Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Dirkie / Lost In The Desert

In order to put into context what I'm going to write about today, a history lesson is in order.

We're going back to 1983. 

Yours truly was a four-year old who had just seen his home on fire and have to move to a temporary house while our family home was rebuilt. Not so long after that, the only grandparent I had left - my grandmother - passed away.

I still pass that house every couple of days and am reminded of those times. However, occasionally there's another thing that crosses my mind whenever I think back to that time.

Dirkie

Otherwise known as Lost in the Desert.

The film was on afternoon television back when I had returned from nursery (either that or it was on a weekend). I remember watching this movie and, to put it bluntly, having the hell scared out of me.

Years, and I mean years, went by and all I could remember was the gist of the story - a young boy and his dog find themselves lost in the desert following an air crash. Along the way, he finds himself attacked by a snake.

It was the snake attack that caused me to remember the film more than anything else.

All through my life I have gone through phases where the movie crossed my consciousness. It did just a few years ago and - with the aid of the Internet - I managed to Google what the title was. 

Upon finding out the name of the film, I embarked on a search to see what other people thought of it. It was amazing to see so many people had similar experiences to myself.

Here are just a few:

'...I saw it at the pics as a kid..it traumatised me but I love it.'

'I saw this when I was 10 and have thought about it from time to time. I remember crying my eyes out in the cinema..'

'(Brought) back some vivid memories'

'All I know is that this movie traumatised my sister and I when we were kids. They showed it at Kids' Matinee at the cinema and we never forgot it. What a horrible film to show kids. Totally miserable and awful'

'..the images from it have haunted me since childhood..'

'I was five years old when I saw this movie and remember it like it was yesterday..'

'My mother took me to see this movie as part of a double feature at a UK cinema more than 40 years ago. Watching the closing scenes today I remember how tightly she held my hand when the boy was rescued. Extraordinary how it all comes flooding back...'

The above is just a small handful of reactions.

Ever since finding out the title, and especially knowing that I can watch the movie on YouTube, I have been fighting with the thought of whether to watch it again. I initially concluded that I wouldn't.

Not because I didn't want to.

It's just that I didn't want to ruin a childhood memory by watching it with adult eyes.

We're now a couple of years removed from me making the original decision and I am back to the point where I am entertaining the idea of watching it again.

I don't know. Yet.

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