Walkout

Usually when a movie's described as a ''visual tone poem,'' it's code 
 for ''boring.'' But Nicolas Roeg's art-house adventure is lyrical and intoxicating thanks to Criterion's new digital transfer, which makes the case for it as one of the great films of the '70s. Jenny Agutter and Roeg's son Luc play a pair of city kids who are abandoned in the Australian outback by their father. Battling nature's harsh elements, they encounter a teenage aborigine (David Gulpilil) on his wandering rite of passage who takes them under his wing. Walkabout is a condemnation of the modern world, but its politics are subtle and unspoken. A gem. EXTRAS include a snoozy commentary from the director and Agutter and a far better documentary about Gulpilil.

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