Modern Australian Classic on BluRay

By Christopher P. Jacobs
Movies Editor

Notable classic, foreign, and independent films are continuing to show up on BluRay. In late April, Kino Video released a fine BluRay version of the restored Russian silent film, “Battleship Potemkin” (1925), which Kino had already put out on a very nice standard DVD a couple of years ago. Last month, Criterion came out not only with John Ford’s iconic western “Stagecoach” (1939), but BluRay upgrades of Fritz Lang’s memorable crime drama “M” (1931) and Nicolas Roeg’s stunningly beautiful and multi-layered allegory “Walkabout” (1971), all of which are staples of film societies and film classes. All of these are must-see, if not must-own, for anyone into film.

Roeg was a British cinematographer who turned to directing and sometimes shot his own movies. “Walkabout,” his first solo film as a director, looks on the surface like a basic story of survival and coming-of-age, as well as a visual tour across Australia. A British teenage girl (Jenny Agutter) and her little brother (Lucien John, Roeg’s 10-year-old son) find themselves abandoned in the Australian outback and must find their way back to civilization. In the desert they meet a teenage aborigine boy (David Gulpilil) who is going through the native rite of passage known as Walkabout, proving he can survive on his own. Despite not speaking the same language, for awhile the three become a small family as the aborigine boy helps the girl and her brother to survive. Of course, two adolescents of opposite sexes develop their own natural tension.

Roeg’s richly colorful cinematography and often daringly unconventional editing present a vivid portrait of the abundant life in the supposedly barren outback; contrasting the human struggle against the natural elements. Shot entirely on location, “Walkabout” is obviously a metaphor comparing the man-made emotional deserts and regimentation of modern urban life with the literal, physical desert and very different rituals of existence in untouched, unspoiled natural surroundings.

The film is also a parable about the lack of communication between cultures, races, sexes, generations, and people in general. On yet another layer it is a wistful modern dramatization of the Garden of Eden story from Genesis – the loss of paradise after a loss of innocence.

Criterion’s old DVD looked good, but its new high-definition transfer is a wonderful representation of the film’s image. A few shots on the BluRay seem to look slightly lighter, but Roeg approved both transfers and the BluRay is obviously sharper through a hi-def projector while still preserving the original film grain. The soundtrack is presented in its original mono, digitally cleaned up to eliminate hiss and pops in the old optical print.

The BluRay includes the same interesting audio commentary by the director and star as on the DVD, but adds several more bonus materials. There’s a new 20-minute interview (in hi-def) with Roeg’s son, Luc, now a movie producer himself, reminiscing earlier this year about the film and his father’s career. There’s also a 20-minute standard-def interview with Jenny Agutter done in 2008, a 50-minute documentary on actor David Gulpilil and his importance to cinematic portrayals of aboriginal people (also standard-def), and a 28-page color illustrated booklet. The U.S. theatrical trailer had also been on the DVD, but on the BluRay it is now in hi-def (although it’s much grainier than the film itself).

The only problem with the disc is that the first pressing had problems playing on certain models of BluRay players. A few would not load at all and others would freeze up and/or skip at certain points. (One of my players ran the disc fine, whereas the other one of the same brand but a different model would not play the bonus features all the way and the menu would sometimes freeze.) Criterion is planning replacements that can be obtained by contacting them through their website.

“WALKABOUT” on BluRay: Movie: A+ / Video: A / Audio: A- / Extras: A-

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