Fulfilling and searching, yet at times psychologically exhausting, ‘Tracks’ tells the real life story of Robyn Davidson, saw by audiences in mid 1970s. Directed by John Curran, the film follows Robyn, portrayed by the incredibly versatile Mia Wasikowska, as she takes a solo 2,000 mile trip across the Australian desert alongside her camels to seek solitude from society. What is Davisons intent of anonymity from the world? It is hard to look elsewhere when women have gone through so much in the form of sex and class oppression. Those looking for self soothing tropes combined with hounding other people for self validation, this movie is not for you. It is an unparalleled cinematic experience alongside the Wild, which features Reese Witherspoon and is stirring some buzz.
“Tracks” is disheartening yet snoozing for movie critics and casual viewers alike. The movie came out in the same time frame as ‘Wild’ and while I have not watched Wild, it is clearly receiving the most publicity. That’s why with my unique taste, I’m urging people to watch “Tracks” which is guaranteed to blow your mind.
For this girl in particular, nobody makes it easy for her. First she must figure out how to train the camels. On the outer fringe of the Australian outback, she deals with a number of unfriendly people, and even some animals, before managing to pull her retinue together. After she asks herself why she puts herself through so much trouble, it slowly dawns to her that some financing would do wonders. So she decides to go on a pitch, and by ‘National Geographic’ the magazine is ever so willing. The angle is that they like the idea, but she has to come to terms with one nasty caveat – a photographer has to be allowed to drop in on her every so often to take pictures. Not those pictures. Anyway. So much for solitude.
The photographer is a jolly good chap whose name is Rick, and he is interpreted by Adam Driver without the larger-than-life eccentricity that the actor has showcased while playing his roles in the TV series “Girls” or during his cameo in the Coen Brothers’ “Inside Llewyn Davis.” Rick’s a simply nice gentleman, and he finds Robyn, as do so many of the others she meets while getting ready and then while facing the desert, a bit hard to follow. “You don’t need to be unfortunate to get killed out there,” one skeptic cautions her. The deeper she ventures out, the more cases of ill fortune there are, but even more so, there is the other side of the coin – information about her life that explains the strong desire which fuels her undertaking. The undertaking, however, is not simply one of redemption for Robyn. In the process, she articulates her very own form of liberty, turning her life into an embodiment of her quite extreme ideology. The love affair one might have speculated between Robyn and Rick did not happen – yes, spoiler alert, she does have relations with the man, but you get the impression she is primarily doing it to silence him.
Viewers are not presented with the warm embrace of Davidson, rather the rugged figure of Curran which is crafted by the screenwriter Marion Nelson and Wasikowska, serves as a challenge to the viewer.
“Tracks” has no intention of providing audience manipulation, however, with the aid of the Director and cinematographer Mandy Walker, the nature presented in the movie is striking: The imagery which is breathtaking on full view is presented in stunning and very different, yet poetic from “Walkabout,” the 1971 outback cinematic masterpiece which this movie has some thematic parallels, but is unlikely to be remembered. That is a compliment. “Tracks” has a unique taste and has an aftertaste of its own. Curran, who is coming back to the area where he began his filmmaking career after spending some time in America where he made the feature ‘Stone’ which for some reason was not appreciated very much, seems to be a highly underrated director to me who has a unique perspective and voice. I believe both of these are wonderfully expressed in this film.
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