One of the Criterion Channel collections which is not making nervous is their current one entitled Odysseys, which is exactly what you would think: films about epic trips. It gave me a chance to watch Nicolas Roeg's classic 1971 film Walkabout (which I had inexplicably never seen). I have mixed emotions about Roeg, although even his films that I don't like I like. It tells the story of two Australian children, Jenny Agutter as Girl and Luc Roeg (the director's son, although he's listed as Lucian John) as White Boy, who are abandoned in the outback when their father loses his mind and commits suicide. They are rescued by Black Boy (the long-time Australian Aboriginal actor David Gulpilil) who is on his walkabout. It's about their growing friendship, and the love affair between Girl and Black Boy which never really happens, and which in the end kills him. It's also about much more: the clash of cultures, the wild beating heart of Australia, and the inevitable death of that native culture in the fact of Western culture. It's hard to believe that Jenny Agutter was only eighteen at the time. It's wonderful and absolutely heartbreaking. And required viewing.
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