Wake in Fright: A Primer of Sorts (No Spoilers!)

Wake in Fright landed in Portland a few weeks ago (at my neighborhood theater!). I'm a great fan of early 70s transgressive cinema, and this film is an amazing ride. Here are some interesting factoids to ponder before you see it at the IFS.

The Beginning of the Australian New Wave?

Wake in Fright was released in 1971, before the Australian film industry started making an international name for itself with films like Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), Mad Max (1979), Breaker Morant (1980), and Gallipoli (1981). Although arguably not a completely "Australian" film since the director Ted Kotcheff was Canadian, the screenplay was based on an Australian novel.

The Screenwriter Knew What He Was Talking about

The screenplay, in fact, was based on Australian Kenneth Cook’s novel of the same name. After high school, Cook worked his way around Australia, bouncing from job to job (lab technician, boatshed operator, journalist, and television documentary maker). It seems likely that he experienced the charms of Australian desert town life firsthand. It is believed that Cook based the novel’s fictional Bundanyabba on Broken Hill in New South Wales.

Gosh, Haven’t I Seen this Godforsaken Landscape in other Films?

Excellent question! You have, indeed. Parts of The Road Warrior, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and Mission: Impossible II were filmed in and around Broken Hill.

Actors to Watch out For

Jack Thompson was just starting out at the time of Wake in Fright, but over four decades he has appeared in over 100 films and is still working today. He had a memorable turn as the military defense lawyer in Breaker Morant, as well as popping up in Kojak: The Price of Justice and Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones.

Yes, he was the dude who played “Crocodile” Dundee’s friend (in both movies). John Meillon started his acting career at eleven in an Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio program, and was the voice of Victoria Bitter commercials until his death in 1989.

Do you really need me to list Donald Pleasance’s numerous acting triumphs? He’s played everybody from Blofeld in You Only Live Twice to Halloween’s Dr. Loomis, is what he’s done. 

Where Has this Film Been for 40 Years?

Although it was a hot ticket at its 1971 Cannes Film Festival premiere, and received excellent international reviews, Wake in Fright did poorly in Australia (perhaps it cut a bit too close for the domestic audience). The prints eventually disappeared, and the last one known to exist was too degraded for transfer to videotape or DVD. After a decade-long search by the original editor, Anthony Buckley, in 2004 the negatives were discovered in Pittsburgh, in a shipping container marked “For Destruction”. Sydney’s AtLab Deluxe digitally restored the film (with the support of the Australian National Film and Sound Archive). This restored version was invited back to Cannes by guest curator Martin Scorsese, and was shown at the Sydney Film Festival in June, 2009. This time the home team showed more enthusiasm, and a limited Australian theatrical release was followed by DVD and Blu-ray distribution later that year. Wake in Fright is currently being distributed in the United States through Drafthouse Films.