Walkabout (1971) on Netflix
A teenage girl and her little brother are stranded in the Outback after their father turns on them. An Aboriginal boy on his walkabout finds them and shows them how to survive.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb7.6/1030,125 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes84%
Trailer
Plot summary
In Sydney, a girl in her teens and her little brother share a high-rise apartment with their parents. Their father drives them into the Outback one day, still in their school uniforms, telling them it is a picnic. Then he draws a gun and fires at them. The girl realizes he means to kill them and runs with her brother, hiding behind rocks. After the car is set alight and her father is dead, she says nothing of it to the boy, collects what food she can, and starts walking home through the desert. They find a water hole and a quandong tree, but the water dries overnight. An Aboriginal boy on his walkabout comes across them and shares kangaroo meat he has hunted, and her brother gestures to show they need water.
Cast
- Luc Roegas White Boy (as Lucien John)
- Robert McDarraas Man (as Robert McDara)
- Peter Carveras No Hoper (as Pete Carver)
- John Illingsworthas Husband
- Hilary Bambergeras Woman
- Barry Donnellyas Australian Scientist
- Carlo Manchinias Italian Scientist
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Walkabout (1971)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The British Board of Film Classification believed Jenny Agutter was 17 when she filmed Walkabout's nude scenes, though she was 16. Because the Sexual Offences Act 2003 raised the age threshold for indecent images to 18, the BBFC had to reconsider the scenes when the film was re-submitted in 2011, and passed it uncut.
- Walkabout shows a kangaroo being speared and bludgeoned to death, but was deemed not to contravene the Cinematograph Films (Animals) Act 1937, which makes it illegal in the UK to distribute material where the production inflicted pain or terror on an animal, because the animals did not appear to suffer.
- Walkabout was one of the first films in the Australian New Wave, and with Wake in Fright it was one of only two Australian films entered in competition for the Grand Prix at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival.
- Nicolas Roeg improvised greatly while filming in the Australian Outback, saying: "We didn't really plan anything, we just came across things by chance…filming whatever we found."
