Wake in Fright : Blu Ray Edition

Review by David Woodward

The negative and soundtrack for Wake in Fright were believed to be lost for many years. The film has now been restored by the National Film and Sound Archive and AtLab Deluxe for this Blu-ray Disc release.

Despite the hype that surrounds the 2009 re-release of Wake in Fright, the film (in my view) will be more renowned for its digital restoration than for the quality of the movie itself.

Wake in Fright (also known overseas by its more descriptive title Outback) was a 1971 Australian / US co-production. Interestingly, TV star Bobby Limb was a part owner of the Australian company which financed the film.

Wake in Fright was directed by Canadian Ted Kotcheff.  It starred Englishmen Gary Bond and Donald Pleasence as well as a number of well-known Australian actors such as Chips Rafferty and Jack Thompson.

The story revolves around John Grant, a teacher in a remote outback school who travels to Sydney for the holidays.  During a stop-over at a local city (The Yabba), he loses all his money and spends a “lost weekend” with a group of Aussie larrikins – drinking and joining in on a drunken and brutal kangaroo hunt. This experience repulses him and he unsuccessfully attempts suicide and ends up returning to his outback school for the next school year.

It is an ugly story supposedly presenting life in the Australian outback as it really was. It is for this reason perhaps (and the rather graphic kangaroo hunt sequence) that the film was not successful in Australia when it was first released. Nevertheless, it is a time capsule about the era (for example, a meal of steak and eggs only cost $1 in the 1970s!).

The leading role of the school teacher is played by Gary Bond, an actor who looked like a young Peter O’Toole at the time, but who did not go much further in his acting career.  Chips Rafferty is the real stand-out however in a more restrained performance than normal. It is sad to realise that it was his last film role as he died soon after.

The Aussie accents come thick and fast among the supporting cast which is made up of actors from Australian films and TV shows from the time. In particular, watch for John Meillon at the start and end of the film in a very layback role for him.

DVD Special Features

Besides the masterful digital restoration, there is a 32-page booklet that has a number of articles on the making of the film and the detective work behind the 10-year search for the original negative print which led to the restoration of Wake in Fright. There are also a number of featurettes, including an exhausting 23-minute interview with director Ted Kotcheff.

I have long been arguing that there must be news footage and shorts about films or TV series made at the time of their production that should be able to be used as sources of historical information for Extras on DVD releases. With Wake in Fright, Madman Productions has accessed three mini-documentaries from the ABC Library Services which offer an insightful (although a bit repetitive) look into the making and re-release of this movie.

Conclusion: Episodes 75% Extras: 100%