Walkabout

Confession: I saw Walkabout during a time in my life when I was watching between two to three films a day & doing other things that weren't designed to help my long-term memory. Thus, my recollection of things like plot, etc. are most vague. I even forgot that Jenny Agutter, from Logan's Run, was in it. And she's smokin'. Nicolas Roeg's films overall I've sadly neglected, though I did take a shine to Performance, starring Mick Jagger. But, to the point:

Although my impaired recollection means any subsequent recommendation will invariably suffer given my inability to convincingly back it up, the fact is that no amount of college living can keep me from effortlessly recalling the deep emotional connection I felt with this film. That inexplicable burst of pure feeling that takes a movie from "just a movie" into the rarified stratospheres of...ahem...art. & sometime me like to wank about artses.

But here's the real reason I bring this movie up now: apparently they've gone & done up brand new 35mm prints for the 35th anniversary of Walkabout's initial theatrical release. If it plays near you - please go see it. You will not be sorry. I swear! It may not be super-fast-paced, but hey - no transcendental Jesus donkeys in this one. No film-fuck lifetime membership card required. Here's a blurb from a pretty decent review:

"Originally released in 1971, Walkabout provides few explanations that help us comprehend what we see on the screen as a girl and her brother become lost in the Australian outback. Roeg tells a story where the visible, known elements are vastly outnumbered by the mysteries that lay hidden beneath the surface. However, the clues that it provides are so intriguing and compelling that it's easy to get wrapped up in the storytelling, to trust that Roeg's elliptical filmmaking may somehow get at greater truths than those typically provided in conventional Hollywood filmmaking."

If that's not tempting enough, how about this, from the same review:

"My only reservation is the camera's leering tendency to gravitate toward Jenny Agutter, to swing low so that we can get a teasing glance up her skirt or to peer longingly through the weeds while she takes a naked swim. Some of these shots can be interpreted as coming from the Aborigine's point-of-view and are thus explainable, but many others have no point-of-reference other than Roeg's infatuation with Agutter's body."

See? It's deep and sleazy. My favorite. Go see it, bitches.

Oh, all right - I tried to just post the "deep" picture. But damn if I can resist putting the "sleazy" in too: