Peter Weir is one of those film-makers, who helped to redefine the Australian cinema in the 70’s. His transcendent and evocative images of Australia gained him recognition among the international art-house circuit. He is known for making complex, dark dramas, which explores the inner self of men. Weir’s primary characters would always be caught up within some sort of social upheaval or alteration. Although Weir moved to Hollywood in the mid 1980’s, devising wonderful genre dramas (“Witness”, “Dead Poets Society”, “Fearless”, “Truman Show” etc), he never lost his sense of artistic exploration. I feel that couple of his early Australian movies, “Picnic at Hanging Rock” (1975) & “The Last Wave” (1977) was superior to his later works, especially because of that mystical, surrealistic environment and for not serving as a concise conclusion. “The Last Wave” deals with some of the same themes (like psychological unease of the descendants of first white settlers) Weir previously explored in his lyrical masterpiece ‘Hanging Rock’, but at the same time he also introduced some of his other favorite themes (obscure exploration of alternate realities or dreamworld). His cinematic techniques in ‘Last Wave’ were also more creative and lend an ineffable quality.
Peter Weir has stated that the origination point for the plot
of ‘Last Wave’ has born when he was on a holiday in Tunisia. There he had found
a beautiful marble piece of a buried Roman head, which he had previously seen in
his dream. He just imagined how a rational man with a clear-cut profession, who
doesn’t deal with imagination, would meditate on the premonitory experience.
This idea transitioned into the movie’s protagonist, David Burton (Richard Chamberlain), a tax lawyer. He lives in relative wealth and happily married to
a moderately talented painter (Olivia Hamnett) and blessed with two beautiful
daughters. The film starts in some part of Australian desert, the children are
playing cricket during the school interval.
The cloudless sky out of nowhere produces heavy downpour
followed by a vehement hailstorm. In the city too, there is a heavy downpour,
causing traffic jams. David, sitting inside his car hears (in radio) about the
strange occurrence in the desert as a quirk of nature. In the night he is
plagued by a nightmarish vision of a man. Although David’s stepfather
(Frederick Parslow) reminds him that strange dreams have been part of his
entire life, David remains unhinged by those irrational visions. Later, David
is asked to take upon a strange case involving a death of aborigine. Although
he is a legal aid lawyer his previous experiences in working with Aborigines
brings him the case. The suspects he has to defend are five aborigines, who
don’t talk much.
On the outset, the murder looks like a simple case of
drunken brawl, but the presence of a mystical, old indigenous man suggests that
the killing is a tribal punishment for some sort of offense. David is
increasingly drawn to the case, especially when he sees the aborigine man Chris
Lee (David Gulpilil) in his dreams, even before meeting him in person. David
invites Chris to his home for discussing the case, but Chris along an old man
named Charlie (Nanjiwarra Amagula). Then, David and his visions itself becomes
subject of Chris’ inquiry and the conversation leads David to think that there
are answers within his dreams, which has something to do with the strange
goings-on in the weather.
“The Last Wave” possesses the kind of unique, dark
atmosphere, which many of the contemporary psychological thrillers strive to
achieve. Despite the minimal budget, director Weir and cinematographer Russell
Boyd (he also worked with Weir in ‘Hanging Rock’, “Gallipoli", and ‘Master and
Commander’) perfectly amalgamates casual happenings with the inexplicable
phenomenon in a perfectly valid manner. The duo uses a lot of blue filters to
lend a surrealistic quality as well as to insinuate about the impending
disaster (water is a constantly recurring motif). Thematically, Weir tries to
explore or meditate on the connection between nature’s quirks and prophetic
spirit of the mankind. He is trying to contemplate experiences, which can’t be
explained in mere words. David imparted with those prophetic visions tries to
solve everything within the conventions of logic. But, the more he attempts to
solve the puzzle through logic, the more confounding the situation becomes.
Spoilers ahead
Another central theme the director tries to convey is how
we, living in the industrialized society remain estranged our mystical
connection or mystical selves. Pursuing these themes would bring up charges of
romanticism and liberal piety. The notion that the indigenous people living in
modern cities are more tuned in to their mystical selves than their western
counterparts is some kind of insipid approach taken by majority of cinematic
works. But, Weir (may be anticipating an accusation) includes a line of
conversation that questions the protagonist’s sudden interest on the plight of
these oppressed men. When David asks his colleague, who doesn’t believe in the
mystical nature of the case, to drop out, he replies: “Good, ‘cause I don’t
want to make a fool of myself or of them" and he further states: “That middle
class patronizing attitude of yours towards the blacks revolts me. For the best
part of ten years, I have worked with these people, while you made fortune on
tax dodges for corporations”.
In order to authentically portray the Aboriginal culture,
Weir had sought the help of Nandjiwarra Amagula (plays Charlie), who is tribal
elder and a magistrate. He has helped to create the lost symbols and tokens of
old Sydney tribes. The Mulkurul myth is said to be solely invented for this
movie, which isn’t found in any of Aboriginal legends. Towards the end, in the
sacred place, David discovers what it means to be a Mulkurul (a harbinger of
apocalypse) and he also discovers that a second wave could bring the total
destruction, making mankind to start from scratch. May be Weir, through this
formulated myth is trying to associate the ‘first wave’ with the arrival of
whites, which brought apocalypse to the Aborigines’ way of life.
“The Last Wave” is definitely plagued with few narrative shortcomings.
The use of stock footage for the titular tidal wave due to budget constraints
isn’t a big letdown, since it provides us with a purposeful vagueness which is
present throughout the movie. Yet there are circumstances when the weighty,
spiritual themes aren’t dealt in an adequate manner. Those who are seeking a
masterful, generic thriller might be disappointed by the unprecedented mystical
ideas towards the denouement. Even director Weir has admitted in an interview
that he didn’t know how to end the film. He tells that he has thought of neat,
clever endings, but then Weir chose to go with the open, unresolved climax. The
ending may definitely split the viewers, making them either to call it as a
brilliant, reflective work or as an average thriller.
“The Last Wave” (106 minutes) is a compelling atmospheric
thriller that doesn’t spell out everything for the viewers. It depicts the
spiritual awakening as well as the psychological breakdown of a rational,
modern man.
Trailer
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