The Last Wave
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Last Wave | |
|---|---|
 Original Movie Poster |
|
| Directed by | Peter Weir |
| Produced by | Hal McElroy Jim McElroy |
| Written by | Peter Weir Tony Morphett Petru Popescu |
| Starring | Richard Chamberlain, Olivia Hamnett, David Gulpilil, Frederick Parslow |
| Music by | Charles Wain |
| Cinematography | Russell Boyd |
| Editing by | Max Lemon |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) |  December 13, 1977 December 19, 1978 |
| Running time | 106 mins |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $818,000 $618,000 |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Last Wave is a 1977 Australian film directed by Peter Weir.
Tagline: The Occult Forces. The Ritual Murder. The Sinister Storms. The Prophetic Dreams. The Last Wave.
[edit] Plot
The film begins at an Australian school in the desert. Even though there are no clouds in the sky, the children hear thunder and a storm soon breaks out. In quick succession, a pounding rain, followed by grapefruit-sized hail, assail the schoolhouse. All while the sun is shining.
Peter Weir's occult follow-up to Picnic at Hanging Rock (film) explores the question that occurred to the director, “What if someone with a very pragmatic approach to life experienced a premonition?” It follows the personal journey of a corporate tax lawyer, plagued by recurring dream premonitions, who takes on the legal case of Aboriginals accused of murdering one of their group. The lawyer begins to suspect these are tribal Aboriginals living in the city, and that the death was a tribal killing (and subject to tribal law). As he questions one of the men, Chris, he suspects that his dreams are related to the case ... and to the increasingly strange weather phenomena besetting the city. As his dreams intensify, and his obsession with the murder case overcomes his life, the strange weather begins to bode of a coming apocalypse.
Rather than spell out the obvious spooky elements, Weir used inference and mystery to build suspense. The film finally climaxes in a confrontation between the lawyer and the tribe's shaman in a subterranean sacred site beneath the city.
The Criterion Collection DVD release includes a brief recollection of the film's genesis by the director.
[edit] See also
[edit] External link
 |
This article about a 1970s horror film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 |
This article about a fantasy film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
| Films Directed by Peter Weir |
| Homesdale | The Cars That Ate Paris | Picnic at Hanging Rock | The Last Wave | Gallipoli | The Year of Living Dangerously | Witness | The Mosquito Coast | Dead Poets Society | Green Card | Fearless | The Truman Show | Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World | War Magician | Pattern Recognition |
