The Last Wave
Encyclopedia
The Last Wave is a 1977 Australian film directed by Peter Weir
. It is about a white Australian lawyer whose seemingly normal life is disrupted after he takes on a murder case for Aborigine defendants. He discovers that he shares a strange and unexplained mystical connection to the small group of local Australian Aborigines
accused of the crime.
During one of these "freak rainstorms" in Sydney
, an altercation occurs among a group of Aboriginals in a pub, which results in the mysterious death of one of them. At the coroner's inquest, the unexplained death is ruled a homicide and four men are accused of murder. Through the Australian Legal Aid system, a lawyer is procured for their defence. The circumstances by which he was contacted and retained are unusual, in that his law practice is corporate taxation and not criminal. He nonetheless takes on the case, and immediately his professional and personal life begin to unwind.
Plagued by recurring bizarre dreams, the lawyer begins to sense an "otherworldly" connection to one of the accused. He also feels connected to the increasingly strange weather phenomena besetting the city. His dreams intensify along with his obsession with the murder case (which he comes to believe is an Aboriginal tribal killing by curse, in which the victim believed). Learning more about Aboriginal practices and the concept of Dreamtime as a parallel world of existence, the lawyer comes to believe the strange weather bodes of a coming apocalypse
.
The film climaxes in a confrontation between the lawyer and the tribe's shaman in a subterranean sacred site beneath the city. Overcoming the shaman, the lawyer escapes to the surface to warn about the Last Wave. Seeing a huge wave looming high above Sydney, he collapses in despair in the last shot.
Note: in an early scene, Chris Lee's hat bears a small silver pin - an airplane, an authentic bit of "cargo cult" symbolism.
in 2009 dollars.
Peter Weir
Peter Lindsay Weir, AM is an Australian film director. After playing a leading role in the Australian New Wave cinema with his films such as Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Last Wave and Gallipoli, Weir directed a diverse group of American and international films—many of them major box office...
. It is about a white Australian lawyer whose seemingly normal life is disrupted after he takes on a murder case for Aborigine defendants. He discovers that he shares a strange and unexplained mystical connection to the small group of local Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
accused of the crime.
Plot
The film opens with a montage of scenes of daily life in Australia in the 1970s: a rural school in the desert, the main street of an outback town, a traffic jam in the city, all being affected by unusually adverse weather conditions that suddenly appear. Only the local Aboriginals seem to recognize the cosmological significance of these weather phenomena.During one of these "freak rainstorms" in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, an altercation occurs among a group of Aboriginals in a pub, which results in the mysterious death of one of them. At the coroner's inquest, the unexplained death is ruled a homicide and four men are accused of murder. Through the Australian Legal Aid system, a lawyer is procured for their defence. The circumstances by which he was contacted and retained are unusual, in that his law practice is corporate taxation and not criminal. He nonetheless takes on the case, and immediately his professional and personal life begin to unwind.
Plagued by recurring bizarre dreams, the lawyer begins to sense an "otherworldly" connection to one of the accused. He also feels connected to the increasingly strange weather phenomena besetting the city. His dreams intensify along with his obsession with the murder case (which he comes to believe is an Aboriginal tribal killing by curse, in which the victim believed). Learning more about Aboriginal practices and the concept of Dreamtime as a parallel world of existence, the lawyer comes to believe the strange weather bodes of a coming apocalypse
Apocalypse
An Apocalypse is a disclosure of something hidden from the majority of mankind in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception, i.e. the veil to be lifted. The Apocalypse of John is the Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament...
.
The film climaxes in a confrontation between the lawyer and the tribe's shaman in a subterranean sacred site beneath the city. Overcoming the shaman, the lawyer escapes to the surface to warn about the Last Wave. Seeing a huge wave looming high above Sydney, he collapses in despair in the last shot.
Note: in an early scene, Chris Lee's hat bears a small silver pin - an airplane, an authentic bit of "cargo cult" symbolism.
Cast
- Richard ChamberlainRichard ChamberlainGeorge Richard Chamberlain is an American actor of stage and screen who became a teen idol in the title role of the television show Dr. Kildare .-Early life:...
as David Burton - Olivia HamnettOlivia HamnettOlivia Hamnett was a Manchester-born actress who found success after emigrating to Australia in the early 1970s. In the UK Hamnett had guest roles in such television programs as Department S and Randall and Hopkirk in 1969.She continued to act after moving to Australia, appearing in films and in...
as Annie Burton - David GulpililDavid GulpililDavid Gulpilil Ridjimiraril Dalaithngu , is an Indigenous Australian traditional dancer and actor. His first starring role was Walkabout....
as Chris Lee - Frederick Parslow as Reverend Burton
- Vivean GrayVivean GrayVivean Gray is an English actress, who found her niche playing gossipy characters in Australian television series. In her early life, she lived in England but moved to Australia after she had trouble finding any acting opportunities...
as Dr Whitburn - Nandjiwarra Amagula as Charlie
- Walter Amagula as Gerry Lee
- Roy Bara as Larry
- Cedrick Lalara as Lindsey
- Morris Lalara as Jacko
- Peter CarrollPeter CarrollPeter James Carroll is a modern occultist, author, cofounder of the Illuminates of Thanateros, and practitioner of chaos magic theory.-Biography:...
as Michael Zeadler - Athol Compton as Billy Corman
- Hedley Cullen as Judge
- Michael Duffield as Andrew Potter
- Wallas EatonWallas EatonWallas Eaton , sometimes credited as Wallace Eaton or Wallis Eaton, was an English film, radio, television and theatre actor....
as Morgue Doctor
Production
In an interview on the Criterion Collection DVD release, director Peter Weir explains that the film explores the question, "What if someone with a very pragmatic approach to life experienced a premonition?” Entered in the 6th Tehran International Film Festival in November 1977, the film won the Golden Ibex prize.Box Office
The Last Wave grossed $1,258,000 at the box office in Australia, which is equivalent to $5,786,800in 2009 dollars.
See also
- Cinema of AustraliaCinema of AustraliaCinema of Australia, more commonly referred to as the Australian film industry, refers to the system of production, distribution, and exhibition of films in Australia. Film production commenced in Australia in 1906 with the production of The Story of the Kelly Gang, the earliest feature film made...
- South Australian Film CorporationSouth Australian Film CorporationSouth Australian Film Corporation is a South Australian Government statutory corporation established in 1972. Former State Premier Don Dunstan played an instrumental role in the foundation of the Corporation and its early film production activities....
- List of Australian films
- DreamtimeDreamtimeIn the animist framework of Australian Aboriginal mythology, The Dreaming is a sacred era in which ancestral Totemic Spirit Beings formed The Creation.-The Dreaming of the Aboriginal times:...
External links
- "The Last Wave", essay by Diane Jacobs, Criterion Collection
- The Last Wave, National Film and Sound Archive, Australia