Tracks

The true story of Robyn Davidson's adventure and her crossing of a 1,700 mile across the Australian wilderness.

Whilst it is undoubtedly an amazing feat to be able to achieve this, the sheer remarkableness of this achievement is not conveyed in this film properly. Had we not been aware that this is based on a true story, judging by the film alone one could go so far as to say this was a relatively 'easy' task. The isolation she faced, starvation and dehydration are hardly presented. Instead she seemed to often interact with people who helped her.

At the same time, the stunning landscapes, the might of her determination as well as her complete dependency on the camels and a dog is adequately portrayed.

Overall, this is a mixed bag of impressions. A good film overall, but it deserved to be great.

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.

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!

Robyn (Mia Wasikowska) arrives in Alice Springs, determined to make the 1,700 mile journey to Australia's west coast on foot across the desert, accompanied by camels and her dog. This film tells of her preparation and the outcome of her journey.

Despite the fact that it is often leisurely in the telling of Robyn's true story and that Robyn is, for much of the running time, the only person on screen, it is never less than engaging. We get some idea of what drove Robyn to undertake this project (although there is no glib, clear explanation of her motivations), and we meet some of the people she encountered (and one of the enjoyable elements in this film is the development of National Geographical photographer Rick (Adam Driver) - truly annoying when we first meet him, by the end he is much more in tune with what Robyn's objectives have been).

Mia Wasikowska is very good in this gently moving film, but the real stars of this beautifully photographed story are the Australian desert and the camels.

There is a small amount of dramatically justifiable bad language and some animal upset involved.

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.