A disquieting classic of australian cinema, wake in fright surveys a landscape both sundrenched and ruthlessly dark. Watch wake in fright 1971 full movie free streaming online. In wake in fright, how was the kangaroo scene filmed. Gary bond, donald pleasence, chips rafferty directed by. First blood, north dallas forty, the film tells the. Wake in fright made its first appearance in cannes in competition in 1971. After finishing up the school term in a remote outback town, teacher john grant gary bond.
Like the majestic camera movement with which it opens, wake in fright is a film that travels in slow, inexorable circles, presenting its paranoid nightmare of entrapment as kafka down under. Wake in fright is a 1971 thriller directed by ted kotcheff. Wake in fright is the story of john grant, a bonded teacher who arrives in the rough outback mining town of bundanyabba planning to stay overnight before catching the plane to sydney. And when he finally escapes bundanyabba and returns to his school, grant tells a friend. Virtually unseen in the us and renowned in its home country after years of neglect for its daring criticism, wake in fright is ripe for rediscovery, and returns after 40 years to reclaim its title. Movie info aweinspiring, brutal and stunning, wake in fright is the story of john grant, a bonded teacher who arrives in the rough outback mining town of bundanyabba, planning to stay overnight. Wake in fright 1971 donald pleasence feature drama, thriller. It is powerful, genuinely shocking and rather amazing. Irwin, the series features an ensemble cast that includes sean keenan, alex dimitriades, caren pistorius, david wenham, anna samson, gary sweet and robyn malcolm. Brutal, uncompromising and stunning wake in fright tells the story of a young teacher, john grant, who arrives in a rough outback mining town planning to stay overnight before catching the plane to sydney. Wake in fright describes the experiences of a young, citybred schoolteacher, john grant, who finds himself stranded in the miningtown of bundanyabba over the course of a weekend, and who ends up taking a nightmarish journey into the depths of his own soul. Wake in fright is presented in its entirety, featuring animal hunting scenes, which viewers may find offensive.
In the remote towns of the west there are few of the amenities of civilization. Everything you need to know about wake in fright movie 2012. John is seduced into a raucous, illegal game of two up. Provocative, morally complex and brilliantly realized, wake in fright is guaranteed to stay with viewers long into the night and possibly for years to come. Wake in fright initially released as outback outside australia is a 1971 psychological thriller film directed by canadian filmmaker ted kotcheff, written by evan jones, and starring gary bond, donald pleasence, chips rafferty, sylvia kay and jack thompson. Jun 25, 20 wake in fright is the story of johns summer vacation. Oct 04, 2012 the scene is from wake in fright, a film directed by ted kotcheff, and released in 1971. Sean keenan picked up on that quality and it works for him too. Nov, 2019 wake in fright describes the experiences of a young, citybred schoolteacher, john grant, who finds himself stranded in the miningtown of bundanyabba over the course of a weekend, and who ends up taking a nightmarish journey into the depths of his own soul. Oct 31, 2012 wake in fright is a film made in australia in 1971 and almost lost forever. Wake in fright is a film made in australia in 1971 and almost lost. Jun 26, 2015 wake in fright 1971 r 114 min drama, thriller 21 july 1971 france john grant, a bonded teacher, arrives in a rough outback mining town planning to stay overnight before starting his holiday.
Kotcheffs film first slowly peels only to end up clawing at its protagonists humanity, exposing an animalistic nerve that is both confronting and harrowing. The scene is from wake in fright, a film directed by ted kotcheff, and released in 1971. When the alcoholinduced mist lifts, the educated john grant is no more. Feb 28, 20 acclaimed upon its debut at the 1971 cannes film festival and long thought lost, canadian director ted kotcheffs raw, uncompromising and controversial vision of life in a hellish town in the. Scorsese said, wake in fright is a deeply and i mean deeply unsettling and disturbing movie. The film tells the story of a british schoolteachers descent into personal demoralization at the h. With donald pleasence, gary bond, chips rafferty, sylvia kay. There were 17 other movies released on the same date, including taken 2, frankenweenie and butter. Wake in fright, under its international title outback, was in competition for the palme dor in the 24th cannes film festival in 1971, alongside walkabout neither film won. Aweinspiring, brutal and stunning, wake in fright is the story of john grant, a bonded teacher who arrives in the rough outback mining town of bundanyabba, planning to stay overnight before. Wake in fright, which is receiving a weeklong run in a vivid restoration at film forum, was shot in 1969, before the new wave.
Wake in fright is a film made in australia in 1971 and almost lost forever. Screened at the toronto film festival in 2009, picked up three years later. The best movie of the week is also the best movie news of the year. But his one night stretches to five and he plunges headlong toward his own destruction. Enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing wake in fright near you. From actors downing 30 pints of beer a day to the quandary of filming a kangaroo shooting scene while vegan, veteran director ted kotcheff. The movie is based on the kenneth cook novel from ten years earlier. Wake in fright 2012 rotten tomatoes movie trailers. Watch wake in fright 1971 full movie free streaming. A young schoolteacher finds himself marooned in a small mining town in the outback, where a string of dangerous events render him a broken, desperate man. Recommended to me on my make me watch your favourite list sweltering and oppressive, wake in fright is a mans disconcerting descent into his own personal hell. Walkabout, wake in fright is widely acknowledged as one of the seminal films in the development of modern australian cinema. Gary bond and donald pleasance star in this onceforgotten classic about a teachers descent into madness in.
Gary bond and donald pleasance star in this onceforgotten classic about a teachers descent into madness in the australian outback. Well, kotcheff didnt want to harm any animals for his movie, and in 2012, the director released a statement saying, the very first thing i want to make clear that absolutely no kangaroo was injured or killed for my film, wake in fright. Wake in fright 1971 and you call yourself a scientist. The nightmarish story of a schoolteachers descent into personal demoralization at the hands of drunken, deranged derelicts while stranded in a small town in outback australia. Wake in fright 1971 r 114 min drama, thriller 21 july 1971 france john grant, a bonded teacher, arrives in a rough outback mining town planning to stay overnight before starting his holiday. A bevy of beauties tied up in a hotel room, seemingly at deaths door on the flipside, weve got a hapless soul looking for a break, and it comes at the mysterious expense of a man hes. Watch wake in fright movie trailers, exclusive videos, interviews from the cast, movie clips and more at. After a bad gambling bet, a schoolteacher is marooned in a town full of crazy, drunk, violent men who threaten to make him just as crazy, drunk, and violent. He takes a rickety train to the town of bundanyabba known to all as the yabba, there to get a plane to sydney. It comes billed as a horror film and contains a great deal of horror, but all of the horror is human and brutally realistic. Wake in fright was released in 2012 on friday, october 5, 2012 in new york movie theaters. Wake in fright, the longlost 1971 australian masterpiece, has been found, restored and redeemed in a sparkling new pr. Wake in fright is one of only two films ever to screen twice in the history of the festival.
Wake in fright is a movie full of contradictions its a classic that very few people have ever heard of. Extreme violence against animals, mild nudity in 1971, the australian film wake in fright directed by the canad. Wake in fright 1971 donald pleasence feature drama. Well, fortunately, you dont have to take my word for it. Mr harmon was executive producer of wake in fright a good movie which deserves big houses. Mre2me terrific film about the destructive influence a small, isolated australian town has on a schoolteacher. Wake in fright is a deeplyand i mean deeplyunsettling and disturbing movie, said director martin scorsese i saw it when it premiered at cannes in 1971, and it left me speechless. Feb 26, 2014 peter galvin spent a year researching the story behind the making of the forgotten classic, wake in fright.
Long unavailable on home video, ted kotcheffs superb thriller is a deeply unsettling study of the horror of the unchecked male psyche. It is based on a kenneth cook novel of the same name. Wake in fright, the longlost 1971 australian masterpiece, has been found, restored and redeemed in a sparkling new. Evan jones screenplay, kenneth cook based on the novel wake in fright by. Wake in fright is an australian miniseries based on kenneth cooks 1961 novel of the same name, which first aired on network ten in october 2017.
Acclaimed upon its debut at the 1971 cannes film festival and long thought lost, canadian director ted kotcheffs raw, uncompromising and controversial vision of life in a hellish town in the. It lived up to the hype but it wasnt what i expected it to be. Theres nothing else out here wake in fright is the story of john grant, a bonded teacher who arrives in the rough outback mining town of bundanyabba planning to stay overnight before catching the plane to sydney, but as one night stretches to five and he plunges. First blood, north dallas forty, the film tells the story of a british schoolteachers descent into personal demoralization at the hands of drunken, deranged derelicts while stranded in a small town in outback australia. In short, wake in fright is a very interesting examination of a part of australian society in its complexity. But, on this one hot night in bundanyabba, grant decides to go into a smoky, crowded pub. A sensememory of this surfaces in david michods 2010 movie animal kingdom, but it is nowhere near as brutally. I saw it when it premiered at cannes in 1971, and it left me speechless. Not sure when he woke up in fright, i watched the entire thing, regrettably.
As robert fure explains on film school rejects, the true horror comes from the descent of john who goes from perhaps somewhat annoying in his disdain for outback life to completely unrecognizable. Alongside mad max and walkabout, wake in fright is widely acknowledged as one of the seminal films in the development of modern australian cinema. Also sign me up for fanmail to get updates on all things movies. In fact, sydney, melbourne adelaide and perth now have wake in fright and the countrys best new play, david williamsons, the removalists, opened this week in sydney. Its a movie that looks stupendous on the big screen, where the wide open emptiness of the outback can be truly experienced. Directed by kriv stenders and written by stephen m. Directed by ted kotcheff first blood and starring donald pleasence, wake in fright is a brutal, visceral overlooked gem of the australian new wave about a teacher gary bond who arrives in the rough outback mining town of bundanyabba and ends up going on a dayslong, selfdestructive bender. After a short, exhilarating winning streak, he loses everything, which triggers a dangerous series of events that render john a broken and desperate man.
The full story behind the making of the australian film classic wake in fright 1971 from conception to production and the subsequent disappearance of the. Wake in fright bluray and dvd debut january 15th dec 19, 2012. Based on interviews with the filmmakers this threepart. With sean keenan, alex dimitriades, caren pistorius, gary sweet. As some kind of recompense, it was an official selection in the cannes classics film festival 2009, curated by martin scorsese. It stars gary bond, donald pleasence and chips rafferty. Sep 17, 2012 virtually unseen in the us and renowned in its home country after years of neglect for its daring criticism, wake in fright is ripe for rediscovery, and returns after 40 years to reclaim its title. Directed by ted kotcheff first blood and starring donald pleasence halloween, the great escape, wake in fright tells the nightmarish story of a schoolteachers gary bond descent into personal demoralization at the hands of drunken, deranged. Wake in fright 40th anniversary trailer 2012 youtube. The movie is a joint australianamerican production.
Wake in fright is the story of john grant, a bonded teacher who arrives in the rough outback mining town of bundanyabba planning to stay overnight before catching the plane to sydney, but as one night stretches into several he plunges headlong into his own destruction. In contrast, two up, as shown in wake in fright is perhaps the fairest gambling of all, where the winners and losers are in plain sight, and the odds are fiftyfifty. Wake in fright and australian new wave the new york times. The scene is from wake in fright, a film directed by ted kotcheff, and. This critically acclaimed landmark australian film challenged the way australians saw. It was psychologically intense and haunting but also charming and funny. Kotcheffs film first slowly peels only to end up clawing at its protagonists humanity, exposing an animalistic nerve that is. Acclaimed upon its debut at the 1971 cannes film festival and long thought lost, canadian director ted kotcheffs raw, uncompromising and. But one night stretches to several and with the aid of alcohol he plunges headlong toward his own destruction.