WALKABOUT NOTES Additional analysis

JOURNEY Walkabout refers to a journey of maturation and self-discovery This experiential ‘journey’ is an extended metaphor that also relates to the journey of the two white children The girl must make various choices through her journey and make sacrifices The younger brother’s journey involves various realisations about life and society The Indigenous boy’s journey is one that cannot involve the knowledge he possesses – he may be able to live in the outback but this is not valued The Indigenous boy’s journey involves the realisation that the two world’s cannot reconcile and that he has been rejected He represents Indigenous culture and society that has been marginalised and their ways rejected – and it will not survive

FARMHOUSE The derelict farmhouse is a symbol of many things – the remnants of a failed life, a reminder of how hard rural living is for white Australians, a representation of a system where walls and divisions between people are acceptable The indigenous boy spends most of his time outside the house and is rejected when he enters it Light and shade are used to emphasise hidden and exposed emotions and feelings, as well as different ‘spaces’ that the characters occupy – they quite simply are in two different places and their differences are based on the difference between white and black The farmhouse is a reminder of a life left behind and physically and emotionally enables the girl to put walls back up between herself and the Indigenous boy She covers herself and stays inside while he exposes himself in the courtship dance and stays outside

ROLE OF FEMALES Role of females was changing in the 70s and the girl represents sexual freedom, self-discovery, choice and power – note she chooses to swim naked alone and independence is a liberty of modern society Both men have been influenced by this ‘new’ modern woman, who rejects tradition and feel powerless and inadequate The father cannot cope with modern life and commits suicide, the Indigenous boy is rejected and commits suicide – males cannot work out the rules or cope with the pressure If she does choose to follow expectations and traditions, she will long for more and yearn for self-discovery, independence and freedom

DIEGETIC AND NON-DIEGETIC SOUNDS Diegetic sound: Any voice, musical passage, or sound effect presented as originating from a source within the film's world. -Sounds of nature -Dialogue -Gun shot, vehicle, planes, chopping sounds Non-diegetic sound: Sound, such as mood music or dissonant sounds represented as coming from a source outside the space of the narrative. -Dissonant music -Didgeridoo sounds in city scene -Chanting, screaming -Harp music

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