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“Travelling North” tells the story of a curmudgeon in his 60s who marries for a second time and moves to a cottage on a lake in northern Australia where he can fish and listen to music on the radio and be happy for the days that are remaining to him. What he doesn’t figure on is that those days are numbered. But this isn’t a heartrending movie about how he puts up a brave fight against death. It’s about how he carries on just as before, stubborn and crusty, irascible and temperamental, and about how his wife and his friends love him anyway, most of the time.

The movie stars Leo McKern as its hero, Frank, who in his prime was a two-fisted union organizer but now likes to dream in the shade, play chess and wander around the house getting under the feet of Frances ( Julia Blake ), his second wife. She is a cheerful, competent woman some years younger than Frank, and she has to live with the consequences of his unilateral decision to live in Queensland, many hours from the families of her grown children in Melbourne. They are bitter about her decision to remarry, and feel abandoned, but Frances feels it’s time to live her own life for a change. The problem is, she seems to be living Frank’s instead.

They pack their things into an old van and point it north, and settle into a life of palm trees and verandas and fishing. Almost instantly they make a new friend, Freddie ( Graham Kennedy ), the next-door neighbor, who is friendly and nosy and opinionated and lonely. And before long, Frank makes another friend, Saul ( Henri Szeps ), the local doctor, who tells him he has a bad heart and should take good care of himself.

Nothing much really happens in “Traveling North,” in the sense of large events to move the plot ahead. It’s not a movie like “ On Golden Pond ,” in which deep truths are told and old wounds are healed.

This is a film of everyday life, and all the more moving because of that. It’s not a film of sentiment, but a film of love: It loves old Frank just as he is, but without forgiving him a single wart. And it loves Frances, too, for her loyalty but also because she sees the situation clearly and does not deceive herself.

The film belongs to McKern, best known for “Rumpole of the Bailey,” and he inhabits Frank with utter confidence, endowing him with all of the messiness and stubborness of life itself. He knows he will die. That isn’t the problem. He simply refuses to change anything because of that fact. He refuses to act as if he will die, and this refusal frustrates his friends and yet makes them love him all the more. By the end, the movie has prepared us so gently and thoroughly that we accept the inevitable more or less as Frank does, by not wasting a lot of time thinking about it before it’s absolutely necessary.

This is a special film, the kind of film that probably can be made only as a labor of love. Movies about the last days of old people are not boffo at the box office, and yet this one deserves an audience, because it is so careful with the human qualities of its characters.

Some of them we recognize, and some of them, no doubt, we will someday be. “Travelling North” is the kind of movie that offers no consolation for death, but doesn’t wring its hands, either; it seems to argue, like Frank, that if you can find the love of a warm person, and a place where you can catch a few fish and listen to good music on the radio, then death, when it comes, will not discover an unhappy victim.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film credits.

Travelling North (1988)

Rated PG-13

Julia Blake as Frances

Drew Forsythe as Martin

Leo McKern as Frank

Michele Fawdon as Helen

Diane Craig as Sophie

Henri Szeps as Saul

Andrea Moor as Joan

Graham Kennedy as Freddie

Screenplay by

• David Williamson

Directed by

• Carl Schultz

Photographed by

• Julian Penney

Produced by

• Henry Dangar

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Travelling North

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Carl Schultz

Julia Blake

Graham Kennedy

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Travelling North (1987)

Genre: drama, duration: 96 minuten, country: australia, directed by: carl schultz, starst: leo mckern , julia blake and graham kennedy, imdb score: 6,9  (371), releasedate: 19 june 1987.

This movie is not available on US streaming services.

Travelling North plot

"family" Frank, a grumbling old man, moves from Melbourne to Northern Australia to spend his old age in a warmer climate. He is joined by a middle-aged woman, Frances, who has long since been divorced and is drawn to both by her family and by her lover. In any case, they will not exactly find peace together...

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Travelling North

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Where does Travelling North rank today? The JustWatch Daily Streaming Charts are calculated by user activity within the last 24 hours. This includes clicking on a streaming offer, adding a title to a watchlist, and marking a title as 'seen'. This includes data from ~1.3 million movie & TV show fans per day.

Streaming charts last updated: 1:25:57 pm, 01/05/2024

Travelling North is 14077 on the JustWatch Daily Streaming Charts today. The movie has moved up the charts by 28455 places since yesterday. In Australia, it is currently more popular than Old Dogs but less popular than King Rat.

Travelling North tells the story of Frank, a crotchety old man with an unending zest and passion for life and Frances his much younger companion travelling to Queensland to enjoy their retirement and each other. Unfortunately the North cannot calm Frank's complex personality and Frances watches helplessly as Frank struggles to understand his own emotional and physical limitations.

Videos: Trailers, Teasers, Featurettes

Streaming Charts The JustWatch Daily Streaming Charts are calculated by user activity within the last 24 hours. This includes clicking on a streaming offer, adding a title to a watchlist, and marking a title as 'seen'. This includes data from ~1.3 million movie & TV show fans per day.

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Ukraine war latest: 'Undeclared Russian military intelligence officer' expelled from UK

The Home Office has expelled a Russian defence attaché as part of a series of measures against Moscow. James Cleverly said the attaché was an "undeclared military intelligence officer". Ask our military analysts or international correspondents a question in the box below.

Wednesday 8 May 2024 20:00, UK

• Home Office expels Russian diplomat who was 'undeclared military intelligence officer'
• Moscow 'developing nuclear power plant' for joint moon base with China
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• Dominic Waghorn: Russia may have crossed the line - but UK move to expel attache increases risk of dangerous escalation
• Ivor Bennett analysis: Painted as a modern-day Tsar, Putin seems more confident than ever
• Ed Conway : Russian oil still seeping into UK - the reasons why sanctions are not working
• Live reporting by  Ollie Cooper

Ask a question or make a comment

Thanks for following our live coverage, we'll be back soon with more live updates. 

Kosovo's foreign minister has said her country is convinced Russia must lose the war in Ukraine for conflict not to spread further in Europe.

Donika Gervalla-Schwarz said her young nation's support for Ukraine was unconditional - despite Kyiv not having recognised Kosovo's independence.

Ms Gervalla-Schwarzd her small Balkan nation, which declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, is repeatedly reminded of the aggressive intentions of both Serbia and its ally Russia.

"Ukraine hasn't recognised the Republic of Kosovo as a state, but we really believe that we know exactly what Ukraine is going through," she told The Associated Press in an interview.

"And we know that there is only one solution, not only for Ukraine, but for Europe," she said.

"It can only be Russia to lose the war and Ukraine to win this war. Otherwise, Europe should prepare for other conflicts in our continent."

The people of Kosovo were the targets of war crimes and other atrocities by Serbia's security forces in the 1990s, an experience that led Kosovo to seek independence.

"While Kosovo is a small state with very modest possibilities to help, we have tried to be very helpful with Ukraine and have not hesitated to show our unconditional support and sympathy to the people and to the state of Ukraine," Ms Gervalla-Schwarz said.

Lord Cameron has called the UK's measures on a Russian defence attache "an unequivocal message" to Moscow. 

The foreign secretary was replying to James Cleverly's post on X in which he said the Home Office expelled a Russian defence attache as part of a series of measures against the country.

Other measures in the package include removing the diplomatic premises status from several Russian owned properties in the UK and capping the amount of time Russian diplomats can spend in the UK.

Budapest is once again raising eyebrows across the world's biggest military alliance as it pledges to defy a NATO initiative. 

The alliance's long-term plan to support Ukraine militarily was agreed in April, but was dubbed a "crazy mission" by Hungary's foreign minister today. 

Under the plans, NATO would take over some coordination work from a US-led coalition known as the Ramstein group.

Discussing the plans today, Peter Szijjarto said: "Hungary will stay out of NATO's crazy mission despite all the pressure."

Relations between Budapest and NATO have soured because of Hungary's foot-dragging over the ratification of Sweden's NATO accession - finally passed by Budapest in March - and also over nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban's close ties with Moscow. 

The Russian embassy in London has said there will be "an appropriate response" after Britain expelled a Russian defence attache.

The embassy said the restrictions that had been imposed were done under a "groundless and ridiculous pretext", according to Russian state news agency TASS.

It comes after Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was reported as telling journalists that the Kremlin will respond appropriately following the expulsion.

Dominic Waghorn, international affairs editor

It's always assumed defence attaches play some kind of role gatherling intelligence and that is generally tolerated by their host countries. 

They could be gathering data about weapons production for instance or ship building but there is a line they are expected not to cross. 

The assumption here is that the Russians have broken the rules of the game.

But the British government will have thought long and hard before expelling the Russian. It doesn't come without cost.

In their day jobs defence attaches play a crucial role in liaising with their hosts.  That can be very important in terms of avoiding misunderstandings that could lead to unnecessary and dangerous escalation. 

Losing Russia’s defence attache in London deprives the UK of one more line of liaison at a time when clear understanding and clarification could be essential to avoiding deepening conflict.

That is not ideal at a time of war. 

What is not clear is how much these moves are connected specifically to the conduct of the Russians involved or should they actually be seen more as another chapter in the diplomatic war underway between Russia and the UK.

The UK has undoubtedly weakened Russia's ability to spy in the UK and gather intelligence but these measures will also affect Britain's ability to predict and avoid potential escalation. 

That will be made even worse if Russia, as may be expected, responds with like-for-like retaliation

Seven people have been injured by Russian shelling in eastern Kharkiv, according to the region's governor.

Oleg Synegubov said among those wounded was an eight-year-old girl and three boys, two aged 14 and the other 15. 

"Two [of the] boys are in serious condition, [the other] boy and [the] girl are in average condition," he said. 

One 55-year-old civilian of unspecified gender was also hospitalised. 

Two women had minor injuries. 

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has offered his thoughts on the expulsion of a Russian defence attache the government has accused of being an undeclared military intelligence officer. 

"Today we've expelled Russia's defence attache who has been working as an intelligence officer for Putin in the UK," he said on X. 

"We will not tolerate Putin’s efforts to undermine our nation and democracy and will continue to stand up for freedom here and in Ukraine."

Each week we ask readers for their questions on the war for our military analysts and international correspondents.

This week,  military analyst Sean Bell  answers:

Why is Ukraine focusing its drone attacks on oil refineries rather than near the front lines? Mike

Thanks, Mike, for this topical question.

Although the ultimate metric of success in this brutal war is territory gained, to achieve that outcome requires a more complex strategy than simply focusing on the frontline battle.

One of the reasons that the Royal Air Force was formed as an independent service was the recognition that greater impact could often be achieved by targeting enemy logistics and supply lines behind the frontline, rather than simply focusing effort on the "close battle".  

Military action is ultimately driven by political will to achieve a desired end-state; the military simply creates the conditions in which a political outcome can be achieved.  

At the tactical level of warfare, the focus is on the battles of individual soldiers and units prevailing against tactical targets.

However, at the other end of the spectrum, senior military strategists seek to attack the enemy's "centre of gravity" - the one thing that the enemy cannot afford to lose and thus must protect at all costs.

'Fight smarter'

In the Second World War, much of the Allied bombing effort was targeting German industrial capacity, as without the ability to regenerate military equipment and ammunition, the war would not be sustainable.  

Ukraine has a smaller army than Russia, and so any conventional attritional battle would favour Russia.

Therefore, Ukraine has to try to "fight smarter" and erode Russia's will - or capacity - to fight.  

A war on this scale consumes huge quantities of resource, which has to be funded in some way.  

Russia's oil exports fund Vladimir Putin's military campaign and also pay for imports of vital munitions from North Korea and Iran.  

By targeting the enemy's oil facilities Ukraine will be aiming to reduce Russia's export capacity, which in turn impacts Russia's ability to fund the war.  

That might not help the close battle, but could undermine Russia's commitment to a longer-duration conflict.

And, although drones are an "irritation" to the frontline forces, the quantity of explosives they are able to deliver is relatively small, so their effect is relatively limited.  

However, an oil facility is very vulnerable to a relatively small-scale explosion, which can spread swiftly to destroy a crucial part of Russia's critical national infrastructure - more bang per buck.

So, although Ukraine desperately needs to stop Russia from breaking through its frontlines, we can expect to see Ukraine continue to target energy infrastructure as part of a broader strategy in its war with Russia.

We now have more details regarding the freshly expelled Russian defence attache we reported on in our 1.10pm post. 

The attache accused by the Home Office of being an undeclared military intelligence officer spying for the Kremlin is Colonel Maxim Elovik. 

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