Nature red in tooth and claw

'Walkabout' is a psychedelic coming-of-age movie played out in the withering heat of the Australian outback. Winsome Jenny Agutter and her midget brother are abandoned in the desert in school uniform, with only a radio and a tea cloth for company. Their journey together through the outback's arid landscape takes them back to an altogether more primitive mode of existence, aided by a young Aborigine on his 'Walkabout', a traditional rite of passage. Agutter plays it deadpan but is very convincing as a well-heeled English schoolgirl grimly clinging to 'civilisation' while her little brother adapts readily to their new surroundings. Stunning visuals and a lush John Barry soundtrack combine to provide both a rich cinematic exerience and a pean to pastoral simplicity.