Despertar en el infierno

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.

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

Yet another first-class film made in Australia by foreigners (a Canadian director working for a British studio), during the long period from World War II to the early 1970s when Australian cinema lay fallow. Like many other good ones - "The Overlanders" (1946), "They're a Weird Mob" (1966), "Age of Consent" (1969), "Walkabout" (1971) - although "Walkabout" is more seriously flawed than the others I've named - it doesn't feel like a foreign film; it feels as if the director made an honest attempt to be Australian, and succeeded. It's interesting that all these films are British. American films shot in Australia during the same period are, without qualification, American films; one scarcely even notices that "On the Beach" was shot in Melbourne rather than, say, Capetown or Tierra del Fuego, however many trams and banksias there may be.

The central character is clearly English; just as clearly, he doesn't like Australia. But I suspect that even in 1971 a greater proportion of Australians would have felt themselves to have been trapped in Hell if they'd been in his circumstances, than English. A greater proportion of Australians, then as now, live in cities, and the outback is further away from over 90% of Australians than anything is from anyone in England.

It's interesting that this fellow should be so RIGHT about everything (The Yabba IS a "bloody terrible" place, the hospitality he encounters DOES border on aggression, the game of two-up IS about as simple-minded and dull as it's possible for a game of chance to be), and yet be such an unsympathetic, unimaginative prig with scarcely more insight than he has backbone. He always needs a local to tell him what's going on and even then he doesn't get it. Yet we follow him with fascination and real concern all the same.

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.

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.