Best & Worst – Ranking Ireland’s Cinema Releases from April 2014

Tracks

Robyn on the road – ★★★★ (NW)

Mia Wasikowska seems to be incapable of making bad films these days (Stoker, Only Lovers Left Alive and The Double being the three most recent examples). She keeps the good run up with the absolutely brilliant adaptation of Robyn Davidson’s book about her 1700 mile walk across Australia which took place in 1977, where she set off with nothing but her dog Diggity and four camels (Dookie, Bub, Zeleika and Goliath).

The film moves slowly and leaves you exhilarated, bored, amused, tired, uplifted and inspired – basically all the real-life feelings you would experience if you were undertaking a similar journey in real life. Luckily the film-makers use the characters and the scenery to keep the audience engaged and don’t feel the need to add in any drama, although kudos for adding in the odd snake and killer camel face-off to keeps excitement levels high.

Tracks says plenty about the class and race divisions that have existed in Australia for years and it’s refreshing to see Robyn as a young, privileged white girl who can see the importance of aboriginal people to her country. It’s not dis-similar in tone and style to the much-heralded Into The Wild, which is a personal favourite of mine but you don’t really find yourself connecting with the logic and drive of Christopher McCandless’s journey in the way you do here. In fact the best thing about Tracks may be the fact that the man in the equation – Adam Driver’s Rick Smolan as National Geographic photographer – plays second fiddle to this strong, courageous young woman who when asked why she’s doing the walk, simply answers “why not?”.