Tracks (5 Stars)

True Stories #37

Name: Robyn Davidson

Lived: 5 September 1950 – still alive

Film dates: 1975 to 1978

Film made in 2013

This is a film that touches me on different levels. The scenery is bleak but beautiful, and it's about a woman I admire immensely. Robyn Davidson did something that no man before or after her has been able to do: she walked from Alice Springs (the centre of Australia) to the west coast, a distance of 1700 miles (2700 kilometers). The quickest route, according to Google Maps, is 150 miles shorter, but she had to take some diversions, for instance to avoid sacred aborigine land.

 

Why did she do it? The simple answer is "Why not?" She just wanted to prove it could be done. If no man had ever attempted this feat, why shouldn't a woman do it?

She made the journey with four camels and her pet dog Diggity. The camels were used for carrying her tent and other equipment. No, she didn't ride on the camels. That would have been cheating. Diggity died a month before the end of the trip, which almost made her give up.

Her hindrances on the journey were sometimes by well-wishers. The journey was sponsored by National Geographic, on condition that she would let herself be photographed along the way. A photographer called Rick Smolan was assigned to meet her several times on the way. This annoyed her, but she had to put up with it to get the money she needed. Rick wanted to see her once a month, but she insisted that it couldn't be more than once every three months. He was attracted to her and wanted to travel with her for a few days, which would have turned into weeks, but she refused.

As she travelled on, her fame increased. She was called the Camel Lady. People came from far and wide looking for the Camel Lady, to talk to her and take photos. This was most unwelcome.

After 195 days in the desert Robyn and her four camels reached the ocean. Was Robyn Davidson crazy? Maybe, but this is the sort of crazy we need more of in our world. Not the sort of crazy that starts wars.

Mia Wasikowska puts on an excellent performance as Robyn Davidson. She looks similar enough to carry the role, not to mention her detached acting, as if she's living in a different world to those about her. I've read that Julia Roberts was originally chosen for the role. I'm sorry, Julia might be a good actress, but she would have been wrong for the role. Totally wrong.

Why did this film fail at the box office? I don't know. Wasn't it exciting enough? Was it was too Australian? I have no idea. It hasn't even been released on DVD in America. I hosted it for the Birmingham Film Group, and only one person went with me to see it. That's sad.

Success Rate:  - 2.4

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