Wake in Fright

It's been said: "The best film ever made about Australia was directed by a Canadian." Possibly true. "Outback/Wake in Fright" is one of those films which gets a little too close for comfort. Unlike most Australians, those of us who grew up in the country will recognise a lot in this film, not always with displeasure.

What a strange, malleable career Ted Kotcheff has had. Of late he has retired to the relative comfort of making TV movies and even contributed to "Law and Order SVU". Yet like Nicolas Roeg ("Walkabout"), Kotcheff's brief spot of work in Australia was a wake-up call to a blinkered urban population (or those that went to the movies at any rate) to the complexity of the outback, in all its bloody glory, dispensing with the romantic pills we were used to swallowing. Kenneth Cook's novel should be held in equal regard, but his writing doesn't get much press these days, which is a shame.

Television prints of this film - rarely shown these days - heavily censor the kangaroo kills, which says a lot about the hypocrisy of the city. Uncut version is essential viewing.

The first time I watched this, I really didn't know what to make of it; it was so different from any other film I had ever seen. It seemed as if it was filmed with virtually no budget, the sets and atmosphere were completely dingy, the setting and much of the language was foreign to me, and it felt like a kind of homemade independent film. However, upon a second viewing, I see it for the richly-textured masterpiece that it is, and for the awesome attention to detail that must have gone into it which I had taken for granted the first time.

There have been other films with similar subject matter in alternate settings of cultured men reduced to a kind of forgotten primitivity, but I think the thing that sets this movie apart is the fact that director Ted Kotcheff remains completely neutral toward all of the characters - both the cultured schoolteacher as well as the locals. By the end of the film, no character remains unscathed, and yet no character is completely without sympathy, either. It must be quite difficult for a director to remain impartial, especially when most stories require audience sympathy for a protagonist versus an antagonist for story momentum. This impartiality establishes an incredible realism in the film which is difficult to shake off. Here, as in life, things just happen to the main character organically - whether there is any rhyme, reason, or moral to any of it is the complete burden of the audience to figure out.

Another key aspect to the film is its universality. Most people would like to believe that in the modern world, and especially a modern country such as Australia or the U.S, that such ugly colloquial primitivity has been largely purged from polite society, but they would be quite wrong. I can equate some of my own personal experiences with those of the main character in this film, and so felt an uncomfortable recognition as I was watching this. Moroever, virtually every scene in the film I could envision actually occurring - something I cannot say about any other I can think of. Sam Peckinpah's filmic explorations of perverse masculinity, some of Samuel Fuller's work, and "Deliverance" are the only movies that achieve something close to the kind of effect this movie has, and even Peckinpah felt the need to resort to flashy cinematic stylistics to get his points across.

This movie has not aged one bit, and probably never will. It is a tragedy that it has all but disappeared even in its own country of Australia. Director Kotcheff displayed an amazing early talent; it is too bad that his career never reached another peak like this - even in "First Blood" and "Uncommon Valor" - two of his other films with similar themes. And that the same man ended up directing "Weekend at Bernie's" and episodes of "Zalman King's Red Shoe Diaries"!!! The world is a crazy place, and one need only watch this film to realize this fact.

Kenneth Cook was posted as a young man by the Australian Broadcasting Commission (our state-owned broadcaster) to the NSW outback mining town of Broken Hill in the early 1950s. This experience provided the basis for his scarifying first novel, "Wake in Fright", published in 1960. In the novel, Gary, a young schoolteacher bonded to the State Education Department to teach in a desolate desert whistle stop, visits "Bundayabba" (Broken Hill) on his way back to Sydney, surf and girlfriend for the vacation, loses all his money in a two-up game in a desperate attempt to pay off his bond and descends into drunkenness and depravity with the friendly locals, who all appear to be carrying on as they normally do.

This film was made from the novel in 1970 by a production company hitherto associated with light TV entertainment. The then fairly young Canadian director, Ted Kotchoff, with a couple of foreign leads, Donald Pleasance and Gary Bond, was quite happy to accept Cook's ugly Australians as his local characters and his parody of "mateship" as the social cement binding them together. The dialogue may be spare but the editing (by Tony Buckley) is great, and we are right inside Gary's head as he loses it.

I saw this movie when it first came out in New Zealand, where it passed almost without comment. Australian audiences did not flock to see it, and the general critical reaction was that it was too confronting. Nearly 40 years later, restored by the Australian Film Archive, it is a well-made classic which still has plenty of punch. Gary Bond as the hapless schoolteacher is very convincing. Chips Rafferty as the local policeman with a pragmatic approach to enforcing the law exudes a low-level air of menace. Donald Pleasance as "Doc" the alcoholic ex-doctor who leads Gary astray is not so much menacing as over the top, but very amusing all the same. The rest of the cast are suitably ocker.

Much has changed in the outback since the 1950s. Most of the people you rub up against in the bars of mining towns are likely to be from somewhere else, and you'd be lucky to hear those harsh bush accents. Broken Hill has shrunk a bit and is now a pretty quiet place. The Education Department no longer goes in for bush slavery - this is no more than an historical portrait. Yet many city dwellers still see the outback as Gary sees it – a place full of drunken homoerotic dickheads who abuse their environment, treat women like public conveniences and whose idea of mateship is to keep their mates drunk. "Wake in Fright" is best seen as very vivid fiction, a horror movie in fact. I don't think Kenneth Cook set out to write non-fiction. Neither was Ted Kotchoff trying to make a documentary. But, with the aid of several good actors and a host of authentic extras he created such a realistic atmosphere that many viewers were misled.

The film, which launched the career of Jack Thomson for one, is said to have given the Australian film industry a boost, even though few saw it. Certainly some fine films followed ; "Picnic at Hanging Rock", "The Getting of Wisdom", "The Devil's Playground", "The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith" for example. But history prevailed – modern Australia was not yet ready to film.

Depicting a society and culture in Australia circa 1970 that isn't too far from how some live their lives today; albeit with an increasing amount of pharmaceuticals (legal or otherwise) to complement the alcohol. If you take some time to reflect on how cultures around the world behave and are able to exhibit such diversity, you will invariably happen upon a range of reasons for such variance in the way people live their lives - the cause and effect. Arrive at your own conclusions but there are some common denominators originating from white western European cultures that uniquely deliver you to the fright you could easily wake up to, if you stop being you, and go with the flow.

Surprised how well received this film is considering the genuine animal slaughter that takes place. An eye opener and a sharpener, should you need one, nonetheless

John Grant is a schoolteacher in a remote town deep in the Australian outback. It's the Christmas holidays, and he plans to go to Sydney to meet his girlfriend. However, the train only takes him as far as Bundanyabba- The Yabba to those who know it- where John promptly loses his money at a gambling hall. Stranded in The Yabba, John is introduced to some locals- the sinister yet charming Doc Tydon among them- and falls ever deeper into a drunken, violent haze from which he may never be able to escape.

Based on Kenneth Cook's novel of the same name, 'Wake In Fright' is a powerful psychological thriller that is frighteningly visceral and brutally realistic. Subtly directed by Ted Kotcheff, the film is a trip to the dark side of the human condition that pulls no punches. Kotcheff made some great films- 'The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz', 'Fun With Dick And Jane' among them- but this is arguably the most enduring and affecting work he ever did.

Evan Jones' adaptation of Cook's novel has resulted in a masterful screenplay that is unpredictable and terrifying. The story is riveting and realistic, never melodramatic and always entertaining. A seedy undercurrent and threat of violence runs throughout the film that will leave any viewer utterly spellbound. The brutality borne of the boredom the men in the film experience day in and day out is startlingly authentic and powerfully captured on film.

On the point of authenticity, viewers will no doubt be put off by the infamous and distressing kangaroo hunt sequence. While it is stomach-churning, it undeniably heightens both the reality and frightening nature of the film. Also- and this point is important- the hunt would have happened, had the cameras been rolling or not. Drunken idiots with weapons and too much time on their hands do savage and disgusting things; that is not up for debate: that's truth. Arguably, Kotcheff's inclusion of the sequence merely adds to the narrative power.

Brian West's naturalistic cinematography captures the outback like no other: the heat, the vast expanse, the sweat; the endlessness of it all. His camera work is fluid and artistic, his composition and framing undeniably beautiful. It is work reminiscent of the best of Bert Glennon or Freddie Young: epic photography that is truly unforgettable.

Anthony Buckley's editing is tight, his cuts adding additional subtlety and power to the film. John Scott's score is atmospheric and eerie, contributing to the sinister tone of the film, but never becoming over the top or melodramatic. The production design and set decoration is realistic and grubby, every location in the film looks genuine. The same can be said for Ron Williams' costume design- it looks like the costumes were stolen from locals' washing-lines in the night (before they were washed, one might add).

The intense realism of the picture extends to the actors' performances. Gary Bond- as Grant- is masterfully understated. The audience is totally on his side as he undergoes tortures of a psychological kind while stuck in The Yabba. Bond was often compared to Peter O'Toole throughout his career, but his is a far less theatrical presence on screen, and his performance in 'Wake In Fright' is fantastically natural.

Donald Pleasence was a terrific, powerful actor, but could occasionally lessen a film's impact with his overacting; particularly in villainous roles (see him hamming it up in 'Will Penny' for proof of this notion). However, as Doc Tydon, he is electric, magnetic and simply incredible. It is a performance of no vanity, a towering piece of acting both entertaining and petrifying to behold. That he wasn't nominated for an Academy Award for his work in the film is a testament to the fact that the Academy usually get it wrong; and always have.

In addition to Bond and Pleasence, Chips Rafferty does a scene stealing turn as the local hard-drinking policeman, Jock Crawford. Every time he's on screen your eyes are drawn to him immediately; and his performance is fantastically unaffected. Sylvia Kaye also does admirable work as a depressed sheila in whom Grant finds some kinship, and Jack Thompson makes his film debut as Dick; one of Tydon's alcoholic and violent cronies.

'Wake In Fright' is a psychological thriller full of emotional power and unpretentious depth. Featuring career-best performances from many in the cast, the film is a roller-coaster ride through a hellish outback populated by drunkards, brutes and the occasional kangaroo. There are many violent moments in the film, and some genuinely disturbing scenes that aren't for the faint of heart. It is always realistic though, and never histrionic. Most of all, it is a powerful critique of human nature, of the fallibility and violence inherent in man; especially when boredom and alcohol is involved. 'Wake In Fright' is- simply put- a masterpiece, a bloody, brutal masterpiece.