by Fiona Golden

This land was always out of my reach. I dreamed of it from a young age, enthralled by the Wiggles and the wildlife. As I discovered more films, I found that very few actually depicted Australian life- most films shot on location there weren’t necessarily concerned with the identity of the surroundings as a whole. Here are three films set in or near the outback that characterize the land as a dynamic actor.

The Proposition (2005)

Set in the late 19th century, Nick Cave’s venture into screenwriting paid off immensely. Through the harrowing tale of an outlaw family and a journey through the unforgiving outback, the land acts as a moving force of the universe, punishing all in its path. Echoed across the voyage, the soundtrack is an eternal whisper and the sun a scorching renegade. It’s a classic Western story but placed in an Australian colonial context- adding layers of mystical scenery contrasted with violent repercussions.

Walkabout (1971)

Faced with a life-or-death choice, the 1971 film Walkabout is a starry-eyed survival tale saturated with post-Edenic exile and the loss of innocence. The title itself is a reference to an Aboriginal rite of passage in which a young boy spiritually transitions into adulthood. The persona of the land is also framed as a “hallucinogenic” spirit, calling back to the Dreamtime. Curiously, the characters are all unnamed, which in turn shifts focus to their environment. They are placed on the same level as the nature that surrounds them: Sun, Moon, Boy, and Girl are balanced individuals all operating in the same domain.

Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)

If you venture off the path into a harsh wilderness, where do you end up? Maybe on the other side. Picnic at Hanging Rock was a day trip gone horribly wrong, splashed with lace and quaint femininity. It’s no surprise the film was a huge inspiration for Sofia Coppola, but the true legacy of the film was the dark connotations it cast over the site in Victoria. To its traditional keepers, Hanging Rock, or Ngannelong, was a site of spiritual connection to the Dreamtime, a fully-fledged mystical entity. Through this lens, the rock formation is anthropomorphized as its own individual, connecting spirits through land and journey.

Exploring these films has brought to light how meaningful the land is to its caretakers. While The Proposition features Aboriginal characters, the desert itself is viewed through the lens of white settlers, as it is in Picnic At Hanging Rock. These two films are centered on the white characters as they grapple with the outback as a cruel, unmerciful force. In Walkabout, however, the outback takes on a new form as one of spiritual vigor and self-actualization. In either case, all three films identify the desert as a liminal, spiritual space, providing a unique aspect to new-wave Australian cinema.

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