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I saw "The Last Wave" today on IFC for the first time in over 25 years. It was like seeing an old friend again. Not an old friend you grew up with or knew for a long time but someone from your past you spent a lot of time with in a short period. Someone you remember a certain way and many years later you find they are different.
That's a big part of "The Last Wave". I found a review that summed it up nicely :
""""I notice a lot of viewers are trying to 'understand' The Last Wave. Sometimes...understanding is 'the booby prize'. In an age of in-your-face special effects and fast action that negates thinking at all, this film is brilliant. Peter Weir is truly a remarkable film maker. He does something so few director's do anymore. He allows us to be involved with the story...to think for ourselves. Same as with Picnic At Hanging Rock, which I have to watch at least once a year, The Last Wave allows ME to think for myself. """"
So if you like action films you probably won't like this film. It's also a film you'll want to pay pretty close attention to and not watch casually.
Of course the soundtrack plays a big role for me in this film. Not just the music but the sounds. It won awards for best achievement in sound. It was the first time I ever heard a didgeridoo and it is Eq'd with much more LF than occurs naturally adding to the films eerie side. The didge parts are very cool.
David Gulpilil is great and the other Aboriginal actors are well chosen to add to the stories odd nature. I will never forget the face of Charlie played by Nandjiwarra Amagula, that's him, in the poster pic.
...fall madly in love with Peter Weir. These two films, along with the films of Antonioni and Nicholas Roeg (as well as many works more obscure), had a huge impact on my young mind of what movies could be and how they could be structured.Weir is one of the strongest visual storytellers around, although his movies have become gradually less eliptical and more conventionally structured over the years. The magic and mystery of Last Wave and Picnic At Hanging Rock remain very special movie experiences for me. Weir assumes the intelligence of his audience in these open ended films, allowing you to connect the dots and fill in the spaces, bringing your own imagination into play. No dumbing dowm, no underlining. Just show, don't tell. Music and soundscape have always played an important role in Weir's films - he uses sound in interesting and unexpected ways but feeling fully organic when paired with the images on the screen. Weir's best films immerse us in different/alien worlds, the heroes pitted in struggle against unfamiliar landscape. Weir has made extensive use of subtle electronica in his soundtracks as well as traditionally scored cues.
Weir has had an interesting career arc, long on quality and short on quantity. His resume includes only about a dozen feature films in his long career. The mature work - which he reached by his second feature (Picnic), is always intelligent, always elegantly shot. His first movie, the low budget, outrageous The Cars That Ate Paris, is a cult favorite but virtually unseen in the US. Picnic At Hanging Rock put Weir on the international map and proclaimed him a young modern master - I remember him being hailed as one of the "Australian New Wave" along with fellow directors Gillian Armstrong and George Miller.
After TLW, Weir's next two, Gallipoli and The Year Of Living Dangerously were excellent, ambitious and heartfelt films, but different from the early work. Gallipoli is undoubtedly one of the best "war" movies ever made. And I will never forget Linda Hunt's incredible, Oscar winning turn as Billie in Year Of Living Dangerously. In fact, Weir is quite adept at coaxing fine, understated performances from his actors, even from unlikely suspects not renowned for subtlety (Harrison Ford, Rosie Perez, Jim Carrey, Robin Williams).
I still find Weir's Amish thriller Witness highly entertaining, a commercial movie that doesn't make you cringe. The Mosquito Coast was fine but flawed, as Weir drew a searching performance from Ford. Dead Poet's Society and Green Card were lowpoints in Weir's career for me (I know a lot of people love DPS, I can't abide it). Weir redeemed himself in my eyes with the unconventional and vastly underrated Fearless. (This movie contains one of Jeff Bridge's best performances.) The Truman Show was a hugely ambitious, critically acclaimed experiment. Master and Commander is simply the best movie of its kind (tall ships and the sea) ever made. I love it. Even though it doesn't follow the famous Patrick O'Brien novels closely, it distills the spirit and essence of the series into an emotionally stirring and visually thrilling high seas adventure. In addition to its gorgeous cinematography and excellent performances, M&C has the most brilliant and dynamic soundscape in recent memory, truly immersing you in the aural world of life ona RB ship in the early 19th century. It's a wonderful movie, but not a conventional action film or swashbuckler - the studio sold it as "Gladiator on the sea", much to my utter disgust.
Weir has a new movie in the works set to start lensing next year - he's been drawn again to a man out of place theme. The Way Back, a fact based tale scripted by Weir, follows a group of soldiers from their escape in 1940 from a Rusian Gulag, tracking their flight across Siberia, the Gobi desert, the Himalayas, finally to India.
Edits: 11/01/08
falls short of his Australian peer, Bruce Beresford.
Excellent, excellent post. While I see PW a bit unlike you do ( I am not in love ) on the whole I certainly agree.
I gree to myself...To have a new look at " Picnic at hanging rock " as the end was something I could realy make a part of the whole..
It felt flat.
" Mieux vaut une tête bien faite qu'une tête bien pleine."
.
Weir wants us/you to participate in the films, engage our imaginations. TLW and PAHR are heavy on atmosphere, and contextually dense. These movies aren't about "plot", plus there are no pat explanations at the end to neatly tie everything up, but the clues are all contained within the film frames. You/we complete it.
These two movies are worth second veiwings.
Great post! We see things almost the same. You've got me excited about the upcoming work.
ET
it sounds like it offers great possibilities for Weir's talents. Ya never know, casting is key, but he was on his game for M&C so I have high hopes!
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