September 5th, 2003I came across "Walkabout" by recommendation. I had seen "Picnic at Hanging Rock" before and was enthralled by it. I started looking around for Australian films and discovered this one.
This is one of those unique movies where the narrative is not as important as the feeling and mood that the audience absorbs from the film. I have heard complaints that the beginning sequences of the story involving the father are not fleshed-out or explained enough, and I can certainly see that point of view. I do think though, that what the director did was appropriate for the film. This is not a movie about the father's relationship to his children; it is a movie about man's relationship with nature, pure and simple. It is about nature destroying man, man destroying nature, and man and nature living in harmony. It has beautiful photography and atmosphere, and it is emotionally evocative somehow without having very deep characters. I would say that this film is for people who appreciate the visual poetry of Malick and the mysterious ambiguity of Lynch. Otherwise, watching this movie may not be a very rewarding experience. My only qualms with the film were the gimmicky editing techniques that reminded me of "The Hulk" and "julien donkey-boy".
My rating: 8/10