Event

This screening includes WALKABOUT

Date and time:: Tues, April 11, 2023, 7 pm; Free but Ticketed

Genres:

With its harrowingly beautiful depiction of the Australian Outback and spare narrative of culture clash, Walkabout is a survival epic.

Michael A. McRobbie’s Choice Series, Spring 2023: His Name Is Gulpilil

David Gulpilil has one of the most recognizable faces in world cinema, but his name is less so. Gulpilil, who was Yolngu, began acting in Australian cinema as a teenager; his first role in Nicholas Roeg's Walkabout immediately signaled him as a singular talent. Intensely charismatic and graceful, Gulpilil leaps off the screen, redefining how Aboriginal people and stories were represented in the Australian New Wave and in world cinema long before the New Wave moment. As Gulpilil himself said, "I know how to walk across the land in front of a camera because I belong there.”

Under the pretense of having a picnic, a geologist (John Meillon) takes his teenage daughter (Jenny Agutter) and 6-year-old son (Luc Roeg) into the Australian Outback and attempts to shoot them. When he fails, he turns the gun on himself, and the two city-bred children must contend with harsh wilderness alone. They are saved by a chance encounter with an Indigenous Australian boy (David Gulpilil) on his "walkabout," a ritual separation from his tribe. He shows them how to survive, and in the process underscores the disharmony between nature and modern life. [100 min; drama, adventure; English]

This screening will be preceded by an introduction from Chancellor Michael A. McRobbie.

"A towering work, painted from a palette of feelings and instincts words cannot do justice to." — Leigh Paatsch, Herald Sun Australia

"You are left with the impression of a fresh, powerful and humane imagination." — Dilys Powell, Sunday Times UK

"Beautifully done." — Patrick Gibbs, Daily Telegraph UK

Any film screened at IU Cinema may contain content that viewers find sensitive or upsetting. Visit our Audience Advisories page to learn more.