Review of Wake in Fright (1971) by Richard D — 06 Apr 2015

I understand why the film is so controversial, but it didn't shock me. Well, it did, actually. The freak out scenes were well done and provided a clear picture of the characters internal struggles and were good simulations of intoxication. The setting is original, but not the story. A man discontent with his life goes on a crazy trip and gets a fright when he sobers up, and the experience repeats like in any tale of drug addiction. The thing that makes the setting unique is the hospitality of the locals, and how everyone has an easy going attitude and insist on buying you a beer. I was raised in a small town and if you take away the animal cruelty and instead of Donald's house set the movie in the woods around a fire, that sums up my teenage years pretty good. I didn't go insane. I had a good time.

The way I see the movie it could take place in any isolated town anywhere in the world. Americans probably won't identify because in an American movie a character like this would end up depressed and alone or in jail or in a gang. The movie makes you feel like there's no escape because people are so friendly towards him and they buy him a beer with good intentions. But you view the film through a filter. The film is shocking because the director chose to make it that way. From the freak out scenes, to the exaggerated acting, from the cycle of gambling and alcohol addiction -- all things added for effect. The man was bored with his life, got a thrill from betting on a coin toss, and the second things didn't go his way he got dramatic and spiraled out of control from there. He was feeling numb and was so desperate to feel something he would risk failure, and the rest of the movie is him dealing with the consequences and using alcohol to freeze time. It's more an insult to tourist than Australians.

They talk about the suicide rates, but that's common anywhere you go. It's an important topic in general. Suicide is just another form of violence, and there's a lot of commentary on violence in this movie. Wake In Fright is best watched multiple times because there's many ways to interpret the movie.