Retro Review: Wake in Fright

Everything old is new again, or so it seems. In Retro Review, our resident film buffs take a dive into a movie classic -- and tell us why it worked then, and whether it still works now. This week, Max Hutson gives a second chance to a long-ignored Australian thriller, Wake In Fright. The Movie:

Wake In Fright (also known as Outback to international audiences) is Ted Kotcheff’s 1971 thriller set in an Australian outback filled with mateship and beer. Although it was nominated to win the Palme d'Or at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival, Wake in Fright could be seen as Australia’s greatest lost film after a poor performance in the domestic market. Rediscovered in 2009, it has since been adapted for TV, certifying its place as a culture shift for Australian film-making.

Who’s in it?

Gary Bond stars as John Grant alongside Donald Pleasence as Clarence F. "Doc" Tydon, and Chips Rafferty as Jock Crawford. 

Do I know them?

Gary Bond has not really appeared in many other major films, being more of a theatre actor. Bond’s most notable role was Joseph in the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which was first performed in 1968. 

Donald Pleasence is a face that most should recognise, receiving top billing upon the film’s initial release. Pleasence has appeared in The Great Escape (1963), although his most famous roles include the first onscreen depiction of Blofeld in You Only Live Twice (1967), as well as the Doctor Loomis in the Halloween franchise. 

Chips Rafferty was the face of Australian cinema in the 1940s and '50s, when the local film industry was in its infancy. Rafferty gained international fame in Forty Thousand Horsemen (1940), before being drafted in WWII. Rafferty was also cast in Kangaroo (1952), the first Technicolor film shot in Australia, and the Elvis Presley film Double Trouble (1967). Rafferty died of a heart attack in 1971, shortly after filming Wake in Fright. 

What's it about?

Based on the 1961 novel of the same name, Wake In Fright follows rural schoolteacher John Grant as he attempts to make his way back to Sydney to spend the Christmas break with his girlfriend. However, while staying in the small mining town of Bundanyabba, John loses all his money in a game of two-up and cannot afford a plane ticket home. He finds himself stranded in the mining town hanging out with the locals, drinking a hideous amount of beer, and shooting kangaroos. The film challenges the Australian mateship culture as well as the ‘I’ll have one if you have one’ attitude behind drinking beer, which blends into a swift tornado of destruction.

Why did it work then?

Well, actually it didn’t. The film was initially screened at the Cannes Film Festival alongside Walkabout (1971) and was praised for its storytelling. When it was released commercially, Wake in Fright performed horribly. Not only was the film poorly advertised, but Australian audiences who did end up watching hated the film mainly for their poor representation. The representation of Australian countryfolk is very unapologetic and doesn’t sugar-coat anything, which wasn’t really seen in Australian cinema at the time. Australia is not depicted as spiritual like in Walkabout or populated with Crocodile-Dundee-style larrikins, but a harsh and haunting Australia is put in focus for the whole world to see. 

Most audiences also did not enjoy one particular scene where a group of kangaroos are gunned down, which uses real footage of kangaroo’s being shot. However, it was later revealed that the kangaroo culling was already planned by licensed hunters before filming had started, and it just so happened to align with their filmmakers’ production schedule. The shots were kept in with the approval of the leading animal welfare organisations.

With the lack of appreciation given from audiences at the time, Wake In Fright was discarded and rejected only to be found again at the turn of the century.  

Does it work now?

Perhaps suprisingly, Wake In Fright works much better now than it did then With many stories in the same vein like The Boys (1998), The Slap (2015), Chopper (2000) and Underbelly (2008-2022), Australian audiences are now more familiar with films and shows that don’t depict Australia as paradise, but Wake In Fright was the trailblazer.

The film’s themes of drinking culture and mateship are still prevalent today, which is what prompted Screen Australia and Network Ten to release a two-episode series remake in 2017 under the same name. However, the show doesn’t really hit as hard as the film and pales in comparison.

---

Do I need to see it?

I would strongly recommend that if you can get your hands on a DVD of this (good luck!), that you sprint to the nearest DVD player. Anyone who likes thrillers, country towns and beer will love this film. I will say that if you are a bit squeamish, then the kangaroo scene can get a bit intense, but I think that it just adds to how well-made Wake In Fright truly is. 

10/10