This lost classic feels very much a companion piece with Nic Roeg's
Walkabout (1971), the flip-side of the coin of the outback experience.
Both films explore the same environment and general concerns of surviving
in such an inhospitable environment. But where Walkabout use the
children's innocence as a way of fending off the horrors, the characters
in director Ted Kotcheff's film do not have that luxury. The world-weary inhabitants only have drinking as a way of escape, and the baron landscape creates a pervasive feeling of dread.
John-Paul Sartre said hell is other people, and Wake in Fright (1971) might make a good illustration of that. Gary Bond (Zulu) play John Grant, a school teacher in the Australian Outback. He hates his job, but can't leave due to a government scheme which holds their money in a bond to make sure they see out their contract, where-ever they're placed.
It's Christmas, and he has planned his escape back to Sydney and civilization for the holidays. All he has to do is spend one night in the biggest town in the area, Bundanyabba to catch a plane out in the morning. As the taxi driver says, its a friendly place, but this seems at odds with the desperate feeling in the air.
(Spoiler from here on down)
It soon turns out that the taxi driver was right. The People of Bundanyabba are friendly, and this is where the film throws a real curve-ball. Throughout the film you expect the locals to turn on John at any moment. He is an outsider, a school teacher, and has an aloofness which betrays his feelings of superiority. But when he accepts the hospitality of the local policeman Jock (Chips Rafferty), it leads to a downfall that could be considered his own making.
After copious amounts of beer, a sloshed John discovers the locals main past-time. A simple betting game called Two-Up. Intrigued by how popular a two coin guessing game could be, he tentatively places a bet and immediately wins. A few more wins, and he's on top of the world. Rushing back to his hotel room, he start to dream of leaving his job. Maybe one more win will do it...
Donald Pleasence is on top form as Doc Tydon, an alcoholic vagrant John bumps into. As John's plight plummets, the more hospitality he receives, the more drink he's plied with. One boozy night becomes many, and John's humanity comes to breaking point after a night-time kangaroo hunt which is the most controversial part of the film. This might be a good time to warn any animal lovers that the hunting scenes are quite hard to stomach. There aren't any "no animals were hurt" credits on this movie.
When John wakes up the next day with his clothes stained with blood and a hazy memory of a sexual encounter with Doc, his disgust eventually motivates him to escape. But its easier said then done.
Wake in Fright has a way of lingering in the memory. A fully restored version of the film came out in 2009, and is fully recommended.
Wake in Fright has a way of lingering in the memory. A fully restored version of the film came out in 2009, and is fully recommended.
