Wake in Fright

For years, Wake in Fright (1971) lingered in the pantheon of "lost films." One badly duped copy existed in Dublin; scattered VHS copies, retitled Outback, remained shut away in cinephiles' basements. Then in 2002, editor Anthony Buckley discovered the original materials in Pittsburgh. Years of painstaking restoration and legal wrangling followed, the film getting a limited art house release in 2009.

Wake in Fright helped usher in Australia's New Wave, transforming that country from cinematic also-ran to movie powerhouse. Like the same year's Walkabout, it's directed by a non-Australian: Ted Kotcheff was a Canadian director, later of North Dallas Forty and First Blood. That's not to take away from its Aussiness. This adaptation of Kenneth Cook's novel is palpably raw, finding a razor's edge beneath the Down Under stereotype.

John Grant (Gary Bond) is a vacationing school teacher who makes a one-night stop in Bundanyabba. John initially holds locals like policeman Jock (Chips Rafferty) and Tim Hynes (Al Thomas) in contempt as stupid, overfriendly hicks. When John loses his money in a game of two-up, he's forced to linger in the town, falling in with Tim and eccentric Doc Tydon (Donald Pleasance). A series of increasingly disturbing adventures occur, from a kangaroo hunt to a botched tryst with Tim's wife Jeanette (Sylvia Kay), with John wondering if he'll ever escape.

Wake in Fright's set-up resembles Straw Dogs and Deliverance, with an educated man destroyed by hicks. Yet Fright is more subtle than those shows, couching its story as psychological horror. Bundanyabba's denizens are just living the life they know; bored in a small town, they've little else but drink and sport. The only females about are Jeanette and a hotel clerk (Maggie Dence), both teasing strumpets. John gets little joy from his life or work, posted to a small town; he's all too readily drawn to dissolution.

Essentially, Kotcheff and writer Evan Jones craft a study in macho excess. Everything in Bundanyabba's taken to extremes, from friendship to aggression. Jock's friendly offer of beers becomes an all-night bender. John wins some money gambling, only to blow his entire wad on a return throw. The kangaroo hunt turns into a gory, degrading horror show (made worse by the fact that this is real footage). Challenged by his cohorts, John tries to prove his masculinity frolicking with Jeanette - then promptly vomits. He's ultimately smothered under the barrage of bonhomie; "the Yabba" becomes an inescapable hell.

Kotcheff's direction provides a surreal capper. Early scenes take in the Outback's harsh beauty, matched with John Scott's suitably playful score. But Kotcheff ratchets up the story with increased violence, elliptical flashbacks and terrifying montage work. As John wrestles with a kangaroo, we get terrifying close-ups of his pals' sadistic laughter, a scene recalling the cackling bandits of For a Few Dollars More. John's debauchery mashes memories into a freakish nightmare of sex, booze and gambling coins.

Gary Bond appeared in Zulu and Anne of the Thousand Days but never became a leading man. Resembling a brown-eyed Peter O'Toole, Bond depicts John's unraveling with smoldering intensity. Donald Pleasance gives a subtle edge to Doc's malignant weirdness; you never know just how villainous he is. Chips Rafferty, once Australia's leading film star, gets a fine sendoff. Jack Thompson makes his film debut as a roo hunter. Thompson became ubiquitous in Aussie cinema, from the classic Breaker Morant through Baz Luhrman's The Great Gatsby.

Wake in Fright is definitely strong stuff: the violence, baroque editing and crushing atmosphere will turn away many viewers. Those able to stomach its rougher edges will find a remarkably uncompromising work.