Several Aborigines in Sydney kill another for violating tribal law. Lawyer David Burton (Richard Chamberlain) takes their case but is frustrated by their refusal to cooperate. Australia is wracked by unusual storms while David has repeated visions of Chris Lee (David Gulpilil), an Aborigine associate of the killers. After meeting Chris and his mysterious associate Charlie (Nandjiwarra Amagula), David grows convinced that the strange events portend apocalypse.
Where Hanging Rock was opaquely spiritual, The Last Wave provides overt mysticism. Weir inundates Australia with apocalyptic weather: hail from a cloudless sky, rains of frogs and oil. These phenomena will be familiar to Charles Fort fans but might have earthly explanations. Less explicable are David's fugue visions of watery death and mental bond with Chris Lee. David seems to have tapped into a primal super-conscious, the Aborigine Dreamtime that places humans on an entirely different spiritual level.
Weir plays up this culture clash, carefully paralleling white and Aboriginal cultures. Where Aborigines see the strange weather as otherworldly portents, a radio weatherman provides meteorological rationales. Both Aborigine and white culture place reverential emphasis on their legal systems and religions. Still, the film ultimately sides with the former: most pointedly, David envisions his radio leaking water during a forecast. The ending in Sydney's sewers removes all doubt.
Why isn't The Last Wave as effective as Hanging Rock? Partly because of its certainty: placing undeniable anomalies in a realistic setting seems a cheat. But there are several story flaws too. Weir unceremoniously drops the killers' fate after a quick trial. He also complicates David's quest with a nagging family; what hoarier device exists than a wife (Olivia Hamnett) who doesn't understand our noble hero? David's showdown with an underground shaman proves laughable. And after earlier visions the last scene isn't as striking as it should be.
Richard Chamberlain channels his limited range into studied, anguished intensity. David Gulpilli seems the ubiquitous screen Aborigine, from Walkabout through The Proposition and Australia. He's thoroughly charming here. More striking still is Nandjiwarra Amagula, a real-life tribal elder who provides mystical menace. Supporting roles go to Olivia Hamnett, Vivean Gray, Frederick Parslow, and Peter Carroll.
The Last Wave is an interesting but flawed film. Despite its intriguing premise and striking imagery, it never comes together like it should.
No comments:
Post a Comment