Susan Granger’s review of “Tracks” (The Weinstein Company)
“I just want to be by myself,” says adventurous, 27 year-old Robyn Davidson (Mia Wasikowska) when she’s asked why she wants to walk 1,700 miles from the remote northern Australian outpost of Alice Springs to the Indian Ocean on the Western Coast. Disenchanted with so-called civilized society, she spent nine months trekking in battered tennis shoes – with only her black Labrador Diggity and a quartet of nasty, serenely unpredictable camels for company.
Adapted by Marion Nelson from Robyn Davidson’s international best-seller and directed by John Curran (“Praise,” “We Don’t Live here Anymore,” “The Painted Veil”), it’s a ploddingly paced, episodic journey of endurance and self-discovery that begins early in 1977 and lasts nine months. Robyn’s disenchantment with people includes American photographer Rick Smolan (Adam Driver), whom she grudgingly allows to join her occasionally at pre-arranged points, since that’s part of her contract with National Geographic magazine, which is financing her trip. Despite his occasional insensitivity, Rick’s enthusiasm and kindness are contagious, as Robyn gradually discovers.
Robyn also befriends Mr. Eddy (Roly Mintuma), an Aboriginal elder who imparts regional wisdom as they walk through sacred sites, and he serves as a buffer between her and some intrusive followers. Through her interactions with him, the racial prejudice and callous discrimination against the indigenous population that was rampant throughout Australian culture for so many years becomes obvious.
Propelling the picture almost singlehandedly, Mia Wasikowska (“Stoker,” “Jane Eyre”), who was born in Canberra, embodies the compelling, ferociously capable Aussie heroine, while director of photography Mandy Walker (“Australia”) deftly captures the rugged, sun-scorched imagery and shimmering, empty stillness of South Australia and the Northern Territory.
As Robyn Davidson wrote, “I love the desert and its incomparable sense of space. I enjoy being with the Aborigines and learning from them. I like the freedom of being on my own, and I like the growth and learning processes that develop from taking chances.”
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Tracks” is an exhausting, exhilarating 7, an inspirational saga.
