This is a low-budget attempt to retell the story of three farm kids who were lost for eight days in 1864 in Victoria. The film was made by the Victorian Department of Education using inexperienced local actors including three children from the local district of Horsham in Victoria.
In the film three siblings, Isaac, Jane and Frank head out into the bush to cut 'broom-bush' for their mother's broom. While in the broom-bush area, they start chasing a goanna which leads them far into the bush, from where they head in the wrong direction and get lost. At dusk, the father returns home and, learning that the children are missing, heads out on horseback, but fails to find them.
The next day, the father organises a search party, but the children keep wandering rather than staying still. The days pass with the children getting more tired and dirty, but the searchers fail to find them. Even when the children find the broom-bush patch again, they fail to head in the right direction, and end up in a patch of desert, where they lie down exhausted by hunger.
The father eventually calls in a black-tracker, King Raymond, who finds the kids' trail, before the father rides ahead and locates the children, still alive, in a dramatic finale in the desert.
The film is obviously low-budget, with little money spent on sets or costumes - most costumes could be from the 1950s or later. The dialogue is basic and the pacing uneven. The adult dialogue is not much better and none of the actors has had other screen roles. The three children wandering slowly in very dull scrubby bush occupies most of the film.
That said, the film does have some stylistic points of interest: there are interesting extreme close-ups of the faces of the children and each of the rough rural characters who form the search-party; the cinematographer includes some arty shots of plants and animals here and there; and there are odd snatches of experimental music punctuating parts of the film. Walkabout seems to be an inspiration, though this film is much less accomplished.
Also in the film's favour is the 65 minute run-time, meaning the film does not overstay its welcome. The young writer-director Peter Dodds went on to a long career in TV direction in Australia.
In the film three siblings, Isaac, Jane and Frank head out into the bush to cut 'broom-bush' for their mother's broom. While in the broom-bush area, they start chasing a goanna which leads them far into the bush, from where they head in the wrong direction and get lost. At dusk, the father returns home and, learning that the children are missing, heads out on horseback, but fails to find them.
The next day, the father organises a search party, but the children keep wandering rather than staying still. The days pass with the children getting more tired and dirty, but the searchers fail to find them. Even when the children find the broom-bush patch again, they fail to head in the right direction, and end up in a patch of desert, where they lie down exhausted by hunger.
The father eventually calls in a black-tracker, King Raymond, who finds the kids' trail, before the father rides ahead and locates the children, still alive, in a dramatic finale in the desert.
The film is obviously low-budget, with little money spent on sets or costumes - most costumes could be from the 1950s or later. The dialogue is basic and the pacing uneven. The adult dialogue is not much better and none of the actors has had other screen roles. The three children wandering slowly in very dull scrubby bush occupies most of the film.
That said, the film does have some stylistic points of interest: there are interesting extreme close-ups of the faces of the children and each of the rough rural characters who form the search-party; the cinematographer includes some arty shots of plants and animals here and there; and there are odd snatches of experimental music punctuating parts of the film. Walkabout seems to be an inspiration, though this film is much less accomplished.
Also in the film's favour is the 65 minute run-time, meaning the film does not overstay its welcome. The young writer-director Peter Dodds went on to a long career in TV direction in Australia.
