TAKE A STEP BACK IN TIME AND SPACE WITH "WALKABOUT"

I was constantly surprised by this film. I mean , not least because it seems to have received not one honour nor nomination… I don’t know why I let that surprise me really – there is a lot of talent and good artwork out in the universe that doesn’t get recognition. Besides, I don’t think Walkabout is one of those films that will appeal to everyone these days…  It has some classic ‘70s themes running through it, but also some very accomplished acting from the young cast and some touching messages…

You know how life is all about the journey and not the destination… That’s why it’s kinda hard to give a blurb of this particular film, so I will give it a go. Through circumstance, a teenage girl (a young Jenny Agutter – you know, Sister Julienne from Call the Midwife!) and her young brother (played by Luc Roeg, director Nicolas Roeg’s son!) get stranded in the deserts of the Australian outback all alone, with no mode of transport and very little in the way of food (I know, how the heck do you pull that one off, right – that’s what I asked myself when I first read the blurb. But fear not, the film actually pulls this off with remarkable little need for suspense of disbelief. I was impressed). So there they are, basically, stranded and lost in the desert with no way of getting home and very little in the way of means to survive. All seems almost lost when they come across a young aboriginal man who is on “walkabout” (an aboriginal rite of passage where the young men of the tribe are sent forth into the world to live off the land alone for a certain period of time). It is the start of an unusual friendship, not least because there is no common language except body language between the two groups. And yet as the walkabout in the outback continues, it quickly transpires the two groups have much to learn from each other…

Looking back on the last paragraph, it’s not quite a fair description of the end – it is mainly the brother and sister who learn from their local guide and this in more ways than one. The film makes it very, very clear what its theme is from the start. It is all about man’s relationship with nature, how far what we call “progress” has taken us from our original habitat. The point is made over and over all through the film - starting from the fact that the children are actually English and already “strangers” in this foreign land. Apart from that, like in many children’s films (not least among them Mary poppins) the younger brother is the one who is more in touch with nature. He still instinctively “remembers” how to be in nature and can actually communicate with the Aboriginal boy after a fashion – but he has to act as interpreter for his sister… The radio they carry about with them (and that can, bizarrely enough, still receive signals and broadcast perfectly clearly in the middle of a desert) is a nice if rather forced contrast with the silence of the desert. In fact the film walks a fine line – it could very easily have had a bit of slip up into the realm of the didactic. But it does not.

One especially interesting theme pursued (and a very, very ‘70s summer of love one, may I add) is how our teenage heroine slowly bWALKABOUT

I was constantly surprised by this film. I mean , not least because it seems to have received not one honour nor nomination… I don’t know why I let that surprise me really – there is a lot of talent and good artwork out in the universe that doesn’t get recognition. Besides, I don’t think Walkabout is one of those films that will appeal to everyone these days…  It has some classic ‘70s themes running through it, but also some very accomplished acting from the young cast and some touching messages…

You know how life is all about the journey and not the destination… That’s why it’s kinda hard to give a blurb of this particular film, so I will give it a go. Through circumstance, a teenage girl (a young Jenny Agutter – you know, Sister Julienne from Call the Midwife!) and her young brother (played by Luc Roeg, director Nicolas Roeg’s son!) get stranded in the deserts of the Australian outback all alone, with no mode of transport and very little in the way of food (I know, how the heck do you pull that one off, right – that’s what I asked myself when I first read the blurb. But fear not, the film actually pulls this off with remarkable little need for suspense of disbelief. I was impressed). So there they are, basically, stranded and lost in the desert with no way of getting home and very little in the way of means to survive. All seems almost lost when they come across a young aboriginal man who is on “walkabout” (an aboriginal rite of passage where the young men of the tribe are sent forth into the world to live off the land alone for a certain period of time). It is the start of an unusual friendship, not least because there is no common language except body language between the two groups. And yet as the walkabout in the outback continues, it quickly transpires the two groups have much to learn from each other…

Looking back on the last paragraph, it’s not quite a fair description of the end – it is mainly the brother and sister who learn from their local guide and this in more ways than one. The film makes it very, very clear what its theme is from the start. It is all about man’s relationship with nature, how far what we call “progress” has taken us from our original habitat. The point is made over and over all through the film - starting from the fact that the children are actually English and already “strangers” in this foreign land. Apart from that, like in many children’s films (not least among them Mary poppins) the younger brother is the one who is more in touch with nature. He still instinctively “remembers” how to be in nature and can actually communicate with the Aboriginal boy after a fashion – but he has to act as interpreter for his sister… The radio they carry about with them (and that can, bizarrely enough, still receive signals and broadcast perfectly clearly in the middle of a desert) is a nice if rather forced contrast with the silence of the desert. In fact the film walks a fine line – it could very easily have had a bit of slip up into the realm of the didactic. But it does not.

One especially interesting theme pursued (and a very, very ‘70s summer of love one, may I add) is how our teenage heroine slowly becomes aware of her own sexuality. Her lithe teenage guide, after all, goes around with practically no clothes on (mind you, their school uniforms are getting pretty ragged at this point – yet another signifier of their contrast with their surroundings) and the implication is that her time spent in nature is liberating a sexuality that is repressed by modern society.

In short this delicate little number is very much a film of its time. The lack of big action, a workable soundtrack and any kind of special effects will probably mean it will not survive the scrutiny of the average movie-goers today that need a film to viscerally grab and shake them…  But for those who want to step away from the man-made (or rather films that absolutely scream “man made”) and towards the more naturalistic, Walkabout has a wonderful treat in store…  

A STEP BACK IN TIME TO AN UNEXPECTED PLACE: "CALL THE MIDWIFE"

I started watching this one out of curiosity more than anything else. I mean yes, we all know what a midwife does. We all know the appeal of medical dramas such as Casualty, Grey’s Anatomy, House M.D. etc. Seriously, could there be something untapped and original in there somewhere? Then again the BBC did seem to be on to something good here. I mean this was an actual true story (and you know what a soft spot I have for those. I call it having a sense of history. I strongly suspect it is more commonly known as being nosey. But I’ll let you be the judge of that move hastily on…  So I decided to check out one episode. Just to see what the fuss was about. I was instantly hooked. Now, in case you were also wondering, I shall attempt to explain to you guys what the fuss is about. J

Call the Midwife is based on the memoirs of Jennifer Worth who worked as a midwife through the 1950’s and 60’s in London’s East End slums. It beautifully records everyday life, the colourful characters and the many incidents all punctuated with the miracle of birth. When the newly qualified Jenny Lee first arrives at Nonatus House she isn’t quite sure what to expect. Especially since she was not aware that she would actually be living in a convent alongside a group of nuns – who also acted as midwives. Jenny Lee is slightly taken aback at her rather novel surroundings – be it the convent or the sheer poverty of post- WWII East London. But in time she comes to think of it as home and family. And along with her so, in a way, do we.

I have always thought that it must be particularly difficult to portray real people. I mean people who really existed. In writing the story, creating the characters for television or film, you have to keep the interest of the audience. But at the same time you can’t really afford to lose anything from the “realness” of the characters and events. It really must be a precarious balance. Especially in cases where the character portrayed is still alive. Even more so in a story like this. I mean think about it, it’s a story of London in the ‘50s. No gadgets, gizmos or special effects. There really has to be a large dose of something to make a successful television series – especially with so many “rivals” around.  I was especially interested to read the reaction of the daughters of Jennifer Worth to the series. Mrs Worth, it would seem, departed this world shortly before the series was broadcast. It turns out that her daughters really felt as if they were “seeing” their mother as a young woman, before they knew her. I think that is saying quite something, don’t you?

Well, Call the Midwife really and truly steps up to the plate. The characters and the stories are so incredibly warm, real and easy to identify with one gets swept up in a matter of minutes. It helps that, despite being set in a completely different era, the story largely revolves around an event that has, in its essence, remained unchanged throughout the ages:  childbirth.  Well, the event itself is unchanged of course, but the circumstances under which it happens have, it has to be said, has changed quite a bit. Yes, there are undoubted plugs for the NHS in the script, and you can think of that what you will. But the problems depicted – that are often, thankfully, no longer an issue – were very real at the time.