Tracks

Poet and naturalist Diane Ackerman said, "The great affair, the love affair with life, is to live as variously as possible, to groom one's curiosity like a high-spirited thoroughbred, climb aboard, and gallop over the thick, sun struck hills every day." One such high-spirited thoroughbred is Australian naturalist Robyn Davidson who, at the age of 27, crossed the Australian outback in 1977 from Alice Springs to the Indian Ocean with only four camels and her dog as companions. Nominated for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival, Director John Curran's Tracks documented Davidson's nine-month journey of 1677 miles without adding layers of melodrama to distract us from her true spirit of adventure and love of nature.

Based on Robyn Davidson's classic travel book of the same name and supported by the extraordinary cinematography of Mandy Walker and the lovely score by Garth Stevenson, the film follows Robyn as she travels solo across the unfathomable desert. Sponsored by National Geographic magazine, photographer Rick Smolan (Adam Driver) was chosen by the magazine to photograph her journey for the magazine, but only meets up with her at scattered points during her trip. Davidson at first finds Rick annoyingly over-talkative, but slowly warms to his support and caring and they become friends, while still keeping their distance.

Not much information is given as to Robyn's motivations in undertaking this adventure, but the film does provide flashbacks over the course of the film informing us about events in the naturalist's past involving loss and disappointment. In some ways, comparable to Chris McCandless' odyssey as documented in Sean Penn's 2007 film Into the Wild, Robyn's goal is to convince herself that she is up to the task of following her own path without having to conform to society's expectations. In spite of her need for solitude, however, she learns to compromise with friends and reach an understanding with visiting journalists looking for a story, even though at one point she says to a resident of the desert, "It's hard to explain that I just want perfectly nice people to shut up and die." Though Robyn does her best to avoid the unwanted company, she eventually recognizes her need for support from others, not only from Rick, but also from an Aboriginal elder named Eddy (Roly Mintuma), who accompanies her to make sure that she avoids the Aboriginal's sacred land. Mia Wasikowska as Davidson perfectly captures the sharp edges of her enigmatic personality while still retaining her adamant refusal to be the effect of her social limitations. It is a strong performance that may earn her consideration for a Best Actress award at the 2014 Oscars.

Though some viewers may become restless with the unchanging landscape and the lack of overt drama, obstacles do appear in the form of wild bull camels charging towards her and the need for her to take a 160 mile detour to avoid Aboriginal lands. While Tracks has a surprising amount of clutter for an adventure into the wild, as Davidson comes closer to her goal, the growing quiet and emptiness of the vast outback turns her journey into an experience that assumes a dreamlike and spiritual aura.

Through it all, her fierce determination to accomplish her goal while still retaining her sense of self grows stronger. Davidson in a recent interview said that "At the time, all young people pretty much wanted to do extraordinary things and extend the limits of what had been given to them as their roles." Poet e e cummings agrees, saying, "To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battles which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting." That is the legacy of Robyn Davidson.

I had been very excited about this movie after seeing the trailer. The story is exhilarating and after watching movies like "Into the Wild" and "127 Hours," I was waiting to see what was in store. As I sat down in my seat to see this at the San Francisco Film Festival I decided to erase all anticipation of the movie and just sit. The lights dimmed down, the audience shuffled into comfortable positions, and then began the movie. Almost two hours passed, and the film's credits began. The audience sat in their seats, myself included. We were mesmerized by John Curran's adaptation, Mia Wasikowska's tremendous performance, and Mandy Walker's impeccably/beautifully captured imagery. What stood out to me the most, though, was the perspectives of isolation and companionship. Marion Nelson did a fantastic job at taking the elements of the autobiography that gave us those perspectives, and as we watched Mia struggle through the desert with her four camels, dog, and occasionally the photographer (played by a genuine Adam Driver), we all began to understand her points of views in life as well as ourselves. So much motif was done with the desert, which I have to applaud John Curran for doing. I will be seeing this film again when it is released, and I hope you will too!

Tracks follows other films about individuals pushing limits and seeking purpose and adventure. It is tastefully and cleverly executed with talented performance by the lead Mia Wasikowska.

Two short points about this movie.

1) It is exceptional for its ability to draw you into the journey across the desert. Some of the hallucinations etc are tedious but necessary to fill gaps as there are not many characters. The cinematography does the desert and journey justice.

2) In a largely male dominated genre finally a female inspires as the lead character of a adventure story.

The scenes I enjoyed the most in this movie were the star shots. Imagine you are sleeping in the outback, and the sky is ablaze with the southern constellations. No matter where you are, there is a star right straight above you; you are not alone.

Being alone is an important theme to Robyn Davidson. We are told by back story that her mother committed suicide at an early age. We are also told that her father wandered all around East Africa prospecting. She is forced to live with her aunt and her beloved dog is put down. The first lines in the movie tell us that movement and change are important to Robyn. Think of a gyroscope. As long as it is spinning, it can provide accurate navigational information. Stop spinning, and it goes out of control.

Travelling with camels also makes sense. Symbolically camels are independent, tough, resourceful and most of all they can go for long periods without the essentials of life. So for Robyn going for long periods with no human contact mimics the camels lack of certain essentials as well. Like her father, she has an instinct for the bush and finds herself at home in that environment. You get the feeling that she could find her way even without her dad's Brunton compass. Also she is able to bond with a whole variety of creatures from wild camels, aboriginals and bushmen. She respects the ways and habits of the people she meets.

This movie has wonderful shots of the outback and the incredible variety of people and places that present themselves. As many adventures do, it has a huge physical as well as psychological component. The acting is well done, there is not an excess of emotion or drama, but Mia and Adam do an excellent job of showing us that there is lots going on underneath it all, which fits exactly.

After reading the book "Tracks", I found it difficult to imagine anyone being able to transfer it properly to cinema. Well, it took them years to do it, but thankfully they've achieved what seemed almost impossible. I saw "Tracks" yesterday and I found it truly moving. It's a beautiful film - not just in its transporting cinematography and landscapes, but beautiful for its truthfulness, its honesty. "Tracks" is both sublimely poetic and ruggedly authentic - it's emotionally raw. I didn't find one false note in the movie - no melodrama or stereotype characters that you see in most Hollywood films. Mia Wasikowska's performance demonstrates that old line from Keats, "Beauty is truth, truth beauty" - it's a great performance - the epitome of soulful. The journey is as much her character's internal coming to terms with herself and the world, as it is the external journey, but nothing is spoon-fed to the audience. The film is psychological and spiritual and the landscapes and the actions reflect the central character's shedding of burdens and confronting herself in a naked environment - it's universal, but profoundly personal. One reviewer described it as "achingly beautiful", having now seen "Tracks", I feel that's an apt description. I think director John Curran and everyone involved in making the film has pulled off an extremely challenging project and have created something of lasting value. Congratulations.