Genres
Adventure, Biography, Drama
Director
John Curran
Country
Australia
Cast
Mia Wasikowska, Adam Driver, Rolley Mintuma, Brendan Maclean, Rainer Bock, Jessica Tovey, Emma Booth
Storyline
A young woman (Mia Wasikowska) goes on a 1,700-mile trek across the deserts of West Australia with four camels and her faithful dog.
Opinion
Over the years I've heard quite good things about Tracks so although adventure isn't my kind of thing, I still decided to give a shot. Well, I'm glad I did it, but I'm also not glad I did it.
Let me explain. The film is based on the true story - which I didn't know but it's not even important - of a young woman who walks across the Australia desert with some animals only. I'm sure many thinks such a film would be boring. To me, on the other hand, this story sounded incredibly interesting. And so it was. Unexpected things kept happening all the time and really kept me engaged from beginning to end.
So what's the problem? There are just too many people around for it to be a solo journey. Robyn, that's the name of the young woman, is basically surrounded by people all the time. Whether they are friends, family, the Aboriginal man who guides her around the desert or the National Geographic photographer who follows her around to document the journey for the magazine, she is hardly alone. And that really ruined the movie for me as it's way harder to engage an audience with only one character on screen than a bunch of them.
That said, Tracks still manages to be a quite good character study. While there's not enough background to understand why she decided to embark on such a dangerous journey, the character development is quite impressive, and in those two hours it's not only us who get to know Robyn, but she also gets to know herself. That's eventually what the journey is about, to explore herself. And kudos to Mia Wasikowska for delivering the character's angst and discomfort mostly through facial expressions and body language and for being able to be empathetic too - this Robyn isn't a very nice person, after all.
Let me explain. The film is based on the true story - which I didn't know but it's not even important - of a young woman who walks across the Australia desert with some animals only. I'm sure many thinks such a film would be boring. To me, on the other hand, this story sounded incredibly interesting. And so it was. Unexpected things kept happening all the time and really kept me engaged from beginning to end.
So what's the problem? There are just too many people around for it to be a solo journey. Robyn, that's the name of the young woman, is basically surrounded by people all the time. Whether they are friends, family, the Aboriginal man who guides her around the desert or the National Geographic photographer who follows her around to document the journey for the magazine, she is hardly alone. And that really ruined the movie for me as it's way harder to engage an audience with only one character on screen than a bunch of them.That said, Tracks still manages to be a quite good character study. While there's not enough background to understand why she decided to embark on such a dangerous journey, the character development is quite impressive, and in those two hours it's not only us who get to know Robyn, but she also gets to know herself. That's eventually what the journey is about, to explore herself. And kudos to Mia Wasikowska for delivering the character's angst and discomfort mostly through facial expressions and body language and for being able to be empathetic too - this Robyn isn't a very nice person, after all.
Great review! I'm glad you liked it too. Not a perfect film, but still a good watch.
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