Man-against-nature films are common-place, but in John Curran’s Tracks, scheduled to open in Canada on June 6, a plucky, courageous young lady takes on the elements in an epic 1,700 mile journey across the untamed, barely inhabited wilderness of western Australia.
Tracks, an Australian movie based on a best selling book by Robyn Davidson, demolishes the sexist myth that women are ill-suited to life-threatening adventures.
In April 1977, Davidson, accompanied by four camels and a black dog, set out on a trek from Alice Springs to the Indian Ocean. No one, neither man nor women, had ever walked the length of that route. Her trip was sponsored by the National Geographic, which published her first-hand account in its May 1978 edition.
The Australian actress Mia Wasikowska plays Davidson, who comes across as a strong, determined, taciturn person. Arriving in the remote and dusty town of Alice Springs in 1975, she lets it be known that she’s in search of adventure. She’s bored with cities and drawn to wide, open, solitary spaces.
For the next two years, working on two camel farms in the arid outback, she learns as much as she can about camels, which are cantankerous creatures even in the best of times. Davidson is an eager and apt pupil, but her ascetic lifestyle strikes some as strange. “You’re an odd girl, Robyn,” says one of the farmers.
Wasikowska, who bears a remarkable resemblance to Davidson, imbues her character with grit and strength.
Davidson’s trek begins after the National Geographic agrees to finance it. An American freelance photographer hired by the magazine, Rick Smolan (Adam Driver), will take pictures of her in the bush. He pops up occasionally, much to her increasing annoyance. Davidson is basically shy, a loner to the marrow of her bones. But on her initiative, they form something of a romantic relationship.
Davidson’s odyssey across a rugged landscape of savannah and desert takes a mental and physical toll, prompting her to wonder at one juncture why she’s committed herself to such an arduous undertaking. As she plunges deeper into the trackless desert under a scorching sun, she faces challenges that test her mettle.
An aboriginal elder accompanies her part of the way, but after he leaves, she has to rely on herself again. Davidson is quite a trooper, but eventually, she’s in dire need of the kindness of strangers. Pressing onward, Davidson crosses a blinding white desert and deals with a crisis of confidence before reaching her final destination.
Tracks is a story of courage and grace under extremely difficult circumstances, but sometimes, when Davidson’s journey seems repetitive, the film slackens.