Walkabout (1971)

Two young siblings are stranded in the Australian Outback and are forced to cope on their own. They meet an Australian boy on "walkabout": a ritual separation from his tribe.

Director:

Nicolas Roeg

Writers:

Edward Bond (screenplay), James Vance Marshall (novel)

Stars:

Jenny Agutter, David Gulpilil, Luc Roeg

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jenny Agutter	...	Girl
Luc Roeg	...	White Boy (as Lucien John)
David Gulpilil	...	Black Boy (as David Gumpilil)
John Meillon	...	Father
Robert McDarra	...	Man (as Robert McDara)
Peter Carver	...	No Hoper (as Pete Carver)
John Illingsworth	...	Husband
Hilary Bamberger	...	Woman
Barry Donnelly	...	Australian Scientist
Noeline Brown	...	German Scientist (as Noelene Brown)
Carlo Manchini	...	Italian Scientist

Storyline

A privileged British family consisting of a mother, a geologist father and an adolescent daughter and son, live in Sydney, Australia. Out of circumstance, the siblings, not knowing exactly where they are, get stranded in the Outback by themselves while on a picnic. They only have with them the clothes on their backs - their school uniforms - some meagre rations of nonperishable food, a battery-powered transistor radio, the son's satchel primarily containing his toys, and a small piece of cloth they used as their picnic drop-cloth. While they walk through the Outback, sometimes looking as though near death, they come across an Australian boy who is on his walkabout, a rite of passage into manhood where he spends months on end on his own living off the land. Their largest problem is not being able to verbally communicate. The boy does help them to survive, but doesn't understand their need to return to civilization, which may or may not happen based on what the Australian boy ends up ...

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Plot Keywords:

walkabout | water | picnic | food | rite of passage | 

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Taglines:

Filmed in its entirety in the Australian wilderness

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK Australia

Language:

English Aboriginal Czech French

Release Date:

1 July 1971 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Longa Caminhada

Filming Locations:

Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

AUD 1,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Max L. Raab Productions, Si Litvinoff Film Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min 100 min (1997 reissue) 95 min (original)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastman Colour)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First cinema film of David Gulpilil.

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Goofs

Jenny's stockings variously disappear and reappear with no continuity. It seems earlier scenes with her wearing them are intermingled with later scenes where she doesn't wear them.

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Quotes

The Girl: Please try. It's silly to give in now. It can't be much further.

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Crazy Credits

After the credits, there is a flash of white light on the screen and as it becomes a black screen, radio tuning is heard while the words "rien ne va plus" are shown.

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Connections

Referenced in Watching the Alien (2003)

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Soundtracks

Los Angeles
By Warren Marley

User Reviews

The Australian outback comes alive.

Superb cinematography, the Australian outback comes alive in this film of self discovery and regret. Agutter plays the English girl brilliantly, incapable of comprehending anybody or anything that doesn't conform to her middle-class values and upbringing. Roeg is also excellent as her brother, adapting to each and every change in circumstance as only children can. I have watched this movie many times, and always get something new from it. Highly recommended to anyone, although parents might want to watch it before letting their kids see it.