walkabout is a 1971 film set in the australian outback , directed by nicolas roeg and starring jenny agutter , luc roeg ( credited as " lucien john " ) and david gulpilil ( credited as " david gumpilil " ) .

edward bond wrote the screenplay , which is loosely based on the 1959 novel walkabout by james vance marshall .

walkabout premiered in competition at the 1971 cannes film festival .

walkabout ( film )

salwolke , scott , nicolas roeg : film by film , jefferson , 1993 .
the film was aboriginal actor david gulpilil ' s first role in a feature film .
[ video ]
walkabout
is a poetic film that incorporates a collective subconscious of humanist values .
we revisit the film that renewed community interest in the stolen generations . explore the story of this vital film .
lecture : film vs . video , film structure , video structure , codecs , containers , sample rates , transcoding
walkabout was one of the twenty five official selections for the 1971 24th cannes film festival , as an entry for the united kingdom .
a b fiona harma ( 2001 ) . “walkabout” . the oz film database . murdoch university . retrieved 2008 - 02 - 18 .
if my player holds out and i can move straight on to walkabout 3d .
i saw ' walkabout ' last night - a remarkable and enlightening film to an old european . your critical review added to my appreciation of this masterpiece
boyle , a . ,
two images of the aboriginal : walkabout , the novel and film ,
in literature / film quarterly ( salisbury , maryland ) , vol . 7 , no . 1 , 1979 .
the oxford australian film discreetly proposes it did
not fare well commercially
, a kind way of saying the film was a flop .
for the most part , walkabout is an involving , occasionally hypnotic , motion picture .
“walkabout by nicolas roeg” . the criterion collection . retrieved 2008 - 02 - 17 .
my earlier criterion dvd of walkabout plays just fine on my region 2 dvd recorder .
when walkabout was released in 1971 , roger ebert awarded the film four stars but sheepishly discouraged reading too much into the film ' s overwhelming symbolism . other critics have generally been more willing to engage the film on its own terms . writing in the san francisco chronicle , critic edward guthmann ( in 1997 ) wrote that walkabout is a
a film that ' s part anthem to the primitive world and part rebuke to the dull , overinsulated selfishness of contemporary man .
ozon ' s provocative film can do much to improve attitudes towards lgbti people .
feardotcom ( 2002 ) looks and sounds like a remake of a japanese horror film that never was . this 40 million dollar horror film was r . . .
a film tie - in edition was published by penguin in 1971 . the original novel and the film tie - in have been through a number of editions .
. . . an independent film scholar , [ muir ] explains film studies concepts in a language that is reader - friendly and engaging . . .
(
for many years now , one legendary film has appeared on every list of fine movies that are missing from distribution and home video . that film is nicolas roeg’s walkabout , the 1971 drama about a fourteen - year - old girl and her little brother , who are…
walkabout has a good script by edward bond , and is directed and stunningly photographed by nicolas roeg .
while mainly manufactured in australia , the film was entered into cannes as the official british entry , and is usually considered a british film , though the finance is american . because it ' s a rare thing - an interesting film made in australia in 1970 - many are willing to claim it as at least a part - australian film .
roeg ' s vision of the film and his method of working has remained consistent .
the erroneous statement which suggests that walkabout is only done by boys undergoing initiation , reflects the impossibility of white culture being able to really understand aboriginal culture . an illustrated encyclopedia of aboriginal life describes walkabout as being :
i had to see this for film history and really liked the film however , i really didn ' t understand the last quarter of the film . your explanation was eye - opening and very pleasant to read ( comparing to wikipedia ) . thank you so much for taking the time to write it out , i have a whole new respect for this film ! - inola
mcgregor , craig ,
walkabout : beautiful but fake ? ,
in new york times , 18 july 1971 .
izod j . ,
walkabout : wasted journey ,
in sight and sound ( london ) , spring 1980 .
looking for movie tickets ? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing walkabout ( 1971 ) near you .
a b ebert , roger . “walkabout by nicolas roeg” . the criterion collection . retrieved 2008 - 02 - 17 .
name = ' fellwanderer ' ] my earlier criterion dvd of walkabout plays just fine on my region 2 dvd recorder .
walkabout fared poorly at the box office in australia . critics debated whether it could be considered an australian film , and whether it was an embrace or a reaction to the country’s cultural and natural context . [ 2 ]
box office : the film did not do well in its initial run in australia or north america .
roeg had been thinking about the film for several years before he got the chance to make it .
if you seek out another post of mine , i did a detailed track breakdown of the film .
in - class group shoot to familiarize students with digital video cameras . cinema department rules & regulations . introduction to motion picture cameras . film cameras vs . digital cameras . differences between working in film & video .
my earlier criterion dvd of walkabout plays just fine on my region 2 dvd recorder . though i think it is almost immoral , i can understand the logic for making dvds region locked when film releases occur in the us long before the rest of the world but why on earth when releasing a forty year old film in blu - ray ?
still from walkabout , starring luc roeg , jenny agutter and david gulpilil : a work of striking atmospheric contrasts . photograph : pr
you should read louis nowra ' s book on walkabout if you haven ' t already . it offers invaluable insight into it .
but it should be noted that up to this time no australian feature film had captured with such imagination or beauty aboriginal dance , as displayed by gulpilil in his courtship dance . whatever else might be said about it , the film expanded the imagination and understanding of those who would take part in the australian feature film revival .
playwright , scriptwriter and novelist louis nowra wrote an eighty page study of the film for currency press in 2003 .
the criterion collection dvd release of the film is billed as the “original , unedited director’s cut” . [ 3 ]
i opt for criterion ' s walkabout and the red shoes too , but i bought them when there was virtually nothing out on region 2 . blu - ray walkabout is tempting me to upgrade to blu - ray , but i am trying to resisting buying blu - ray player until i need to replace my dvd player . i would only re - buy handful of my dvd so it is not economical to upgrade just for one film . if my player holds out and i can move straight on to walkabout 3d .
just watched walkabout and wanted to read some other points of view on the symbolism in the film . very grateful that i found john ' s blog and some very thoughtful , considered opinions from others . will be heading back here again . cheers .
like any memorable work of art , walkabout manages to convey certain elusive insights that , upon reflection , are so obvious they seem revelatory .
before director nicolas roeg gave the world one of the finest and most disturbing horror films ever made , don ' t look now , in 1973 , he crafted an equally brilliant but very different film set in the australian outback , 1971 ' s walkabout .
one of the best writers analyzing contemporary genre film and television .
- ( theofantastique , 11 / 13 )
the poem read at the end of the film is poem 40 from a . e . housman’s a shropshire lad .
to wit , walkabout is a film consisting of very little dialogue , and the shooting script was reportedly just fourteen pages long . and yet there isn ' t a moment of
emptiness
to be found anywhere in walkabout . rather , through the repeating motif of cross - cuts , director roeg encourages audiences to consider a story about innocence , and perhaps more specifically , the death of innocence .
met with mixed reviews and dismal box office returns in australia , walkabout has since established itself as a significant film in the cinematic canon ; it boasts a 93 % rating on rotten tomatoes and was classified as a “great movie” by roger ebert in 1997 . this experimental adaptation of james vance marshall’s book the children ( since retitled walkabout ) uses its simplistic story – a young boy and teenage girl stranded in the outback befriend an aboriginal boy on walkabout – to frame a coming of age story complicated by questions of race , civilisation and sexuality .
anyone going to see walkabout at the bfi ? it is being screened several times in march . hoping to be there myself - of course !
i opt for criterion ' s walkabout and the red shoes too , but i bought them when there was virtually nothing out on region 2 .
the distinctive musician and composer discusses his instinctive approach to composition and the value of a total immersion into a film’s world .
neither film won . the grand prix that year was another uk entry , joseph losey ' s the go - between .
when re - issued in 1998 in australia , the film managed only a token a $ 68 , 720 in business , equivalent to a $ 95 , 507 in 2009 a $ , according to the film victoria report on australian box office .
the sequence , effective within itself , cannot carry the burden of the whole film , though by default it must . the film runs along for most of its length on the simple continued addition of contrasts and this sudden multiplication of meanings and levels only emphasizes the poverty of what precedes and follows rather than raising the film as a whole to a more majestic complexity .
a truly great film , and walkabout is a truly great film , is not only great in its totality but also has a profound effect on its viewers in two ways ( imo ) : i ) every viewing can bring something new or a different twist to a scene ; ii ) every viewer is made to think and interpret it according to their own philosophy and understanding of the world .
macnab , geoffrey ,
going walkabout ,
in sight & sound ( london ) , vol . 9 , no . 3 , march 1999 .
some years ago , i screened nicolas roeg’s 1973 film don’t look now for a group of international students who were learning english . rarely have i seen an audience more engaged by what they were watching . we discussed the film afterward , and i w…
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
however , we must accept that film is a construction , and not a document of place . if a statement is presented as fact though , it should be correct . the desire for verisimilitude cannot be satisfied here , in this complex and fantastic film .
the film was a box office flop in australia , but did respectable business internationally , and has had a good ancillary life .
the final lines in the film are from a poem by a . e . housman , a shropshire lad , stanza 40 :
film critic edward guthmann also notes the strong use of exotic natural images , calling them a “chorus of lizards” . [ 6 ]
of their girlfriends doesn ' t it ? but no the only closest i got was seeing the film ' four feathers . '
parsons , d . ,
lost highway , walkabout ,
in cinefantastique ( forest park ) , vol . 28 , no . 12 , 1997 .
edward guthmann ( january 3 , 1997 ) . “intriguing ` walkabout’ in the past” . urltoken . san francisco chronicle . retrieved 2008 - 02 - 18 .
the film put david gulpilil , one of this country ' s finest indigenous actors , on the map . it premiered at the cannes film festival but performed poorly at the local box office and drew a mixed response from critics . among the topics debated by reviewers was whether it was actually australian . walkabout was financed with american money , adapted from an english novel by an english director and stars mostly english actors .
one of the horror genre ' s
most widely read critics
( rue morgue # 68 ) ,
an accomplished film journalist
( comic buyer ' s guide # 1535 ) , and the award - winning author of horror films of the 1980s ( 2007 ) , the rock and roll film encyclopedia ( 2007 ) and horror films of the 1970s ( 2002 ) , john kenneth muir , presents his blog on film , television and nostalgia , named one of the top 100 film studies blog on the net .
after the film was restored , it was given a new theatrical life in australia , europe and the united states , and received a number of new reviews - for example , the film only arrived in san francisco in 1997 , and received a review here .
based loosely on a 1959 adventure novel by james vance marshall , walkabout amply displays the director ' s unfettered , prodigious talent for crafting symbolic visuals . roeg ' s considerable efforts here remind the engaged viewer that film - - in the final analysis - - is truly a visual art form .
walkabout is one of those australian films that… isn’t . made with american money by an english director and english screenwriter , it’s nonetheless one of the most important films about the australian outback . along with wake in fright – which also premiered at the 1971 cannes film festival – walkabout solidified an international perception of australia’s outback as harsh , barren and exotic ; an iconography reinforced by the likes of men at work and crocodile dundee in the years to come .
now , 27 years after the film ' s release , the reconstructed
walkabout ,
which was never released on video in either version , has finally arrived . it opens today at the castro for a one - week run and plays january 17 - 20 at the uc theatre in berkeley .
blu - ray walkabout is tempting me to upgrade to blu - ray , but i am trying to resisting buying blu - ray player until i need to replace my dvd player . i would only re - buy handful of my dvd so it is not economical to upgrade just for one film .
walkabout is the rare film of its era to include an aboriginal actor in a leading role . the first film to do so was charles chauvel’s last film , jedda , starring robert tudawali and ngarla kunoth . eligible for a palme d’or in the award’s first year – 1955 – jedda is an australian take on romeo and juliet that remains an important milestone in australian cinema . like walkabout – and films of the era such as the chant of jimmie blacksmith – it concludes in tragedy for its aboriginal characters ; whether the persistent victimhood of indigenous australians in these films is a reflection of their real - life tragedy at the hands of the white government , or a trite example of white filmmakers failing their characters depends entirely on your perspective .
one last note : if the romantic , sweeping music in
walkabout
sounds suspiciously like the score for
out of africa ,
it ' s no accident . john barry wrote both , and he obviously borrowed from
walkabout
to create the oscar - winning , very similar work on
out of africa .
held , l . ,
myth and archetype in nicolas roeg ' s walkabout ,
in post script ( jacksonville , florida ) , spring - summer 1986 .
greenway , j . ,
film : no sex , no bushman ,
in national review ( new york ) , october 1975 .
these questions willl strike a familiar chord as they are the same ones that have been chasing their tail since the film ' s release .
an indigenous perspective on nowra ' s book is provided here , and it too questions the film and nowra ' s interpretation of it .
roeg creates in walkabout a world of his own , a microcosmos that is at once beautiful , primitive , wild , familiar yet unfamiliar , thoughtful , and thought provoking .
walkabout finds an emotional centre when the kids meet an aboriginal australian ( gulpilil ) who helps them find water and joins them as they drift between sun - parched settings .
gomez , joseph ,
another look at nicolas roeg ,
in film criticism ( edinboro , pennsylvania ) , no . 6 , 1981 .
choose your car and put your seat belt on , because you are about to drive through the free website highway of the british film industry .
after an opening intertitle explaining the meaning of the term walkabout – “in australia , when an aborigine man - child reaches sixteen , he is sent out into the land… [ t ] he aborigines call it the walkabout” – added by the studio in post - production , roeg’s film commences a montage that juxtaposes images of the outback – red rocks , dusty plains , sidney nolan paintings come to life – with footage of sydney – red brick walls , rows of schoolchildren , hordes of pedestrians – overlaid with traditional didgeridoo music . this kind of juxtaposition is judiciously throughout walkabout both to create an emotional affect and to contrast the perceptions of western modernity and aboriginal traditions .
( sorry if this repeats . . . my comment didn ' t show up ) i had to watch this film for my film history class . i really really enjoyed it however , i didn ' t understand the last quarter of the film ; and i truly wanted to . your explanation was so clear , interesting to read and enormously helpful ! i have a whole new respect for this film . there are so many interesting facts about how it was made but i didn ' t think that the symbolism ran that deep . thank you so much for posting ! - inola
kleinhans , chuck ,
performance , walkabout , don ' t look now , nicolas roeg—permutations without profundity ,
in jump cut ( chicago ) , september - october 1974 .
waller , n . ,
nicolas roeg—a sense of wonder ,
in film criticism ( edinboro , pennsylvania ) , no . 1 , 1976 .
i am no film buff but happened upon this film , which i knew in name only , and thought it might be worth a watch . how pleased i am . though i felt i didn ' t understand it much , reviews such as this have confirmed my thoughts about what was going on . and being driven to find reviews at all says something about how the film has affected me and i hope stays with me for some time .
. . . muir covers everything from film to television to books to retro toys with no - holds - barred affection . . .
(
it ' s only blu - ray walkabout that would make me upgrade so it looks like i ' ll have to make sure it ' s a recorder which can be chipped .
as you should expect from a criterion reissue , this latest incarnation looks and sounds spectacular : if you have never owned walkabout on dvd , this is the type of film that justifies the expense and epitomizes the positive aspects of newer and better technology . to be certain , one does not need a big flat panel with surround - sound to fully enjoy the many charms of this particular film , but let’s face it , it’s the next best thing to seeing it in a theater .
the ballad of narayama
is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice , telling a story of startling cruelty . what a space it opens…
to celebrate the 20th anniversary of iconic australian movie ' shine ' , we look back at the inspirational story behind the film , and its enduring themes .
the free website highway of the british film industry . for more information on the filmnav website or enquire about inclusion or advertsing please get in contact : urltoken
thank you for your wonderful blog on walkabout . . . this film completely blew me away , and this line taken from your writing summed it up ;
the film ' s ultimate point is that there is nothing harsher and more difficult than living a life that goes against your very nature .
i was left reeling , crying deep tears of recognition . such a beautifully shot , wide wide wide open film . vast and full of amazing details . god how humans can just fuck things up , the scene of the guys with their shotguns , the sound of the guns so loud loud . horrific ! gulpin - what a love . nina
two young siblings are stranded in the australian outback and are forced to cope on their own . they meet an australian boy on
walkabout
: a ritual separation from his tribe .
walkabout may not be an australian film in the technical definition , but it went on to form an enduring legacy . it is regarded as one of the earliest works of the australian new wave and is considered seminal — particularly for its bold , dreamlike exploration of the australian wilderness and the deep spiritual bonds between the land and its original occupants .
the word
walkabout
refers to an aboriginal rite of passage in which an adolescent aboriginal boy goes out alone in the bush for six months to initiate his manhood . that ritual doesn ' t include chaperoning white people through the bush , of course , and one of the greatest points of tension in
walkabout
is the erotic curiosity that grows between agutter and gumpilil .
opening caption : in australia , when an aborigine man - child reaches sixteen , he is sent out into the land . for months he must live from it . sleep on it . eat of its fruit and flesh . stay alive . even if it means killing his fellow creatures . the aborigines call it the walkabout . this is the story of a
walkabout
.
fortunately for me ( as a critic ) and you ( as a potential viewer ) , there ' s more to walkabout than pure cinema . [ note to readers : i ' m not against pure cinema ; i just generally can ' t handle it for more than thirty minutes and i find it difficult to write about . ] the plot may be minimal and the film may primarily define itself visually but those two factors intersect to provide the film with a multi - layered subtext . first , as roger ebert has noted in his great movies essay , the film is about the difficulty of communication between two separate cultures . secondly , you can read the film and its devastating conclusion as a tale about modernization ' s effects on native culture . what types of struggles must an immigrant / colonized subject face when they are integrated into an industrialized society ? third , you can read the film as a love story between the young aborigine boy on his walkabout ( a coming of age ritual in which a boy fends for himself and , if he returns , is declared a man ) and a white woman who is attracted to him , but unable to relate to him .
like many of the best comedies and tragedies , this weimar - era silent film understands how each mode is often a hair ' s breadth from the other .
walkabout suggests that living off a harsh , natural land is tough work . you have scorpions , ants , dehydration and other challenges to overcome . you have to find water and hunt for your supper . but i believe the film ' s ultimate point is that there is nothing harsher and more difficult than living a life that goes against your very nature .
the film is interspersed with numerous images of australian plant and animal life , along with its varied landscapes . the director often uses those images to emphasize events in the plot and set the emotional tone , most notably during the violent scene involving the rifle hunters . though many of the events are impossible in a natural setting—in one scene a wombatwanders past the sleeping children in the middle of a desert—they create a backdrop of a populous , varied environment . in walkabout , an analysis of the film , author louis nowra wrote :
this critique of civilization recurs throughout the film . for instance , as mentioned above , the boy and the girl find an oasis of life in the desert - -
electronic dance only appears in small bits in the film , not as a whole track and is near the end when the children find the abandoned ' village ' .
no not really . i used to we used to make model aeroplanes out of balsa wood but move that over . we ' re not on film are we ?
the best film to partner with the film is perhaps the aforementioned wake in fright . the films share a release date and setting , while offering similarly robust perspectives on the outback . while wake in fright eschews the indigenous perspective to consider the white man’s corruption in the australian wilderness – kangaroo hunting and gambling and brawling and far , far too many beers . taken in concert with walkabout , the two films offer a complex and complete – if not entirely complimentary – portrait of australia’s outskirts as it was perceived some 45 years ago .
the film’s regular use of montage and intercutting emphasises roeg’s trademark “rather bizarre attitudes towards time” ( his own words ) . as in his follow - up , don’t look now , walkabout eschews the linear conventions of commercial cinema for something ambiguous and amorphous . there’s the suggestion that roeg’s curious atemporality is inspired by aboriginal culture , unbound by the rigidity of clocks and schedules .
we revisit nicolas roeg ' s 1971 coming - of - age classic , ' walkabout ' ( now available at sbs on demand ) , and the questions it raised about race , civilisation and sexuality .
soon , the girl and boy encounter an aborigine teenager ( david gulpilil ) on a
walkabout ,
a rite of passage in which young men trace the heritage of their ancestors on the land .
others who saw it on its initial release will share those memories , but at the same time , some have raised questions about nowra ' s views on the film .
gulpilil , born in 1953 , had appeared in aboriginal dance troupes , and went on to a long career in australian film and television roles . he is credited as gumpilil .
walkabout ' s obvious concern is the relationship between two parties , separated by centuries of diverting societal behaviors , and thus , differentiated perceptions of sexual roles and etiquette . but what ensues is more ambiguous and interpretative .
the pessimism of the conclusion may be inappropriate to australia , and particularly to aboriginal life today , but perhaps we can see walkabout as a memorial representation of all those indigenous peoples who have died in the colonising process .
after the initial mixed and muddled box office reception , the film has gone on to attract all kinds of critical attention , and been accepted into the canon of australian - manufactured films .
speaking from london , the 70 - year - old film - maker is unsurprised that the film has aged so well , citing the essential timelessness of the story :
what interests me is always the same thing : a simple story about life and being alive , not covered with sophistry , but addressing the most basic human themes : birth , death , mutability .
are these two films just exercises in melancholy voyeurism ? apparently so , unless one is to take roeg’s clodhopper homilies seriously such as the quote from a . e . housman near the end of walkabout , which transforms the victorian’s genteel stoicism into an edgar guest platitude . apparently so , unless one is to find the references to borges in performance carrying the film to a more philosophical level than business equals crime .
a young sister and brother are abandoned in the harsh australian outback and must learn to cope in the natural world , without their usual comforts , in this hypnotic masterpiece from nicolas roeg . along the way , they meet a young aborigine on his “walkabout , ” a rite of passage in which adolescent boys are initiated into manhood by journeying into the wilderness alone . walkabout is a thrilling adventure as well as a provocative rumination on time and civilization .
in his commentary roeg disclaims putting up the opening title explaining the ' walkabout ' , suggesting either twentieth century fox did it , or someone else did it on their behalf . he says he dislikes that kind of explanatory device .
the roger ebert essay that accompanied the dvd release is available on the criterion website ( at time of writing ) here , while paul ryan takes a lengthier look on the same website under the header walkabout : landscapes of memory .
the film’s most surreal , and strangely wonderful sequence occurs when the aborigine , misconstruing the girl’s gratitude for love , performs a ritualistic courting dance for her . it is a scene that ends almost as quickly — and silently — as it begins , but the subsequent events will forever change both people’s lives . as the film concludes , everything is brought full circle , with a twist .
with the outback serving as both a backdrop and character in the film ' s narrative , and by marshaling a voice - over poem at just the right moment ( from alfred edward housman ' s 1896 work
a shropshire lad ,
) roeg crafts an immensely emotional film ; one that will deeply affect you for days after a screening . this is even more the case now , since roeg ' s director ' s cut is featured on the blu ray edition rather than the original theatrical release ( which trimmed much of the film ' s full frontal nudity ) .
only in the film ' s last scene , do we see an older , reflective woman consider the aborigine boy ; and what he meant in her life ; and what he gave to her . she imagines a scene right out of paradise : the three wanderers in the desert frolicking in the water ; on a rock . it is an image of lost innocence , and it is the image we leave on in walkabout .
early in the film , for example , we see agutter ' s character setting - up a blanket and picnic lunch out in harsh desert ; clearly a misguided attempt to tame the unspoiled earth . while she imposes mankind ' s sense of order on the desert , the film cross - cuts to views of lizards and other inhabitants , going about their business , oblivious to her attempts .
hickling - hudson , a . ,
white construction of black identity in australian films about aborigines ,
in literature / film quarterly ( salisbury , maryland ) , no . 4 , 1990 .
roeg and agutter were in separate locations when their contribution to the commentary was recorded , but each offer insights into the film and the making of it , and their thoughts chime together reasonably well .
“see the difference between artificiality and naturalness . you and i can see it in this image or set of images , but the characters in the film cannot , and this is our superiority . ”
walkabout ' s ending diagrams the death of innocence . gulpilil ' s character has learned that he cannot adapt to the strange rules of modern
civilization .
and in that coda - - set years after his demise - agutter ' s sense of hoplessness is tangible . it reflects , purposefully , the little boy ' s sense of defeat early in the film , upon reckoning with the unending desert , one stretching to unknown horizons .
i think the film is neutral about such goals . like its lizards that sit unblinking in the sun , it has no agenda for them . it sees the life of civilization as arid and unrewarding , but only easy idealism allows us to believe that the aborigine is any happier , or his life more rewarding ( the film makes a rather unpleasant point of the flies constantly buzzing around him ) .
but returned to modern civilization ( and bred to that civilization ) , agutter ' s character cannot make the same leap . instead , she denies any feeling she might have for the aborigine boy and falls back on the
etiquette
of her culture . early in walkabout we see her practicing etiquette lessons while listening to a program on the radio ; and that ' s the very world the english girl retreats to at film ' s end .
the appeal of roeg’s films to date rests on different qualities for different audiences . for the user of mild psychedelic drugs , performance , and to a lesser extent the other two films , provides a great multiplicity of visual and aural inputs . however the users often confuse the undeniable plethora of impressions , and its pleasantness , with indicating a meaningfulness and aesthetic complexity which is not there on sober examination . somewhat overlapping this audience is the appeal of the first two films to late adolescents , who seek in film art an experience , a knowledge , a statement in a somewhat different form . this too , roeg certainly provides , but exploring “identity” rather than “being” has its limits for viewers who have moved on from the former to the latter in their own experience . for people especially interested in film as an art , roeg is very interesting in his willingness to exploit film as film and for his ability to work in the commercial feature system successfully while pushing the uniquely filmic over standard melodramatic film narrative . with don ' t look now roeg demonstrated his appeal for film goers who prefer classy entertainment , though he did so by focusing on characters and a life style that seems right out of the ad pages of the new yorker .
i ' m getting in a walkabout mood in anticipation of the march 5th screening at the nft ( with jenny agutter and luc roeg attending ) and i was wondering about an aspect of the film which i haven ' t seen analysed . at the beginning a voice says
faites vos jeux , monsieurs , dames s ' il vous plait
, and at the end a title comes up which reads
rien ne va plus
. i must admit it took several viewings of the film before i even noticed these , probably because the volume of the voiceover is quite low and the closing title is probably chopped off from many tv ( and even cinema ) prints .
perhaps more plainly , the destruction of the desert oasis and its resources is referenced late in the film when the boy and the girl come across a similar setting , writ large : a virtually abandoned mining town .
for a film made in australia at the time , the soundtrack is relatively advanced , with the sound effects , and the effects - laden music , and the radio , contributing to the sense of a tone poem .
is
walkabout
only about what it seems to be about ? is it a parable about noble savages and the crushed spirits of city dwellers ? that ' s what the film ' s surface seems to suggest , but i think it ' s also about something deeper and more elusive : the mystery of communication . it ends with lives that are destroyed , in one way or another , because two people could not invent a way to make their needs and dreams clear .
walkabout ’s screenplay , written by english playwright edward bond , is famously spare ; roeg described it as a “fourteen - page prose poem . ” with such a slender script , the production thus relied on improvisation . consequentially , the final product tends to rely more on images than dialogue to tell its story ( a familiar feature of roeg’s filmography ) . this suits the way the film emphasises on the difficulty of authentic communication throughout , whether in the trappings of ‘civilised’ society or in the australian wilderness – as discussed in ebert’s aforementioned review , where he argues that walkabout is about the “mystery of communication , ” noting that “the crucial detail is that the two teenagers never find a way to communicate , not even by using sign language . ”
dominated by dazzling photography , gorgeous images and a lush john barry score , walkabout ably serves up a side - by - side comparison between disparate worlds : city life in modern adelaide ( though it looks like sydney ) and the wild , untamed life of the outback . unexpectedly , the crueler , more savage and difficult world , according to the film , is that of the modern and
civilized
man . in the desert , at least , you can understand your enemies .
a final voice over ends the film on a melancholy and wistful note .
that is the land of lost content / i see it shining plain / the happy highways where i went / and cannot come again .
“is it a parable about noble savages and the crushed spirits of city dwellers ? that’s what the film’s surface suggests , but i think it’s about something deeper and more elusive : the mystery of communication . ” [ 7 ]
walkabout : drama . starring jenny agutter , david gumpilil and lucien john . directed and photographed by nicholas roeg . written by edward bond . ( not rated . 100 minutes . at the castro through january 9 and the uc theatre in berkeley january 17 - 20 . )
but the children - a teenage girl ( jenny agutter ) and her younger brother ( lucien john ) - survive , and wander aimlessly in the wilderness until they meet up with an aboriginal boy ( david gulpilil ) who is on a walkabout as part of his initiation .
the film ' s opening shots form a mosaic of metropolitan life strung together with a buzzy tati - like vibe . roeg overlays didgeridoo music onto cluttered cityscapes loaded with cars , buildings , businesspeople and slickers going about daily routines .
it was re - released in 1998 in australia , and did a $ 68 , 720 in business , equivalent to a $ 95 , 507 in 2009 a $ , according to the film victoria report on australian box office .
the film is commonly dated to 1971 by the oxford and other databases . however the copyright notice is for 1970 , and this site uses the date of copyright , where available , as the best indication of year of manufacture .
like ted kotcheff’s masterpiece wake in fright , which was released the same year as walkabout and also took a long time to earn its reputation as a classic , the unforgettable vividness with which roeg captures the australian outback arises from the perspective of a foreigner trying to understand it .
“home > festival archives > selections > in competition > official selection 1971″ . festival de cannes website . france : festival de cannes . archived from the original on 2010 - 08 - 26 . retrieved 2010 - 08 - 26 . “official selection 1971… . walkabout directed by nicolas roeg”
this scene is an important refutation to interpretations of the film that reduce it to a paternalistic take on aboriginal culture . while walkabout undeniably romanticises indigenous australian culture , it does so with a critical eye . in the final scene , the girl’s conversation with her husband is interrupted with a syrupy reminiscence of her time in the bush , where the three children frolic naked in a waterhole . but the scene is not a memory , but a reconstructed daydream – an idealised , fictionalised memory of something that never occurred .
wow john - no one ' s biting on the comments . or else you ' ve been too busy to mod them , perhaps . anyway , i read half of your review yesterday , and then sought out the film and watched it for myself . i ' ve just come back and read the remainder of your review and from my perspective , you nailed it . the imagery is very much
in your face
and the film pulls no punches in displaying the sharp contrasts between
modern
life and the natural symbiotic relationship between the aborigine and the outback . reading some other online reviews paint the film is being exploitative of the young actress , but in viewing the film that concept was farthest from my mind . i thought the director skillfully used just about every shot to evoke a natural emotional reaction that was completely inline with his message . the freaky 1960 ' s - 1970 ' s vibe is prevalent throughout and , being a child of the 70 ' s , i thoroughly enjoyed every drop of it . i ' d never seen or heard of this film before reading your review . thank you for sharing it with us john . - nick
cinematically , the contrasts in roeg’s films are continuous . in walkabout , for example , the urban children are first seen together in a swimming pool next to a body of natural water . their western urban clothing is contrasted with the native’s belt of snakes . the urban pair rely on verbal language and find security in the voices on their transistor radio , while communication with the young hunter is effective only through gesture , etc . at times roeg’s fascination with visual antonyms is almost bludgeoning . the native hunts with spear and hands while europeans are shown killing game with a rifle fired from a jeep . cutting apart a kangaroo for dinner in the wild is opposed to an urban butcher shop . a burning auto is crosscut with a roasting animal carcass . these juxtapositions—and walkabout is especially loaded with them - are a lévi - strauss type of structuralist’s perfect data . . . but they lack any especial meaning . in walkabout the establishing sequence at the beginning gives us the contrast , but the contrast is then continued for the rest of the film in an all too predictable vein .
walkabout was on tcm lastnight . i had never heard of the film , nor did i watch it from the begining . i missed the part about the father , and i mistakenly assumed he died in a car accident while the childen were unharmed . i found your commentary while searching online to learn more about the movie . after reading several different review sites i ' m dismayed no one thought it odd that none of the dialog of any of the aboriginals is subtitled . the film would seem to be very much about city vs nature , loss of innocence , commentary on isolation in proximity , etc . what got my attention is during the entire film there is an entire culture left mute only in so much as we have no idea what any of the aboriginals are saying . for all we know they could have been told by the director to speak gibberish , or they are talking about us in front of our faces - they see us as children dependent on our toys . in this i wondered if the film mocked the viewers . there is more concern about nudity of the girl than the tacit silencing of the native culture . how very missionary ! ! the irony ! ! ! ! in the end i was insulted that the aboriginal boy took his life over the rejection from the girl . it was great for the shock value but for me the film leapt from a plausable commentary filled with symbolism to a cliche designed to ruffle english sensibilties .
taken in toto , this threatens to mythologise and romanticise indigenous australian culture . indeed , it’s easy to regard gulpilil’s character as the epitome of the reductive “noble savage” stereotype : pure , simple , idealised . this is tempered , somewhat , by the prominence of death within the film – suicides and burnt - out cars and abandoned towns and fields filled with buffalo bones . walkabout expands upon the book’s comparatively simple conception of aboriginal culture as “devoted to one purpose… the battle with death” by portraying death with unvarnished , brutal honesty .
the most effective parallels and contrasts in performance involve identities , social roles , sexual roles , disguises , costumes , and performances . in the last analysis it adds up to permutations without profundity . roeg puts the film characters and the film audience through a lot of changes , but to no apparent end . granted , that carefully going through the film one can find traces of references to jorge luis borges , bergman’s persona , painters francis bacon , richard hamilton , and peter blake . but in the flow of the film they are not picked up , or if they are ( merged faces from persona , a pretty obvious one ) , they don ' t add anything , not even self - congratulation at having caught it . if the outside references mean anything , particularly to a stoned audience , it is merely as part of the cultural ambiance of our times , and it would be pretentious to make anything out of it as far as criticism of the film goes . but , one feels roeg really is trying to make something more out of his films than simple mental massages or mind candy for freaks . in a recent sight and sound interview ( winter 1973 - 74 ) he confesses his
but the film doesn’t present these two cultures as equals , instead according the aboriginal traditions with a sense of purity absent from ‘civilised’ culture . this is explicated as the film progresses ; a scene involving weather balloonists stationed in the outback is overtly farcical , while footage of white hunters shooting buffalo for sport earns tears from gulpilil’s silent observer . with a montage of abandoned buffalo corpses , roeg positions the white man’s hunting as cruel and excessive , in contrast to the aborigine’s purposeful communion with nature .
the idea for the film - the eventual script started at a reputed fourteen or so pages , and in the end ran no longer than fifty eight or sixty pages - came from the novel by james vance marshall , first published in 1959 .
considered on its most basic terms as a deeply moving and occasionally disturbing drama that features consistently astonishing cinematography , walkabout is entirely successful . as a subtly , almost casually polemic work , it is certain to compel just about any viewer to consider the world , and their preconceptions , in a slightly ( or radically ) different way . on deeper levels , the film’s refreshing lack of calculated profundity allows the arresting vistas of the australian outback — at once gorgeous and grim — to serve as both setting and a wordless commentary that speaks volumes .
those entranced by walkabout ’s disregard for linear time and exploitation of disorienting editing would do well to investigate roeg’s early filmography . the likes of don’t look now , the man who fell to the earth and the controversial thriller bad timing demonstrate the unique ambiguity that made roeg an important arthouse director .
the movie takes its title from a custom among the australian aborigines : during the transition to young manhood , an adolescent aborigine went on a
walkabout
of six months in the outback , surviving ( or not ) depending on his skills at hunting , trapping and finding water in the wilderness .
is it a parable about noble savages and the crushed spirits of city dwellers ? that ' s what the film ' s surface seems to suggest , but i think it ' s also about something deeper and more elusive : the mystery of communication .


the canal is a 2014 irish horror film that was directed and written by ivan kavanagh .

the film had its world premiere on april 18 , 2014 , at the tribeca film festival , and stars rupert evans as a father investigating a horrific murder that took place in his home in the early 1900s .

the canal ( 2014 film )

reviewed at sitges film festival , oct . 6 , 2014 . ( also in tribeca , busan film festivals . ) running time : 94 min .
an empowering narrative from inside the war . when multicultural and heterogenous allies give hope . in december 2014 isis militants . . .
the film is beset in imagery that references pregnancy and childbirth ; water plays a big factor , as does duality . the references in the canal are two - fold – there is the canal where david’s wife’s body is found , and the birth canal is referenced in a scene of unnerving horror . the canal is a visceral , gripping film experience , one to be experienced theatrically .
the world premiere of ‘the canal’ will take place in the midnight section of the tribeca film festival at 10pm on friday april 18 .
download a . srt file of the jump scares in the canal [ more info ] .
for treasure entertainment , a feature film written and directed by conor mcpherson which won the award for best actor at the tribeca film festival for ciaran hinds and also won the ifta for best film . in 2009 , rebecca produced the feature film
there’s no 2014 horror film that was more critically acclaimed than the babadook , which used tragedy - induced madness as the springboard for a truly effective horror story . it’s a shame that so few seem to have seen it , because the canal does much the same thing , and is every bit as impressive as last year’s horror darling .
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one of the least “horror” looking titles at the tribeca film festival is ivan kavanagh’s irish ghost story , the canal , which is surprisingly dark and scary .
the canal review : this movie will scare you silly | birth . movies . death .
a truly original horror film isn ' t easy to come by these days . . . the canal , isn ' t the film that ' s going to change that , but it does have its positives .
i’m home alone right now and as i sit here writing this review , with all the lights in the house intentionally turned on , i can’t help but feel incredibly unsettled , like a kid who’s convinced there’s a monster in his bedroom closet . if that’s not the hallmark of a potent horror film then i’m not sure what is – and if the canal isn’t the scariest horror film of 2014 , then i’m also not sure what is .
as we ramp up for the 2014 tribeca film festival in nyc this april 16 - 27 , more and more material on the films that will be playing the fest come pouring in . today we ' ve discovered that the festival page has a mighty fine trailer for one of its midnight selections .
starring andrew scott , fionn o ' shea and nick galitzine . the film premiered in toronto international film festival in september 2016 . most recently robert produced hugh o ' conor ' s debut feature film
the canal ( 2014 ) is one of those films with an ending that nobody saw coming . it’s a “ghost in the house” story that may or may not have any ghosts , and follows the downward spiral of a man versus his family . the film’s ending not only slaps you in the mouth with a sack of rocks , it makes you reconsider everything you’ve just watched . but the film is deliberately constructed to be ambiguous , so there’s no concrete answer as to what happened at the end .
the cops stationed outside hear claire’s scream and break into the house . david grabs billy and flees into the canal through the manhole .
looking for movie tickets ? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing the canal near you .
jump scare rating : only a few jumpscares in the latter half of the film .
david williams works as an archivist at the national film archives alongside claire mcmanus . david and his wife alice move into a new home situated near a canal to start a family .
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she has worked as a lecturer in screenwriting at the huston film school ; dun laoghaire film school ; filmbase and dcu and delivered training for screen training ireland .
david and billy take a walk along the canal . david spots the shadow of a woman in the grass . he retrieves the camera and films the shape while he closes his eyes and billy hides . david then drops off the film with claire for processing .
just as the events of this one are a waking nightmare for its main character , so too is the film a waking nightmare for the viewer . if you like your horror scary , turn off the lights and take a dip in the canal .
paddy considine as dai donovan alongside bill nighy in the film pride . photograph : nicola dove
rebecca lectures on the ma in screenwriting course at the school of film and digital media in nui galway , as well as guest lecturing at on a number of other film courses .
rupert evans plays a film archivist who uncovers a film reel that shows that their house was the subject of a multiple murder in 1902 . while he explores this reel –
through ghastly imagery and a chilling score , ivan kavanagh ' s the canal is an irish ghost story that will leave you with a fear of the dark and a dripping chill down your spine long after the film ' s conclusion .
in the canal , david suddenly remembers that it was actually he who just strangled claire to death . he also recalls confronting alice after she left alex’s house and drowning her in the canal . david then has a vision of alice’s corpse giving birth to a grotesque child .
the film will have its world premiere on april 18 . now check out that trailer below !
first and foremost , it is by no means a perfect film . if i had to the…
claire is a graduate of the national film school , iadt where she specialised in drama production .
she regularly co - ordinates and organises workshops and symposia with the national film school , iadt .
with the possible exception of “puddle , ” the film’s title and thus its central setting is perhaps the most benign water body for which a word exists . “the canal” doesn’t exactly suggest swift movement in the way “waterfall” or “rapids” might , and it certainly doesn’t scream horror , either . add in that the featured protagonist works as a film archivist , a profession one character confuses for a librarian , and the setup is upfront from its outset that “the canal” is unlikely to be heavy on smash - mouth thrills .
a depressed and stressed film archivist finds his sanity crumbling after he is given an old 16mm film reel with footage from a horrific murder that occurred in the early 1900 ' s .
a graduate of ucd and king’s inns , rebecca worked in a freelance capacity for a number of years in the irish film industry before she moved to the irish film board to work as a development manager , selecting and managing the board’s vast development slate including shorts , animation , television and film .
the commission and the floating cinema were supported by arts council england ' s strategic touring programme , bfi , film hub north , esmée fairbairn foundation , canal & river trust , hull city council and forms part of hull city of culture 2017 .
“we hope ‘the canal’ can be watched and re - watched , and the events can be debated and interpreted in different ways , keeping the audience guessing until the very end . ”
there was a special sdcc screening of writer / director ivan kavanagh ' s highly anticipated irish indie horror the canal last night , the single event i was most excited for this year , after hearing repeatedly that this movie is the real deal . after seeing it , i can only agree . the canal is the real fucking deal .
the canal , though reliant on atmospherics and superb sound design , looks and feels more than genre cinema than kavanagh ' s earlier , freakier one .
paris , november 6 , 2014 french tv journalist from premières lignes productions edouard perrin broadcast his first investigative program on the luxembourg leaks files in may 2012 on cash investigation - the underhand tactics series - broadcasted on france 2 , french national network . premieres lignes also collaborated with bbc panorama programme . perrin has been investigating tax . . .
written and directed by irish filmmaker ivan kavanagh , the canal centers on film archivist david , who learns through vintage crime scene videos that a man killed his entire family in the home he shares with his wife and young son , back in the early 1900s . after his wife drowns in the titular canal , david becomes convinced that a demonic entity is to blame , and his happy life unravels into a waking nightmare .
“the film is filled with the director’s own fears , which we hope will be transferred to the audience . the goal was always to make a frightening horror film , pushing the genre and the medium almost to breaking point . it’s a very visceral cinematic experience . ”
the police start trailing david regularly . david finds old photographs hidden behind his bedroom wall depicting an occult ritual taking place inside the house . he then investigates the manhole in his backyard and follows a tunnel connecting to the canal . there , david discovers a small corpse and realizes that the dark man was sacrificing children and dumping their bodies in the canal .
‘the canal’ tells the story of a family which consists of a mother , father and young son who move into a period house by a canal . david ( played by evans ) suspects his wife , alice , is cheating on him . he also starts to have frightening visions of a haunting presence in the house .
an empowering narrative from inside the war . when multicultural and heterogenous allies give hope . in december 2014 isis militants managed to completely surround the town of sinjar in iraq . the yedezi kurdish residents of the mountain town , which lies about 50km from the syrian border , are trapped . but they are not beaten . xavier muntz was dropped by helicopter into sinjar and spent . . .
an exclusive and chilling investigation into the origins of the islamic terrorist group and its bloody rise , fuelled by army abuses . on april 14th 2014 over 250 schoolgirls were abducted by the boko haram group in chibok in northern nigeria . this outrageous act heralded the birth in international media of an islamic sect which had been in existence for over ten years in the region . soon after . . .
jessica gunning , left , as siân james , with imelda staunton in the film pride . photograph : nicola dove
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rather than relying completely on cheap jump scares , the canal delivers an atmosphere that is genuinely unnerving from nearly the moment the film begins , building to a point that you’re likely to contemplate turning the lights on for the remainder of its runtime . an inherently creepy hand - crank camera and an ominous hole in the wall make for some of the film’s best scares , and when all is said and done you can expect your sleeping patterns to be disrupted .
an irish , british , dutch co - production , the film marks writer / director ivan kavanagh’s third production with park films after ‘tin can man’ and ‘the fading light’ . ‘the canal’ was produced by anne marie naughton for park films with treasure entertainment’s rebecca o’ flanagan and robert walpole as executive producers .
“who wants to see ghosts ? ” a cinema archivist asks a theater full of restless kids in “the canal , ” making a clever pitch to convince those who’ve never watched anything before the dawn of sound or color to give silent pics a try : it’s the best way to see dead people . little does the mild - mannered film buff realize , however , that the next reel to pass through his hands will plunge him into a ghost story of his own , an unnerving but not terribly original nor especially commercial irish chiller that blends edwardian - era intrigue with more recent j - horror tricks . following a busy 2014 festival run , the orchard release opened oct . 10 stateside .
the canal is an eerie , atmospheric film which follows the descent of a man into potential insanity ( or possible demon - possession ) as he grieves the death of his wife . it’s got a strong lead in the ever - earnest rupert evans , who leads us along with him into a bit of madness .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
here , kavanagh discusses the canal & apos ; s many genre influences , the importance of sound design and limitless visuals to generate scares , and the plus side of not making every viewer happy .
there’s nothing particularly original about the canal , and comparisons to films like sinister are inevitable , but that’s beside the point . what’s remarkable about the film is how effective it is at getting under your skin and unnerving you , managing to do both things better than any other horror film released last year . this is psychological horror at its finest , making even the scariest modern day hollywood horror films look like child’s play .
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in 2004 she left the board and established rubicon films . in that year she also produced the rte / film base - funded short
oh , man . that poster . for this great of a film ? this great ! ? wow .
she joined treasure entertainment in 2013 , working on feature films the stag , dare to be wild and the canal . in 2015 she was appointed development executive for the company , overseeing their film and tv slate as well as co - producing feature films viva ( 2015 ) and handsome devil ( 2016 ) .
the couple spent friday night celebrating with their respective friends and relatives , she emerging from the grand canal in a flowing red gown and he sailing in a dinner jacket and unbuttoned shirt aboard the amore .
the film is about david who is a specialist in film archiving ; he is actually going through tough times , as he knew that his wife is cheating on him , with ( alex ) , his work colleague . furthermore ,
“the canal” doesn’t mount momentum through an expanding and contracting accordion of action and pauses . rather , the tension is a persistent ratchet that seldom relaxes , yet is always tightening , albeit gradually . there are the occasional “reset” scenes like “breakfast the next morning” giving brief respite . though for the most part , once “the canal” starts taking on weight , it keeps adding straws until the camel’s legs buckle for a breakneck climax .
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the canal does nothing new with its ghost story plot but that is part of its simple charm . it keeps its cards close to its chest , uses scares sparingly and hooks the audience in as we watch david go through this journey . in many respects , the canal is one of the better examples of a ghost story movie , especially to come out of a country other than america . it carries the same notes and flavours of the babadook ( which is also being shown at frightfest ) , but the film doesn’t quite hit the mark .
park films are delighted to announce that their upcoming horror feature , ‘the canal’ will have its world premiere at the opening weekend at the tribeca film festival in april . the feature was directed and written by ivan kavanagh and stars rupert evans ( ‘hellboy’ ) and ifta nominee antonia campbell - hughes ( ‘3096 days’ , ‘albert nobbs’ ) .
david williams wants nothing more than to give his wife alice the perfect life . working as a film archivist , the young , pregnant couple finally save enough to buy their first home . residing on the picturesque , irish canal it seems as though their prayers have finally been answered . an eerie coincidence unfolds at david’s office one day to threaten it all . in the screening room , he views a silent film from 1902 documenting an unsolved murder . even more bizarre is the scene of the crime , the williams new home . will david be able to come to grips with their dream home being the sight of such grisly turmoil or will he become completely undone before the canal ?
strange when two very similar movies come out on the same year and both are equally great for very different reasons . the canal has a lot in common with the babadook but dealing with very different themes and a very different approach . whilst babadook was more traditional on its narrative , giving an ambiguous but flawed ending ; the canal is ambiguous right from the start and gives a conclusion that ' s too neat and tidy . still , with lush cinematography and sound design , a very strong but quiet performance from the lead , the canal is a rather solid entre for kavanagh ' s filmography .
two major conclusions about what happened during this film ' s ending can be reached : one , the house was possessed by evil spirits from the actions that took place there in 1902 , which caused david to go insane . it took the form of his murdered wife in the canal to murder him , then took the form of david himself to “murder” the son .
we are in a great time for horror . all types of themes / ideas are being explored by new talent everyday . i love to discover new filmmakers and their new films that they unleash onto us everyday . so i ' m happy to say that new comer ( and soon to be master of horror ) ivan kavanagh is a filmmaker , who ' s unleashed the very terrifying , emotional , and sinister the canal onto us ! now , ivan kavanagh has been around for some time now , but i promise you that the canal is the film that people will remember him for , as the film is absolutely terrifying and intriguing ! the film follows a man , who suspects his wife is cheating , as he descends into madness ! that is all…
after hearing about the canal via twitter , i obviously took an interest in checking it out . i watched it and found very little to connect to , here ' s why :
much later , some time after alice’s body is discovered , detective mcnamara arrives at david’s house with questions following the police department’s discovery of the hammer in the canal . i have questions about this , as well .
kavanagh’s film relies heavily on the atmosphere and mood to create suspense , and the constant bizarre imagery and tremendous sound design help deliver in spades .
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“the canal” doesn’t connect all of its plot dots with straight lines , and that includes how needlessly complex it gets with filling in the house’s background . once the revelations play out in act three , the final picture is one of blurred logic and faulty arithmetic that doesn’t fully add up . yet by the time you realize how unsatisfactory the explanation behind the mystery is , “the canal” has already glamoured you with stylish eeriness that chills far deeper than conscious context ever could .
sarah holds a ba in german and russian from trinity college dublin and an ma in screenwriting from the national film school , iadt .
culture crypt looks at a few fantasia film festival features shaping up to be hot topics among horror fans in 2018 .
the canal has a pitch - black , serious - minded tone , starting with its opening monologue all the way through to the bleak ending . a lot of horror filmmakers feel the need to insert moments of levity into otherwise bleak movies , whether it & apos ; s the introduction of goofy paranormal investigators or a bumbling cop . how important was it for you to maintain the film & apos ; s straight - faced bleakness throughout ? yeah , and that & apos ; s what i loved about certain films in the genre . if you & apos ; re going to make a horror film , then make a horror film . just really go for broke and make a waking nightmare , like that experience i had with the texas chainsaw massacre . but there & apos ; s maybe one or two moments of humor in the canal , maybe with the detective .
claire brings over the processed film and david insists that she watch it with him . while david prepares the projector , claire mentions how david called her in hysterics the night before , although he claims that it was not he on the phone . together , they view the footage david shot at the canal and they watch as the shadowy woman rises from the grass and approaches the camera . simultaneously , the woman emerges from the hole in david’s bedroom wall and pulls claire into the crawlspace .
mcnamara informs david that the police found a hammer in the canal with david’s fingerprints on it . david tells mcnamara about the 1902 murders and the ghost he believes is haunting the home . mcnamara reports david’s mental state to the authorities and children’s services threatens to take away billy .
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things get worse for david after that—much , much worse . as he begins losing his mind , kavanagh goes all out with the canal & apos ; s horrific imagery . david sees the 1902 murder take place in his bedroom , and it & apos ; s an ferociously brutal stabbing incident partly seen as an old - school film reel ; he later sees a grime - covered , possibly inhuman female figure standing in the tall grass alongside the canal ; figures in the film reels break the fourth wall , the - ending - of - the - ring style ; and there & apos ; s a child birthing sequence that , well , just needs to be seen . words won & apos ; t do it justice here .
“who wants to see ghosts ? ” a cinema archivist asks a theater full of restless kids in “the canal , ” making a clever pitch to convince those who’ve never watched anything before the dawn of sound or color to give silent pics a try : it’s the best way to see dead people . little does the mild - mannered film buff realize , [ … ]
the discovery of his home & apos ; s bloody past coincides with david & apos ; s mounting suspicions that his wife is cheating on him , which he confirms by catching her and another guy in the act . that night , though , alice goes missing , later to be found dead in a canal . mere feet away from the same canal where , the morning after seeing her having sex with someone else , david woke up on the floor of a dirty , graffiti - laden bathroom , having seen what he believed to be the man in the
crime scene
film strangling alice the night before .
the film , which follows the story of a five - man tank crew during the last two weeks of wwii , has received mixed reviews , but undoubtedly had some effect on the audience , as evidenced by the audible energy in the room every time a cannon or gunshot rang out . after the two hour , 14 minute film played for the packed theater , ayer and the core cast members ,
rachel has served as an ifta jury member and was one of the best in film / animation judges for the satellite broadband digital media awards ( 2010 ) .
its karlovy vary international film festival time ! we will be here for a few more days soaking up the films , the people , and this beautiful town .
vivian maier at fundación canal isabel ii virtually unknown photographer vivian maier took close to 200 , 000 photographs while she worked for over 40 years as a nanny primarily on chicago’s . . .
rachel o’flanagan has worked in the irish film industry for 17 years . she is experienced in developing and script editing feature films and television dramas .
as effective as the cinematic experience is , “the canal” is not without cracks in its foundation . although the film works as a supernatural mystery , the script aims for a two - front assault on david by giving him a more earthly police investigation to contend with , too . the problem is , the angle of david’s possible involvement in his wife’s disappearance doesn’t have the same teeth as a crime drama that it does as a hallucinogenic haunting .
the canal has plenty of jump scares , often born out of the loud , discordant clangs of the soundtrack ( particularly when david is changing the reels on a projector to torment himself with more unsettling footage of the sins that were once committed in his house ) , and it has plenty of gore . but the terror of the canal stems from something much deeper than blood or loud bangs . it is the terror of abject certainty - certainty that everything will get worse , much worse , before all of this is over .
sat down to discuss the rigorous training required of them for the film . given the cast’s reflections , ayer’s directorial style and pre - production process clearly took a toll on the actors physically and emotionally .
and yet , the canal doesn’t feel like anything special . it doesn’t hook the same way movies like the babadook or sinister do and that’s its biggest downfall . rupert evans gives a fantastic performance , but the character of david is bland and uninteresting . the movie also goes through a lull period where very little happens and the stock - scares that you’ve seen a dozen times this year alone fail to cut the mustard . if the movie didn’t have a terrific close and a few other great scenes , the canal really wouldn’t be worth your time .
in the wake of his wife’s unexplained disappearance , a film archivist uncovers a supernatural link between his house and a 100 - year - old murder .
demented and darkly hilarious , ben wheatley’s film gets a perfectly acceptable dvd transfer , as well as some insightful interview - based extras .
a look at ukraine’s dark side
( read here ) an interesting review of paul moreira’s film « ukraine the masks of the revolution » , published . . .
the movie’s simple plot follows film archivist david , who is currently in a seemingly loveless relationship with the mother of his only child . but while following her and a co - worker , he discovers that she is having an affair and when she turns up dead in a canal , he is the number one suspect . however , david seems to think the house is haunted and the sinister happenings are what caused her death .
the ballad of narayama
is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice , telling a story of startling cruelty . what a space it opens…
david ayer ’s graphic world war ii film , “ fury , ” had its final press screening on thursday night at lincoln center before its wide theatrical release today . the director and his star - studded cast have been all over the place promoting the film , even at fort benning , home to the u . s . armor and infantry schools .
for the past 12 years , journalist paul moreira has travelled extensively in iraq . in this personal film , he goes in search of the men he filmed back . . .
a good psychological horror that ably blends the line between reality and psychosis . probably elevated by the skills of the lead more than anything else , and my favourite police officer in horror film history .
as the canal progresses , david starts to become unhinged . when his wife prepares to go to work , david pleads with her to come straight him and she promises to . after work , david follows her as she and alex , their affair now obviously confirmed , walk to alex’s house which is opposite a canal . david follows them from a distance , and catches them in the midst of sexual passion , leaving him feeling betrayed . he stumbles into the worst cinematic toilet seen since danny boyle’s trainspotting ( 1996 ) and begins to see flashes of the murder that occurred well over 100 years ago . like the best ghost stories , the canal presents us with images that give us pause to determine if they are real or are just happening in the mind of the protagonist .
there’s a lot of james wan inspiration going on in the canal , and kavanagh proves that he can do wan as well as wan can do wan . from the color palette to the sound design , the canal feels very much like something wan would make , which is needless to say a major compliment . but there’s also a good deal of japanese horror inspiration going on here , particularly when it comes to one scene during the finale that is sure to make those little hairs on the back of your neck stand at attention .
as far as the acting , everyone comports themselves admirably . inexperienced ( read : bad ) actors can relegate a genre film to the status of b - movie , a problem which
and while the canal is brooding , it will test the patients of some viewers , and could really use a more impactful finale . still , it’s refreshing to see a filmmaker show such restraint and put together such an old - school genre haunter .
with fans massed on the banks of the grand canal , a drone flying overhead , and waterborne paparazzi swarming behind his taxi all the way from the island of giudecca , george clooney arrived at sunset for his wedding reception in the kind of grand spectacle that only the very rich and very glamorous can ever hope to pull off .
is a ghost story , and from the looks of this trailer probably one that comes in the best sense of those words . one of our top priorities to see during the fest , tribeca describes the film as such :
' the stag ' ( which is renamed ' the bachelor weekend ' for the american market ) will also screen at the film festival , at which it will receive its us premiere . ' the stag ' is out in irish cinemas today .
due to concerns over public safety and circulation caused by the large numbers of people expected to be “drawn by the event’s star quality” , it said , police had requested restrictions to be put in place around ca’ farsetti and ca’loredan , the historic buildings which house the council . the main stretch affected , the riva del carbon , runs alongside the grand canal .
the canal has ingredients we ' ve all seen before : couple moves into a house . is it haunted ? murder mystery . shadowy creature lurking in the corners of the room . is he insane or is he not ? the kid ! protect the kid ! is there someone living in the walls ? the babysitter . demons . occult rituals . . . well , you get the point . but i ' ve seldom , in more modern times , seen all of these ingredients being so well executed as in the canal , i even got one of those fantastic endings that i love ( which maybe is the biggest reason for the four star rating ) .
injecting explicit imagery into an old - fashioned possession story , writer - director ivan kavanagh brandishes his unusual mix of styles right from the beginning . no sooner has david williams ( rupert evans , handsome but bland ) introduced the aforementioned film screening than “the canal” launches into a quick - cut archival footage montage , not unlike the one seen in “the ring” — though it’s clearly not the movie he’d planned to show the kids , setting the tone with appetite - endangering imagery of naked corpses , exposed entrails and an eyeball being probed .
flash forward five years : david and his wife , alice ( hannah hoekstra ) , are living in a century - old house in dublin . his job as a film archivist typically isn’t all that exciting ( one of alice’s colleagues dismisses him as a “librarian” ) , until a box of old crime - scene film strips lands on his desk . among them are a few reels from 1902 that depict a woman’s body being hauled from the canal that runs alongside david’s home . to his considerable shock , david realizes that the murder actually took place at the address where he lives now .
david secretly trails his wife one evening and follows her to alex’s house . david sneaks inside and observes the couple having sex . david grabs a hammer , but leaves without taking any action and without being seen . on his walk home , david throws the hammer into the canal . feeling nauseous over what he just witnessed , david stumbles into the public toilet next to the waterway and vomits . he then sees an image of a mysterious man outside the stall door . david stumbles back outside in a haze and collapses . before passing out , david appears to see the strange man assaulting alice alongside the canal .
the canal is the biggest surprise that i ' ve come across in the horror genre for a while now ( if it can even be classified as horror ; i ' d almost rather go with the term experimental thriller ) . it is also , however , an immensely depressing plunge into one of the darkest abysses that the genre has to offer .
annecy international animation film festival has just finished with a historic number of visitors including 11 , 700 badgeholders , which was 17 % more than in 2017 .
which images in the canal surprised you the most after you came up with them ? to where you were like ,
wow , i came up with that ? i & apos ; m sick .
[ laughs . ] at the premiere , one thing that occurred to me is that there & apos ; s actually very little violence in the film , but the violence that is in there , particularly the stabbing scene , i wanted to be very forceful . by making that stabbing scene so hardcore and visceral and happening so early into the film , it leaves a heavy shadow over the rest of the film , so that you don & apos ; t really have to out anymore violence in after that . i think that works and unsettles people . also , the birth scene at the end of the film—to me , that felt like the perfect nightmare image . he was literally being confronted by the awful thing he & apos ; s done . this should be a joyous thing—she should be giving birth to this child but he & apos ; s denied her that , and this is now the true horror of what he & apos ; s done .
david reports alice’s disappearance to the police when she doesn’t come home . detective mcnamara immediately suspects that david killed her . alice’s body is eventually found in the canal , but the coroner finds no signs of foul play and rules her death an accidental drowning . the coroner also reveals that alice was pregnant at the time of her death .
david ( rupert evans ) is a film archivist who appears to have a wonderful home life . but as we learned in eden lake ( 2008 ) , the appearance of normalcy at the start of the film will soon give way to murder and mayhem . david and his very obviously expectant wife alice ( hannah hoekstra ) visit a prospective house to settle in as a family .
i was going to go into a rant about how the word
canal
is the most disgusting sounding word to ever come out of my mouth thanks to my western new york - learned pronunciation , but i ' ll spare you the navel - gazing ( no i won ' t , i still mentioned it , you still know that if you heard me say the word
canal
you ' d probably have to ask me to repeat it a few times while stifling laughter , the disgusting sounding word is only rivaled by my pronunciation of
bagel
) .
sound design plays a major role in building the tension , especially during the surreal montages and newsreel footage utilized throughout the film . the crackle and hiss of audio noise highlights every synaptic misfire of david ' s deteriorating mindstate . props are also due the atmospheric score from
an authentic universal movie camera from 1915
to film some scenes , which was
thought to have filmed some action in the trenches during world war 1 .
pretty cool .
but instead of looking for heat from the first match strike and a fiery flame , those who let the wick wither and light the room with subtle atmosphere will find their patience rewarded . combining elements of “the shining” and “the ring” for a ghost story built on supernatural suspense , “the canal” is the very definition of a slow - burn psychological thriller , and an excellent one at that .
going back to the film & apos ; s visuals , do those come into your head first and then you backtrack from there and develop the story , or do the story and characters come first and dictate the imagery ? the way i work is , i start with an initial idea . i wanted to make a film with an archivist who suspects his wife is cheating on him . it & apos ; s almost like a stream - of - consciousness style of writing . i begin at the beginning of the script and work my way through it . for this film , i wanted to create a nightmare - like atmosphere throughout it , to have it remain in the main character & apos ; s point - of - view as if he & apos ; s stuck in a nightmare ; the further the film goes on , the more and more nightmarish it becomes .
chalkroom a . k . a . la camera insabbiata by laurie anderson + hsin - chien huang received the award for best vr experience at the 74th venice international film festival . it was the first time that the festival has held a vr competition .
it’s bizarre because kavanagh produces some genuinly creepy moments and good scares . his shot choices can be very chilling and his use of sound will make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck . he never uses his scares in quick succession either so you’re constantly on the edge of your seat waiting for the next one to come . the final moments of the film are superb and easily the best parts of the film as kavanagh pushes the boundaries of socially acceptable images with frightening visuals that will linger with you long after the credits roll .
before joining treasure she worked for the darklight film festival and with sister production company still films , working on shorts , animation , documentaries and feature films , including tommy palotta’s emmy - winning the last hijack .
the canal isn & apos ; t your first horror film , correct ? i made a really low - budget horror film called tin can man ( 2008 ) which is actually being released at the end of this month here in america . i made that for under 1 , 000 euro . i loved working on that because horror films allow you to do absolutely anything . you can push the visuals and sound design as far as you want . i just love the freedom of the genre , so i was really , really eager to get back to it . and any chance to make something about early cinema is exciting for me because i love early cinema and silent cinema .
david williams lives an average , yet idyllic life . a film archivist by trade , david has a gorgeous wife in alice , and a happy young son named billy . five years after moving into a curious little house situated near a canal , david’s mind begins a trip down a jack torrance - like rabbit hole inspired by suspicions of his wife’s infidelity and the discovery of a horrific slaughter that once took place in his home .
i say this because it increasingly seems as if slant is swinging towards criticism over reviewing by posting articles that appear to assume that the viewer has seen the film . reading this article , i don ' t have the foggiest idea what the premise is .
with shades of sinister and the shining , the canal follows david williams ( an impressive rupert evans ) , a film archivist who & apos ; s married to a much more financially successful wife , alice ( hannah hoekstra ) and the father of a dinosaur - loving , five - year - old son , billy ( calum heath ) . one day , david & apos ; s colleague claire ( antonia campbell - hughes ) tells him that a mysterious reel of film has shown up , addressed to him—it & apos ; s titled
crime scene ,
made in 1902 and shows the aftermath of a triple murder that took place in the house where david and his family currently live .
upon secretly spying his wife alice engaged in sexual intercourse with her lover alex , david grasps a hammer and briefly contemplates brutal vengeance . a cooler head prevails however , and david makes his unnoticed exit without taking action . into the canal he tosses the hammer before shuffling towards home in frustration .
most of the real people who were involved are alive to tell their tales , although aids casts its shadow in the events of the film and has taken several lgsm members ( this is not pride ' s primary subject but readers who would prefer not to know anything about its impact on the film should stop reading here ) . beresford ' s problem was how to make contact with the survivors from the mining community and lgsm with no obvious internet trail to help him .
but thankfully it does have these moments which certainly means the canal gets a recommendation . it will scare the easily squeamish and kavanagh’s direction is first class , but you won’t find anything truly groundbreaking . it’s a lot better than some of the ghost story movies that have come out in recent years , but it also isn’t among the best .
the precise arrangements are being kept under wraps due to strict confidentiality agreements , but according to italian reports the main reception is to take place on saturday at the “7 - star” aman canal grande resort and is to be attended by a select group of startlingly stellar guests including angelina jolie , brad pitt and matt damon .
a film that at first seemed worthy of an heir to lynch , fincher or polanski ' s cinema but ends up bordering on ridicule . [ full review in spanish ]
at work , claire gives david some old crime scene film to process for the police . david watches the footage and learns of a man who murdered his wife in 1902 inside the same house on black street where david now lives with alice .
david tells claire about the dark man he saw on the night of alice’s disappearance . he begins researching the 1902 murders as well as other crimes connected to his house . david also starts filming with the camera from the early 1900s when he realizes that it can seemingly capture ghosts on film .
watch the film in vod english version order the dvd english version buzzing on youtube pro gmo lobbyist tells that monsanto herbicide is safe enough to drink , then refuses to drink it . in the wake of the world health organization ' s designation in march 2015 of the active ingredient . . .
the ending takes david into the depths underneath the canal , carrying his son , billy ( calum heath ) . david sees the decomposing body of his dead wife down there , giving birth to a dead baby ( she was pregnant when murdered ) . david finds himself with his son under the canal’s water , where he’s held under by his dead wife as his son floats to safety . in the next scene , billy is in the custody of his grandmother who is putting the house up for sale . billy goes inside to get his dinosaur book when a voice from behind the wall , which claims to be his father , says the family can be together again . we then see billy toss himself out of his grandmother’s moving car . it’s rough .
synopsis : film archivist david suspects that his wife alice has been cheating on him . he soon discovers that his home was once the setting of a brutal murder and something otherworldly is responsible for the events that later unfold .
i know people have already commented on the poster , but . . . a seriously well crafted psychological horror film is going to get passed up by a lot of people for a very unfortunate reason .
film archivist david and his wife are perfectly happy or so he believes . when a looming secret shatters their marriage at the same time as a turn - of - the - century film reel he is studying reveals their house to be the site of a 1902 multiple - murder , david begins to unravel , and the house’s eerie history threatens to repeat itself . dripping with tension and chilling to the core , this visceral irish ghost story is a visually arresting and genuinely shocking journey into the darkness within .
director ivan kavangh somehow proves once again that he is capable of taking a tired premise , handling it poorly , and yet still somehow manage to churn out quite a good film .
for me , any chance to push visuals and sounds is a no - brainer . we spent as much time on the film & apos ; s sound design as we did on the picture . working with sound is my favorite part of the process . we recorded all new sounds for the film ; we didn & apos ; t use any library stuff . we spent a very long time on it , and it was really a joy to work on .