I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Absolutely Brilliant!

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

I'm a white European-American female. The closest thing I have to compare to the Koori of Australia are Native Americans. In "The Last of the Mohicans", the male protagonist dies because he falls in love with a white female. In this movie, the Koori boy dies because he falls in love with a white female. I find this disturbing, on more levels than one. The girl in this movie doesn't understand the Koori boy is courting her, and that frightens her, and that dismays the boy. So far understandable. But you want me to believe that a Koori male of that caliber would kill himself because some white female doesn't want him? What a waste of a great character.

Despite flaws -- e.g. *very* sporadic and brief moments of didactic heavy-handedness -- this film wins a ten for pure originality and courage, sumptuous visual poetry, general respect for the audience's intelligence, and, perhaps most of all, for bringing the remarkable and thoroughly unique David Gulpilil to a career in film -- he's a revelation. His cultural icon status is well-deserved.I am about the same age as 'Walkabout''s main actors, and saw this film in the theater when it was released in the US in 1972, and saw it again last night (27 March 2017) on DVD. It made quite an impression on me as a kid -- reviewing it 45 years later I realized I remembered every shot save for the few and far-between clunky bits, which long ago my genius editor of a memory left on the cutting room floor of the mind. I do understand why some see the film as a stacked-deck screed re 'primitive indigenous beauty' vs. 'industrial white insanity'. Even were that part of the film-maker's original intent, what happens on the film (I say "on" the film as it is a story told in pictures) transcends any such reductive literal-mindedness. 'Walkabout' absorbed and transformed this humble viewer -- doing things only a film can do.The two-disc DVD I watched last night included excellent commentary by Nic. Roeg, and had a whole reel of extras including a fascinating documentary on Gulpilil as of 2002 I believe. The lean and tireless, elegant mature Gulpilil tells his story in his own words, with occasional commentary by experts on the social context of his career. Toward the conclusion one senses the real-time growing pressure on the subject caught between his traditional culture and the film business/'white-man' world -- his admitted substance and alcohol use, and bitterness at not accumulating the wealth of a 'Hollywood star'. Subsequently I read of his great troubles in recent years, and it is heartbreaking. I pray for him and his family, and trust his strength and giving spirit will prevail.

A random walk in the desert.That's pretty much what this movie is. Starts randomly, continues randomly, ends randomly. The start was so implausible - clearly just a plot device to get the kids lost in the desert - that you have forewarning that this is not going to be a great movie.From then it's just random occurrences, some of which never get linked to the main plot. (Eg I still haven't figured out what the horny scientists and their balloons had to do with anything).I could have liked this even if it turned out to be what I suspected it was going to be: am overly politically correct essay on the clash of cultures between whites and native Australians. But, while it shaped up to be that one stage, that theme pretty quickly disappeared. However, we did have the director's massive overuse of jarring match cuts just to keep remind you about it, without progressing the discussion or actually saying anything constructive about it.Similarly, the director had a secondary urban vs rural sub-theme going through the movie, all through jerky back-and-forth match cuts. Yeah, yeah, we get it, and got it early, so no need to keep reminding us: city bad, country good, whites bad, natives good.Nope, the main plot is pretty much a random one. Kids stranded in desert, wander around, random things occur, meet native boy, wander around, random things occur.

After attempting to kill them and then subsequently committing suicide himself, a man leaves his two children stranded in the middle of the Australian outback. A chance meeting with an Aboriginal boy who is out on his walkabout initiation offers a chance of survival for these kids who are completely out of their depth in such an unforgiving environment.Walkabout was directed by famed cinematic innovator Nicolas Roeg. Along with films such as Picnic at Hanging Rock and Wake in Fright, it formed part of the cinematic movement that has since been described as the Australian New Wave. These were a collection of films made in Australia that explored aspects of the country that had hitherto not been dealt with cinematically. Walkabout is notable in several ways, both stylistically and thematically. It contrasts western urban civilisation with the primitive indigenous culture. The clash is most obvious between the city children and the Aboriginal boy. But despite the fact that the latter is unsubtitled the whole time and whose actions aren't always clearly understood, it's the city culture that is presented as insane. For instance, the opening voice exercises that the girl school work on seem quite bizarre, while several of the white characters we meet along the way act in ways that are at best strange and at others coldly callous. The film often contrasts the beauty of the natural world with the functional human habitations and the rotting junk they leave behind. The children connect to the Aborigine differently too, the young boy is able to communicate and relate to him in an instinctive way that the older girl cannot as she has already been too processed by her culture to the extent that she finds it much harder to connect. The implication is that the civilising effect takes us away from something pure, some kind of innocence the youngster has not as yet lost.As it is, the girl (Jenny Agutter) and the Aborigine boy (David Gulpilil) become a source of sexual fascination for one and other. But while there is palpable sexual tension, theirs is a doomed romantic attraction. The boy never understands that what the girl really seeks is to return to her home. The language barrier prevents communication beyond the basic but the boy clearly thinks his encounter with these white children must be simply part of his walkabout initiation; another part of becoming a man. Sadly, this leads him to engage in a tribal mating dance thinking it is the logical thing to do, which unsurprisingly freaks the girl out. The result is his suicide because he thinks he has failed the ultimate test, the tragic irony of course is that he has inadvertently carried out a great deed worthy of any man in saving these children from certain death. He seems oblivious to this just as he is unaware what the children really seek, illustrated brilliantly in the scene where he encounters a white girl near a settlement, the children never see her nor the white community, never knowing how close they are to what they seek.Walkabout is an adventure-drama that is very minimalist in most ways. It has nameless characters, a basic narrative and sparse dialogue. The scene where the father tries to kill his children is partly so effective because there has been absolutely no build up to it. The small cast all do excellent work but ultimately its director Roeg's film. This one-time cinematographer ensures that this is a movie that is visually incredible at all times. The Australian outback is the right shape to fit a widescreen frame beautifully and Roeg makes the most of this when he captures the landscape, plant and animal life in consistently interesting ways. His famed bold editing techniques are evident too with some juxtapositions of images that sometimes highlight themes and other times disturb. He also uses freeze frames to add to the beauty but which also adds to the strangeness. It's also one of those films with abundant nudity that never feels exploitative in any way but natural and important to the overall whole. In the final analysis, this is one of the most beautiful looking films you are likely to see and for that alone it's worth watching. It's one of those films that just gets better and better every time I see it.