Here’s a strange fact about Australia you might not be aware of – the Central and Western Outback is full of camels. Dangerous feral camels, no less. After watching the biography Tracks, one more thing becomes glaringly obvious. You don’t want to mess with an angry, amorous camel. That’s something most of us wouldn’t have considered a problem when trekking through the desert.
However, it becomes one of the many concerns of Robyn (Mia Wasikowska). She’s a loner who wants to get away from the bustle of city life, be “free” and prove that an ordinary person can do something extraordinary. To do this, she sets her mind to traveling across the continent of Australia. It’s a long endeavor with other dangers that include the blazing heat and a staggering route from end to end that covers 1,700 miles. Despite disparaging advice from associates, she moves forward. Robyn acquires some camels to carry her supplies and obtains sponsorship for the journey from National Geographic. To Robyn’s chagrin, she must endure periodic meetings with magazine photographer Rick (Adam Driver).
Amazingly, this all really happened. Director John Curran tells the story of the “Camel Lady” simply and without much in the way of embellishments. Not that he needs them – the trek itself is spectacular and many of the real life images captured by Rick are recreated in the film adaptation. There are some staggering desert images displayed in teh process, including a striking shot that features a slow pan as the sun sets over the vast Outback landscape.
Dramatically, there could have been some real problems with the lead character. Despite offers of help and assistance from others, she doesn’t come across as a social butterfly. In fact, she doesn’t do much to invite friendship at all and or have a lot of human interaction over the course of the film. It’s important that early on, some negative personal experiences with farmers and background information lends some understanding to Robyn’s general distrust of others. And Wasikowska must be complemented for doing a fine job of keeping the character’s eccentricities from becoming too distancing.
The elements themselves present many hardships and wonder. As mentioned, the camel information is enlightening – the wild animals and other factors lead to some tense moments. Despite the troubles, it still comes across in many respects as a slow, quiet and meditative adventure through the desert. No message is hammered over the viewers head – we’re simply meant to take it all in and assign our own meaning.
This makes Tracks an intriguing and noble experiment that by and large works. Robyn’s not the most relatable character ever brought to the big screen, but Wasikowska depicts her solitary soul in an interesting enough way to keep us interested. Of course, the journey itself is fascinating and the filmmaking crew capture some gorgeous scenery along the way. And that’s more than can be said of many cinematic trips. Those familiar as well as those interested in this true story will certainly enjoy this unique adventure.