Under the pretense of having a picnic, a geologist takes his teenage daughter and 6-year-old son into the Australian outback and attempts to shoot them. When he fails, he turns the gun on himself, and the two city-bred children must contend with harsh wilderness alone. They are saved by a chance encounter with an Aborigine boy who shows them how to survive, and in the process underscores the disharmony between nature and modern life.
Roeg intercuts images of modern life with the lushness of nature -- offering a stunning fable about the importance of respecting the earth.
– Edward Guthmann,
San Francisco Chronicle,
1 Jan 2000
fresh:
Is it a parable about noble savages and the crushed spirits of city dwellers? That's what the film's surface seems to suggest, but I think it's also about something deeper and more elusive: The mystery of communication.
– Roger Ebert,
Chicago Sun-Times,
1 Jan 2000
fresh:
For the most part, Walkabout is an involving, occasionally hypnotic, motion picture.