2008 Woodie Awards
Cinema Cafe: The art film from the land down under
Paul De Amicis
Issue date: 5/12/08 Section: A&E
I was a latchkey child who watched a lot of TV. Ironically, that's how I stumbled upon my first art film. I was surfing TV channels one day after school when I came upon a movie that looked and felt profoundly different from any movie I had ever seen before.
The story was about a teenage girl and her young brother who were lost in the Australian outback and trying to find their way back to civilization and their big city home. The name of the movie was "Walkabout."
The movie used a point of view I had never seen before. Often there would be a long close-up of a tree trunk or the stonewall of a mountain, then suddenly, as if by magic, the tree trunk or wall came alive revealing all its subtle nooks, crannies and nuances to the viewer. There would be a close-up of an ordinary stone, and somehow, the director made the stone look fascinatingly hypnotic.
Then there's the scene where the beautiful teenage sister goes for an artsy, cinematic nude swim in the heart of the natural world, enjoying the freedom of the wild, exploring her sensual connection to nature, and discovering, even in the midst of tragedy and despair, the unconquerable joy of living.
Indeed, the camera acts as the fourth character of the film. Like a wise old wizard with a long white beard and crystal staff, the camera in "Walkabout" takes you by the hand and carefully reveals the mystical beauty and perfection of the natural world and our connection to it.
The young brother sees and feels the beauty and perfection of the natural world immediately because he is still very young, but his teenage sister has a harder time of it.
She has grown accustomed to life in the big city and at first sees only the danger and hostility of the natural world they are lost in. But as the sister's cinematic journey unfolds, even she comes to see, feel, know and love the truth and beauty of the natural world, and what she first feared as her mortal enemy, she later comes to regard as the greatest friend and teacher of her life.
The story was about a teenage girl and her young brother who were lost in the Australian outback and trying to find their way back to civilization and their big city home. The name of the movie was "Walkabout."
The movie used a point of view I had never seen before. Often there would be a long close-up of a tree trunk or the stonewall of a mountain, then suddenly, as if by magic, the tree trunk or wall came alive revealing all its subtle nooks, crannies and nuances to the viewer. There would be a close-up of an ordinary stone, and somehow, the director made the stone look fascinatingly hypnotic.
Then there's the scene where the beautiful teenage sister goes for an artsy, cinematic nude swim in the heart of the natural world, enjoying the freedom of the wild, exploring her sensual connection to nature, and discovering, even in the midst of tragedy and despair, the unconquerable joy of living.
Indeed, the camera acts as the fourth character of the film. Like a wise old wizard with a long white beard and crystal staff, the camera in "Walkabout" takes you by the hand and carefully reveals the mystical beauty and perfection of the natural world and our connection to it.
The young brother sees and feels the beauty and perfection of the natural world immediately because he is still very young, but his teenage sister has a harder time of it.
She has grown accustomed to life in the big city and at first sees only the danger and hostility of the natural world they are lost in. But as the sister's cinematic journey unfolds, even she comes to see, feel, know and love the truth and beauty of the natural world, and what she first feared as her mortal enemy, she later comes to regard as the greatest friend and teacher of her life.
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