Stars: Donald Pleasence, Gary Bond, Chips Rafferty, Sylvia Kay, Jack Thompson, Peter Whittle, Al Thomas, John Meillon, John Armstrong | Written by Evan Jones | Directed by Ted Kotcheff
John Grant (Gary Bond) is a bonded school teacher who finds himself teaching in the outback. When travelling back to Sydney he stays overnight in the mining town of Bundanyabba where the lure of gambling and alcohol soon traps him in a nightmare. Seemingly trapped in his own hell Grant clings to the hopes of Sydney while his life spirals to a point so low that the only escape may be the one bullet he has left in his rifle.
At the start of Wake in Fright John Grant is an educated man who looks at his current situation as a form of slavery to the system, being a bonded teacher means that he has to work wherever he is put, and the...
John Grant (Gary Bond) is a bonded school teacher who finds himself teaching in the outback. When travelling back to Sydney he stays overnight in the mining town of Bundanyabba where the lure of gambling and alcohol soon traps him in a nightmare. Seemingly trapped in his own hell Grant clings to the hopes of Sydney while his life spirals to a point so low that the only escape may be the one bullet he has left in his rifle.
At the start of Wake in Fright John Grant is an educated man who looks at his current situation as a form of slavery to the system, being a bonded teacher means that he has to work wherever he is put, and the...
- 3/26/2014
- by Paul Metcalf
- Nerdly
By Lee Pfeiffer
The Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas, which present contemporary and classic films at their unique restaurant/theaters, have delved into the DVD business- and retro movie lovers can thank their lucky stars. One of the most prominent of the Drafthouse releases is Wake in Fright, a 1971 Australian film classic by Ted Kotcheff, a Canadian born director who had never previously set foot Down Under prior to making this movie. Based on the novel by Kenneth Cook, Wake in Fright is unknown to many film scholars who pride themselves on being acquainted with worthwhile, little-seen films. (I must shamefully admit that I fall into this category myself, having never even heard of the film prior to reviewing the Blu-ray release). Based on the title, I assumed this was a suspense thriller or a horror film. It is neither. In fact, it is virtually impossible to pigeon-hole this movie into a specific genre.
The Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas, which present contemporary and classic films at their unique restaurant/theaters, have delved into the DVD business- and retro movie lovers can thank their lucky stars. One of the most prominent of the Drafthouse releases is Wake in Fright, a 1971 Australian film classic by Ted Kotcheff, a Canadian born director who had never previously set foot Down Under prior to making this movie. Based on the novel by Kenneth Cook, Wake in Fright is unknown to many film scholars who pride themselves on being acquainted with worthwhile, little-seen films. (I must shamefully admit that I fall into this category myself, having never even heard of the film prior to reviewing the Blu-ray release). Based on the title, I assumed this was a suspense thriller or a horror film. It is neither. In fact, it is virtually impossible to pigeon-hole this movie into a specific genre.
- 1/24/2013
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Down & Outback: Lost Australian Classic a Moody Nightmare
Long considered a lost classic, spurring a decade long search for the film’s negative (which ended finally in 2004 when it was found in a box marked for destruction in Pittsburgh), Ted Kotcheff’s Wake In Fright is getting a much deserved re-release after enjoying a recent spat of revitalized festival circuit glory. While the film’s been listed among a selection of titles referred to as Ozploitation, thanks to the 2008 documentary Not Quite Hollywood, Kotcheff’s film is more Ozploration than it is an exploitative mechanism. That’s not to say it isn’t without some sensational, notorious sequences, but clearly this is cinema that is more on par with contemporary auteurs that explored the Outback to more celebratory effect like Weir, Schepisi, and fellow Brit, Nicolas Roeg.
A bonded school teacher, John Grant (Gary Bond), stationed in Tiboondi, the...
Long considered a lost classic, spurring a decade long search for the film’s negative (which ended finally in 2004 when it was found in a box marked for destruction in Pittsburgh), Ted Kotcheff’s Wake In Fright is getting a much deserved re-release after enjoying a recent spat of revitalized festival circuit glory. While the film’s been listed among a selection of titles referred to as Ozploitation, thanks to the 2008 documentary Not Quite Hollywood, Kotcheff’s film is more Ozploration than it is an exploitative mechanism. That’s not to say it isn’t without some sensational, notorious sequences, but clearly this is cinema that is more on par with contemporary auteurs that explored the Outback to more celebratory effect like Weir, Schepisi, and fellow Brit, Nicolas Roeg.
A bonded school teacher, John Grant (Gary Bond), stationed in Tiboondi, the...
- 10/2/2012
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
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