Did you ever someone who is intelligent and well-spoken but who just won't stop talking. And the more he talks the less sense he makes, and yet he speaks so eloquently and with such style that you feel compelled to listen, even though the headache growing in your brain screams at you to run away. That's a lot like Nicolas Roeg's films. And that's a lot like "Walkabout". Beautifully shot, very stylish, and yet so...soooo vague. One vague scene drifting into another. One ponderous moment oozing into the next. As it just goes on and on and on...and the buzzing in your head gets louder and louder.
I've encountered this with Roeg's films before, to greater and lesser degrees. I am aware of the beauty of what's on the screen and of Roeg's talent, but I can't get past this feeling that he doesn't really want to make a film that's about anything. And the ponderousness of the stories becomes oppressive.
"Walkabout" is supposedly a classic. I admit it has very good cinematography. And Jenny Agutter is lovely, but beyond that I don't see a lot else. The whole nature vs. technology metaphor is so pounded into the viewer's skull you want to scream "all right!! I get it!! I get it!!" And Roeg is the king of mixed signals (not in a good way, either), as in one scene we get shot after shot of the aborigine teen slaying animals intercut with full frontal nude shots of sixteen-year old Jenny swimming around while muzak plays (???) That nonsense of showing beauty/slaughter intercut was old by 1969, so Roeg was not doing anything new.
Honestly, I would avoid this movie. It's just frustrating. If you want to watch something good, check out some of the films of Donald Cammell (who co-directed "Performance" with Roeg), he is less well-known, but was a far superior director.
I've encountered this with Roeg's films before, to greater and lesser degrees. I am aware of the beauty of what's on the screen and of Roeg's talent, but I can't get past this feeling that he doesn't really want to make a film that's about anything. And the ponderousness of the stories becomes oppressive.
"Walkabout" is supposedly a classic. I admit it has very good cinematography. And Jenny Agutter is lovely, but beyond that I don't see a lot else. The whole nature vs. technology metaphor is so pounded into the viewer's skull you want to scream "all right!! I get it!! I get it!!" And Roeg is the king of mixed signals (not in a good way, either), as in one scene we get shot after shot of the aborigine teen slaying animals intercut with full frontal nude shots of sixteen-year old Jenny swimming around while muzak plays (???) That nonsense of showing beauty/slaughter intercut was old by 1969, so Roeg was not doing anything new.
Honestly, I would avoid this movie. It's just frustrating. If you want to watch something good, check out some of the films of Donald Cammell (who co-directed "Performance" with Roeg), he is less well-known, but was a far superior director.