The Last Wave: Difference between revisions
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| producer = [[Hal McElroy]]<br />[[Jim McElroy]] |
| producer = [[Hal McElroy]]<br />[[Jim McElroy]] |
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| studio = Ayer Productions |
| studio = Ayer Productions |
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| distributor = |
| distributor = World Northal (US) |
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| editing = Max Lemon |
| editing = Max Lemon |
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| released = {{start date|df=y|1977|12|13}} (Australia)<br>January 1979 (US) |
| released = {{start date|df=y|1977|12|13}} (Australia)<br>January 1979 (US) |
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| language = English |
| language = English |
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| budget = {{A$|818,000}}<ref name="pike">Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 321-322</ref> |
| budget = {{A$|818,000}}<ref name="pike">Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 321-322</ref> |
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| gross = $1,258,000 (Aust) |
| gross = A$1,258,000 (Aust)<br>US$866,250 (US)<ref name="papers">"Overseas Releases", ''Cinema Papers'', May-June 1979 p332</ref> |
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''The Last Wave'' was not as popular as ''Picnic at Hanging Rock'' but still grossed $1,258,000 at the box office in Australia,<ref>[http://film.vic.gov.au/resources/documents/AA4_Aust_Box_office_report.pdf ''Film Victoria - Australian Films at the Australian Box Office'']</ref> which is equivalent to $5,786,800 |
''The Last Wave'' was not as popular as ''Picnic at Hanging Rock'' but still grossed $1,258,000 at the box office in Australia,<ref>[http://film.vic.gov.au/resources/documents/AA4_Aust_Box_office_report.pdf ''Film Victoria - Australian Films at the Australian Box Office'']</ref> which is equivalent to $5,786,800 |
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in 2009 dollars. |
in 2009 dollars. |
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United Artists decided not to release the film in the US but it was picked up by World Northal for distribution and enjoyed a popular run.<ref name="papers"/> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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Revision as of 13:07, 28 October 2012
| The Last Wave | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Peter Weir |
| Written by | Peter Weir Tony Morphett Petru Popescu |
| Produced by | Hal McElroy Jim McElroy |
| Starring | Richard Chamberlain Olivia Hamnett David Gulpilil Frederick Parslow |
| Cinematography | Russell Boyd |
| Edited by | Max Lemon |
| Music by | Charles Wain |
Production company | Ayer Productions |
| Distributed by | World Northal (US) |
Release dates | 13 December 1977 (Australia) January 1979 (US) |
Running time | 106 minutes |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | A$818,000[1] |
| Box office | A$1,258,000 (Aust) US$866,250 (US)[2] |
The Last Wave (1977) is an Australian film directed by Peter Weir.[3] It is about a white lawyer in Sydney whose seemingly normal life is disrupted after he takes on a murder case and discovers that he shares a strange, mystical connection with the small group of local Australian Aborigines 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, 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 death is ruled a homicide; and four men are accused of murder. Through the Australian Legal Aid system, David Burton (Richard Chamberlain) 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 defense. He nonetheless takes on the case, and his professional and personal lives begin to unwind.
Plagued by bizarre dreams, Burton begins to sense an "otherworldly" connection to one of the accused (David Gulpilil). 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, Burton 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. Overcoming the shaman, Burton 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.
Cast
- Richard Chamberlain as David Burton
- Olivia Hamnett as Annie Burton
- David Gulpilil as Chris Lee
- Frederick Parslow as Reverend Burton
- Vivean Gray 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 Carroll as Michael Zeadler
- Athol Compton as Billy Corman
- Hedley Cullen as Judge
- Michael Duffield as Andrew Potter
- Wallas Eaton 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.
Finance was provided by the Australian Film Commission ($120,000), the South Australian Film Corporation ($120,000), Janus Films (US$50,000) and United Artists ($350,000). US based writer Petru Popescu worked on the script. Weir considered two Australian actors to play the lead but eventually decided to go with Richard Chamberlain.Filming started 24 February 1977 and took place in Adelaide and Sydney.[4]
Box Office
The Last Wave was not as popular as Picnic at Hanging Rock but still grossed $1,258,000 at the box office in Australia,[5] which is equivalent to $5,786,800 in 2009 dollars.
United Artists decided not to release the film in the US but it was picked up by World Northal for distribution and enjoyed a popular run.[2]
See also
References
- ^ Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 321-322
- ^ a b "Overseas Releases", Cinema Papers, May-June 1979 p332
- ^ Variety film review; 16 November 1977, page 21.
- ^ David Stratton, The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival, Angus & Robertson, 1980 p75-77
- ^ Film Victoria - Australian Films at the Australian Box Office
External links
- The Last Wave at IMDb
- The Last Wave at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Last Wave at AllMovie
- "The Last Wave", essay by Diane Jacobs, Criterion Collection
- The Last Wave, National Film and Sound Archive, Australia
