Roger Ebert is an idiot
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Walkabout
different-drummer — 19 years ago(December 23, 2006 03:58 PM)
Here's what he said in his review of the film for the Criterion collection:
"In Walkabout, the crucial detail is that the two teenagers never find a way to communicate, not even by using sign language."
http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=10&eid=25§ion=essay
He obviously missed the scene where the white girl asks the black boy to fetch some water, and he replies "Water".
the world's your oyster, so swallow it -
FemmyV — 19 years ago(January 16, 2007 04:58 AM)
Because of the communication problem, the girl had no way of understanding that she was basically being asked to help the Aboriginal boy make the final step into manhood and be his woman. And she had no way of explaining to him, 'sorry, but we don't do it like this, and I'll be out of here as soon as we find civilization.'
She got him to understand 'water' because she wanted water. What he wanted was something that was, to a a "civilized" teenage girl, a lot more complicated. -
Writ_in_Water — 14 years ago(February 06, 2012 04:05 PM)
As I remember it, it's the little brother who communicates their need for water to the aborigine, by pointing to his mouth and making a gurgling sound. The girl doesn't seem bright enough to do this. (She just says, "Please, you must understand: we need some water.") So my feeling is that Ebert is right.
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Stev-2 — 13 years ago(April 23, 2012 06:52 AM)
As I remember it, it's the little brother who communicates their need for water to the aborigine, by pointing to his mouth and making a gurgling sound. The girl doesn't seem bright enough to do this.
Yeah, but this is a flaw in the film. You're right that she looks a bit stupid at that point, but it felt more like a heavy-handed way to make a point than an actually believable reaction. She wasn't portrayed as a terminal moron otherwise, so it didn't really make sense that she was so think-headed in that scene.
I still thought it was a good movie overall. -
Krustallos — 13 years ago(April 15, 2012 03:11 PM)
the girl had no way of understanding that she was basically being asked to help the Aboriginal boy make the final step into manhood and be his woman.
I'm pretty sure she understood that perfectly. Sadly for him, she wasn't up for it.
It was her younger brother who communicated their need for water, the other poster (and Ebert) was correct.
I used to want to change the world. Now I just want to leave the room with a little dignity. -
dustypistol — 10 years ago(February 09, 2016 07:33 PM)
People are confusing two different scenes.
- The younger brother is the one who makes their need for water clear, making the "glug-glug-glug" sound,
just after they meet
the Aboriginal boy. - The girl is the one who says the Aboriginal word for water, followed by the word "water", several times to the Aboriginal boy
just before the end
of their knowing each other. He finally repeats after her, "water, water".
Two scenes - so, you're both right. You could say that their time of knowing the Aboriginal boy is bookended by these two brief moments of communication.
- The younger brother is the one who makes their need for water clear, making the "glug-glug-glug" sound,
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IcySpoon — 9 years ago(May 08, 2016 01:40 PM)
You are correct that in the beginning of the film, her brother communicated their needed for water. I believe the Aboriginal boy responded with the word, "Gape". However in a scene towards the end of the film, I believe they were at the farm house, she asked the Aboriginal boy for water and this time, he repeated, "Water".
"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it." Norman Maclean -
AndyRyan — 13 years ago(April 16, 2012 06:41 AM)
If you're going to call someone an idiot for getting the details wrong, make sure you get them right yourself.
She never communicates with him, and he never replies 'Water'. As others have pointed out, the only person to use sign language is the younger brother, ie not one of the teenagers. -
Halmyre — 13 years ago(April 17, 2012 06:01 AM)
No, there is a scene where the girl asks her brother how long it will take to get to somewhere, the two boys exchange some sign language and the brother replies "he says we can be there tomorrow" (or something like that).
I thought at one point there was a scene where the Aborigine boy repeats something that the girl has said, almost as if he's making a despairing effort to bridge the gap between them; or perhaps it was something the young boy had said. -
cythna — 13 years ago(April 18, 2012 05:48 AM)
I've just watched this, and she does ask for water, and he replies "water". It's towards the end when they are at the derelict house. She waves a can at him, and keeps repeating that he's to get water, and finally he replies with the same word.
Personally, I would hardly regard that as "communication" in any meaningful way, so I think Ebert's right. -
jbrains — 12 years ago(March 03, 2014 08:48 PM)
That he responded in English communicated a lot to me. I couldn't tell whether he was trying to please her, or whether he felt resigned to the fact that if he wanted to communicate with her, then it would have to be him learning English rather than her learning his language.
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Stev-2 — 13 years ago(April 23, 2012 06:39 AM)
he never replies 'Water'.
I just watched it, and yes, he does.
The problem is you all are thinking of different scenes. There's a scene where the boy gets across the point that they need water. There's as scene where he can communicate with some sign language (and in general he seems to be better at communicating with him).
But those aren't the scene the OP was referring to. -
Yorke71 — 13 years ago(October 11, 2012 07:03 AM)
Earlier in Ebert's review he makes this comment:
There is something subtly wrong with the family, but the film doesn't articulate it, apart from a suggestive shot of a bug that does not belong indoors.
I have no idea what he's referring to. Did I just miss that, or is he hallucinating? (Ebert has a history of getting small details wrong in his reviews).