout yourself.Pay attention to the deeper meaning here. Imagine yourself in the position of these kids, at their age, from the same background. It's not that hard to do considering that culturally we are not that far removed from them. Of course, many of us have the advantage of the countercultural movement on our side, and all the good outgrowth that, not to mention further advances in anthropology and education, which show us that other cultures from other places and other times have important things to say, different takes on life which may be more primitive, but no less true. That's another thing to pay attention to while watching the movie. In addition to calling it "one of the great films," Roger Ebert had this to say of Walkabout: Is it a parable about noble savages and the crushed spirits of city dwellers? That’s what the film’s surface suggests, but I think it’s about something deeper and more elusive: the mystery of communication. (via Wikipedia)I agree with Mr. Ebert. We see this most obviously upon the first meeting of the lost children with the young aboriginal boy. But challenges of communication, cross-cultural and interpersonal, are spread throughout the film, though usually more subtly. Hmmmm...I don't want to giveaway too much, but I will ask, What do you think this movie has to say about cultural-language barriers and love-heartbreak?Click here to add text.
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