"But you ... I think you may be mukuru. You different tribe ... from another world ... across the sea ... from sunrise." Charlie to David.
Richard Chamberlain learns of a previous civilization
that was destroyed by a great wave. He was part of that civilization. Are
we meant to believe that he was an aborigine in a previous life, or that
he is psychically in tune with the aborigines and that's why he's chosen
to be their lawyer?
Here we have two men: one white, one black; one
tribal aboriginal, one highly sophisticated Western civilized man. Both
fine men. One of them has material wealth; one has spiritual wealth. I
wanted my lawyer, with his material wealth, with his humanitarian principles,
to, firstly, glimpse with his mind that there was another lost dream, or
spiritual life, and then to touch it. I thought, How can he touch it? I'll
have him go back down, go back down - that's what I kept saying in my mind.
How can he go back down? I thought, Go back down underneath the city, down
through the sewer, through the filth, down to the dirt, down to his own
lost spiritual life - treated with some logic, some realistic elements.
It's
not a fantasy. I wanted to represent it that way. So he goes back down,
and there, within the ground below - we've mentioned in the film that his
background is South American, he came from South America as a child - and
there he touches his own lost spiritual life, his own dreaming. In a sense
he's given a gift by the aborigines. There are symbols and signs from some
other life, or South American history - who knows what? He can't cope with
it. He can't handle that kind of knowledge. I don't think he could.
—Peter Weir in an interview
This may be cheating a little, but I thought that hearing Peter Weir himself talk about this film might help with our figuring it out. Remember: even the artist isn't always clear and truthful about his own work. So use what Weir says, if you want, as a stepping stone for your own observations, and not as facts to be restated.
1. So what did you think of this film? Several of you spoke today in class—but more of you didn't. So let's have everyone speak here. What image or moment stays with you from the film—and why?
2. How would you describe this film to a friend who asked you about it? How would you categorize it?
3. The big question: what do you think it's about? What is Weir getting at in this film, do you think?
4. Okay, we know that this film shares a preoccupation with water in relation to Master and Commander. What do you see as the biggest or most apparent thematic connection it shares with the later film?
That's more than enough for now. Take some time answering these questions. Tomorrow we watch a movie all about girls—there's a surprise—called Picnic at Hanging Rock. See you then.
This film fascinated me even more once I started figuring out what was going on. My favorite part of the movie--an aspect rather than a moment--was David's discovery of his own tribal heritage. I really love history, especially family history, so I just thought the idea that David had this connection to the spiritual world from generations ago was really cool. I would describe The Last Wave as a really weird movie from the 70s that's a little confusing but really interesting too. I would also say it's a horror movie--less scary than most horror movies and yet somehow more disturbing. I think this film is about how to maintain spirituality in the face of civilization. It deals with racial conflicts and the meaning of justice, but the driving force behind the plot is a desire to understand the ineffablility of spirituality. Civilization as we know it is about creating and mantaining order; legal justice and racial segregation are two ways to keep a civilization organized in a way that satisfies the majority. This film critiques those systems and makes the point that order and reason can't explain or control the chaos of faith. David's internal struggle to find a logical explanation for his dreams is a microcosm for the larger struggle between the spirituality of the Aboriginese and the rigidness of white society with it's structured and simplified faith. Both The Last Wave and Master and Commander confront the issue of maintaining order in the face of chaos. Water serves as a symbol of nature and its unpredictable nature in both movies, though the water seems more normal in Master and Commander because the ocean is doing what we're accustomed to it doing; we are not as accustomed to bathtubs overflowing on their own or hail falling in Australia.
ReplyDelete1. I liked this film, although for very different reasons than I liked Master and Commander. In Master and Commander, I let my mind be carried away by the plot. For me, the message of the film was more like a sidenote. In The Last Wave, you can’t let yourself just focus on the plot because the plot is so unclear and so intertwined with the movie’s themes. To enjoy the movie, you have to be captivated by the idea of finding out what the movie actually means. The Last Wave was definitely a very intellectually challenging film, but I liked it more than Master. I think the most memorable scene was the last one, in which Richard Chamberlain is enveloped by the wave. It seemed like such an odd conclusion to a film, and the cinematography in this part of the movie was exceptionally unique showing the wave from different perspectives with different tints.
ReplyDelete2. This film is about an Australian lawyer who takes on a case to defend some aborigines accused of murder. He is a very practical, middle-class man with middle class values and middle class possessions living in the city. But in the process of interacting with the men he is defending, he goes on a journey to discover his spiritual self. If I had to classify this movie it would be a fantasy, but don’t watch this movie expecting comforting, easy-to-follow plot.
3. This movie is about the relationship between spiritual, natural world and the practical, urbanized one. The urbanized world is trying to ignore and deny the power of the spirit world. The urban people say the tribal people are dying out and no longer have power in the cities, and that the heavy rain is a result of explainable events. But the natural, spiritual world cannot be conquered. The rain keeps falling hard on the city, and Richard Chamberlain keeps on having weird dreams. Weir is saying it’s easy to lose track of your spiritual side in this world because it’s so urbanized, but the spiritual world is always there.
4. The biggest thematic connection – as I discussed in my last answer – is the fight between science and spirituality. In Master and Commander, Captain Aubrey is fighting on behalf of spirituality and Dr. Maurin is fighting for science. In The Last Wave, there are two battles; one between the tribal aborigines and the city, and the other an inner-battle between Chamberlain and himself.
1. When we watched the film yesterday I was confused about a lot of things, but todays viewing cleared up much of my confusion. I have watched some movies that are really bad, and this was not one of them. It was so weird that some parts of it seemed bad, but it (like Master and Commander) was actually a very well constructed film. I am not saying that I really liked the movie, but if I look at it in an objective way it was good. I say that I did not really like it, but I did not really dislike it either. I was very neutral about the movie. I would not say that I would like to watch it again, but I never wanted to stop watching it. It was suspenseful and engaging at times, and I was glad that I saw it. My favorite part of the movie was the part where the main character returned to his house and everything gets destroyed because this kind of embodied what we discussed today and what the movie was all about. It Showed how powerful nature is and how easily human society is destroyed. There is one shot in this scene that I particularly liked for some reason. It was the part where the camera focused in on his feet when he was walking down the stairs and the stairs appeared to be totally covered in various bits of vegetation. That shot to me was kind of an interesting symbolic and literal combination of man made things and nature.
ReplyDelete2.I would say that The Last Wave is a mystery movie with lots of supernatural stuff that has interesting and important themes including class, race, and religion. I would say that it is an interesting movie that is worth seeing because it is so different from almost all other movies, but not in a bad way.
3. The main important theme that the movie is the theme of nature in conjunction with the growing power of human society. The movie is, in fact, about nature ultimately destroying humanity and probably allowing the world to start again. There is a lot of symbolism in the movie about nature destroying man made things. Most of these symbols involve water or weather. One thing that I thought was interesting was that the black rain was made of oil. If it was just supposed to be something supernatural and weird the movie probably never would have mentioned what the rain was made of, but it was mentioned, so it was probably important. Oil is really important to the functioning of society so I thought that this oil rain was like nature cleansing its self before it destroyed the humans or possibly that the rain was a symbol of natures power over humans. There were many other smaller less direct themes in the movie (other than the nature vs. humanity one) like the themes of class and race that were present in the interactions between the main characters and the Aborigines.
4. I think that the largest shared theme of The Last Wave and Master and Commander was the theme of man vs. nature. This theme was manifested in ways that were weirdly close to each other in both movies. For instance, in both movies there are characters that are against nature in an active way (Aubrey) or a passive way (The main character of The last wave) and characters that are aware of the importance of nature (the Aborigines and Maturin). In Master and Commander the ship symbolizes humanity and the ocean and Galapagos Islands symbolize nature. In The Last Wave the city symbolizes humanity and the Water and Weather symbolize nature trying to take hold of what was once nature. In Master and Commander the ship is taking on water at the beginning. This was also showing how nature was trying to take the ship from the humans. There were other shared themes like the theme of class, but the nature in conjunction with humanity theme was certainly the most important one.
1. At the end of the film I felt very dissatisfied. I think I would have been happier if the movie ended with David Burton banging on the door, trapped inside of the sewer (forever). When he gets outside, all of the tension that has been building up through the whole film is just released as he stands on the beach. I have very mixed feelings about this film. I found the characters very interesting, the Aborigines especially and I liked the creepy tone and funky weather setting. One thing that I just couldn't understand was what Burton is about. I couldn't tell if he thought he was some kind of messiah or thought he was cursed. I don't know what he expected to accomplish when he went into the sewer. Why was he so anxious to get down there? There was a huge build up and I was expecting there to be a moment in which things just came together. When Burton reached the cave there wasn't really anything surprising. I thought that Chris Lee had practically explained that there was a kind of prophesy in the no shirt scene and the woman at the museum filled in some of the blanks. I didn't find this film intriguing enough to want to see it again. My mind keeps returning to the moment when Chris Lee shows up in reality inside of Burton’s house just like he did in Burton’s dream. At that moment, the dreamtime meets normal time.
ReplyDelete2. This movie begins like a mystery: Who killed Billy Corman? Quickly it transitions into a completely different focus. The issue isn't murder anymore. It's: What the heck is happening to Burton? The movie is about a lawyer, the defendant of a murder case who, while learning about who he's defending finds himself more involved than he ever could have imagined. His dreams suggest that he is some kind of holy being called Mulkurul. The legend says that when Mulkurul is around, a wave of bad things are set into motion: frogs, black rain and ice. I would categorize The Last Wave as a suspense film because so much of it is a build up. The music builds suspense too and a lot of moments in the film are silent, as if something is about to pop out.
3. I think that this film is about when tribal culture meets modern. It definitely clashes in this movie. In the court scene, Burton says that the death bone caused Billy’s death. One of the other men in the room, one of the men privileged enough to wear a wig, strongly objects. The idea that spiritual things can cause death is beyond him. Burton doesn’t accept both worlds at first but learns that he has to because of his special ability. I think that Weir is focusing on how two very different worlds can exist right on top of each other.
4. Besides water, tradition is as theme seen over and over in both movies. I also saw two main characters in opposition in both films. At the end of both movies, there is a sense of agreement between the two main characters.
1. I really liked this film. I found it a lot more rewarding and interesting than Master and Commander. The themes and ideas in this movie that were also in Master and Commander, such as class, race, tradition, were discussed in more interesting and complex ways than in this film compared to that film, in my opinion. Perhaps because Weir had less to lose, I felt he took more risks when it came to plot and character development. Every image is ingrained in my mind, but one moment that really struck me was when David was in his car and everything and everyone outside was suspended in water. I thought it showed just how helpless everyone was in the face of this conflict, and it magnified the lack of control David had in his situation. No matter how enlightened he was on what was going on with Charlie and Chris, there was nothing good that could have come out of it.
ReplyDelete2. I would say the film is a psychological thriller about a lawyer who gets tangled up in something he could never fully understand. It’s hard to say more than that without spoiling it which would be a terrible thing to do, because the unexpected nature of what happens as the film progresses is one of the best things about it.
3. I think the film is about what happens when an established civilization is disturbed by oppressive force. There is so much tension between the native and the other in this film, and its ending is Weir suggesting that there will never be any sort of understanding between the two people. There is just too much that a white Australian could never comprehend about the Aborigines people, and despite all of David’s efforts to try to uncover the truth, the apocalypse still comes. Despite all of the rebirths that come after these apocalypses’ the woman talked about, there is still no understanding between the two groups of people. Even when David realizes he is somehow a part of the Dreamtime world, he can still can’t reconcile or connect the two existences. For him and the rest of his community, there is no way to make sense of what goes on in this native tribal community in their white world. Because the two groups are so different and no one is willing to try to understand the natives, both communities are doomed to repeat the cycle over and over again.
4. We talked about this a little bit today in class, but the theme of tradition was very present in this film. Billy breaks tradition by disturbing the Aborigines artifacts, and he dies. David breaks tradition by taking on this strange case, and he ends up in over his head when he enters this new world. So, like Master and Commander, it examines the chaos that happens when status quo and tradition are broken.
The mysterious and utter bizarreness of the movie kept me interested. I liked it, but didn't love it. I felt like I needed to watch it again in order to understand the movie more, and maybe then I'll grow to like it more. Finishing the movie, I was very confused. I had to take time to wrap my head around the plot and the themes of this movie. One scene that stuck with me was David Burton running through the sewers. It was at the very end of the movie and he runs down one path, turns around, and runs down the other in order to get out. These Aborigines had a hidden tribe down below the city that David and everyone else had no idea about. This has to do with the theme of tradition a little. David is so used to the world up above, and when these Aboriginal men are up above they are to pretend that they do not belong to a tribe. David Burton, the Aborigines' lawyer, comes down and learns about a part of himself he never new. This was all because he went down to the sewers with Chris.
ReplyDeleteThis first thing I would say to a friend about this movie is--it's weird. An abundance of rain and frogs coming from the sky as well as a little bit of Aboriginal magic, this movie is hard to categorize. It fits more than one category I feel. When I looked up this movie, under genre, it said drama. I don't know if I'd agree with that, it's a bit apocalyptic and a bit of fantasy (the magic). It's a movie that contains a lot of mystery and weird circumstances that are supposed to shock the audience.
I think, as mentioned in class, it has to do a lot with what is reality and what isn't as well as (not necessarily the importance as in Master and Commander but) how tradition plays a role in society. There were many scenes where it was hard to tell if we were still watching David's dream of it was real. And then his dreams would become reality.
Similar to Master and Commander, tradition plays an important role in both movies. In the first movie we watched, we had to figure out whether we agreed with Aubrey in that tradition was important to keeping the ship well organized and efficient. In this movie, we see the flaws with tradition. Chris is not a Christian, but why does he have to put his hand on the bible during court? Also the wall with the writing scribbled on the side of the lawyers door that read, "Big white boss," reminded me that the boss, as well as everyone else we saw with material wealth in the movie, was in fact white. Both emphasize the tradition in society, but each gave a different view on how necessary it was.
1. I'm still slightly confused about certain things, and like we said in class today it's the type of movie that could use a second viewing, but I've decided I like the movie. The image that stuck with me the most was David seeing all the paintings at bottom of the cave/sewer place and how it all fit in to what had been happening or what he had been seeing.
ReplyDelete2. "Well, it's an Australian movie with aborigines and a white dude and an apocalypse, and you kind of have to watch it more than once? But he has all these visions and there's SO MUCH RAIN, and it gets really creepy sometimes." I think it's similar to Master and Commander though, in that it doesn't fit just one genre. Obviously there was a little horror to it, and it's an apocalypse movie which usually makes it action but this one wasn't so it's hard to say.
3 and 4. I think this movie, as with Master and Commander, deals with a lot of x vs y which is more important comparisons. Man vs. Nature, Law vs. Man, Tribal Law vs. Modern Law, and things like that. Again, like Master and Commander, I don't know that the movie in and of itself puts forth any beliefs but more delivers a story that the viewer can then draw their own conclusions from. It does make me question the film's reality a little bit, because it's generally clear when David is dreaming but then sometimes it's also not, and that's part of what makes it so creepy. I think the film involves a lot of our fundamental questions as humans. Can we control nature? SHOULD we control nature? Must we control other humans? Despite some of the weirdness, it's really a profound movie.
1. Yesterday I was very confused by the film and didn't really 'get' it, which meant I lost some of my immersion. Today, though, most of it came together. Not all of it made sense, but i think that was intentional, as the main character doesn't quite understand what's going on either. Master and Commander, on the other hand, was fairly straight forward. The plot was nice and easy to follow: the people on the ship are chasing the French, and they are dealing with their personal problems along the way. That movie was easy to get involved in. The Last Wave has a confusing and intricate plot. I like intricate plots, but here it took me out of the movie a little bit as I tried to figure out what was going on. By the end, though, I was really enjoying it, as most of the small pieces laid out throughout the film came together in the climax. A particular image that stuck with me was the scene where the house starts coming apart around Chamberlain. I thought the house was symbolic of mankind's creations and our development of the natural world, and the trees and water and such that were destroying the house represented nature taking back what originally belonged to it.
ReplyDelete2. I would describe this movie as something of a mystery or a thriller, where all the pieces are connected at the end. For most of the movie, it seems relatively normal but with strange undertones and seemingly random, odd events that don't seem to mean much until later.
3.The film's themes are all about nature being trod on by humans. There's the zoo that made several appearances, and the main set piece for the movie is one of the biggest cities in Australia. There was also the big sewage plant that had covered up a sacred site. The later parts of the movie are about nature overcoming human development and ignorance and in a way taking back its rightful claim. Nature in the 'ordinary world' of the film is being ignored by humans, so it is cleansing itself in a way by getting rid of the big, environmentally harmful human societies that have sprung up all over.
4. I think there are some thematic elements that connect the two related to opposites. First there is humanity and the environment. Master and Commander has an undertone of survival throughout the whole movie. For instance, there's the scene where the water is flat and the sun is shining. The ship is barely moving and everyone is really thirsty, but they have no way to fix it. Meanwhile in The Last Wave there is the basic plot of nature literally destroying human civilization in the form of giant waves and hailstorms. Secondly, there is a theme of spiritual people and logical or scientific people colliding. In Master and Commander we have Maturin and Aubrey, basically opposites but best friends. Maturin has the logical view, with his love of science and biology and his calm demeanor. Aubrey is very into religion and has a big personality. In the Last Wave we have the culture of the white men and the Aborigines. The lawyers and jurors are very grounded in science and logic and find Chamberlain's talk of spiritual stuff and curses ridiculous. The Aborigines' lives are literally about spirituality as they are part of a tribe.
Honestly, and mind you I get no pleasure out of being a downer, the film was poor in quality. I am quite certain of this because I was faced with desire no film should ever spark in its viewer— strong desire for the film's ending. Rather than feeling lost in the story, I felt as though I was in mental pain, and the pain only greatened as the film progressed. I did the film a favor by watching it, not the other way around. This is not to say there were no well crafted portions in Weir's creation; however, I am having trouble thinking of any as I sit here writing. There are surely moments I will not soon forget, namely the water dripping down the stairs, followed by Burton's car filling with water.
ReplyDeleteTo generize this film does no one justice. It should stand alone on it's own island of bizarreness, for it has earned at least that much. To a friend I would call it a suspenseful apocalyptic film, but that would capture little of its character.
The movie never explicitly explains the reasons for the apocalypse, the last wave. Therefore, the audience to ponder the justification. What made cleansing necessary? I would argue that Weir implies the obvious solution: sickness in humanity. Primarily, the movie explores the health of society though race relations. In an interesting monolog in court, the Prosecutor states that, of course, everyone feels terrible for the way the aboriginals were treated, but the jury mustn't take that into account while giving their verdict. He implies that the white's are sorry. But are they really? Chris puts his hand on a bible before he testifies. Burton lives in a big (and white) house, while the aboriginals live in small, dirty, one-room apartments. A powerful white city lies where holy lands once lay, and, furthermore, the holy temple of the aboriginals now lies in a sewage treatment plant. Sufficient time was allotted for moral, ethical change. That change, I argue, hardly began. Mrs. Burton is a fourth generation Australian and has never even met an aboriginal human being.
I must confess my inaccuracy in last night's blog post. After today's viewing, there are striking thematic similarities between this film and Weir's latter that cannot be disregarded. The conflict in much of the movie is indeed tradition versus an alternative force. Despite it's riper age, the tradition of the aboriginals does not parallel with the tradition of Jack, but the "new" ideals of Doctor Stephen. Flip flop. The same roles in opposite shoes. The dream world and aboriginals are to Stephen and the white world is to Jack.
Like I said in class today, I'm really not sure if I loved this movie or didn't like it. I thought about it some more and I am going with liking it. I would definitely argue that this film is great. I think the imagery is bold and the plots twisting and almost confusing feel lays out a nice path for the viewer. If I were to watch this movie again, I feel like my mind would click more. Things would make more sense. While I suppose it was cool not knowing what was happening, it would be interesting to watch it again. I probably couldn't watch it with another person because I would want to explain everything as we went along.
ReplyDeleteActually, I tried to explain the movie during dinner tonight and it was hard. First of all, you don't want to ruin it (well, I don't. Maybe y'all are some sort of monster) and secondly, it is a bit hard to describe. I mean, I started with "It rains frogs and mud and then there is hail in the dessert and there are no clouds. Oh, and there is a goat". Not very helpful. If I were to categorize this, I would say a suspenseful sci-fi. Except at the same time I would say that it's not a sci-fi...agh. It's a hard one.
What is this about? I suppose if you wanted to do a sparknote type summary (except a sparknote to this entire blog answer would be two sentences) you could say it is about a white lawyer who is the defendant for five or six black men accused of murder. This white man (Richard) discovers secrets about strange weather phenomenons and his own life through the help (maybe not so willingly helpful) of the black men.
When Richard and Stan are talking about whether a white man should be governed, it was very similar to a conversation that might take place between Aubrey and Stephen. There is a focus on the relationship of two different sides.
1. I read Gabe's comment to question number one...too funny.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I thought the ending was such cheese. Pan to the wave, to the face, the wave, the face, the wave and finally the face. Zoom in on the man's horrified look and scene. Cheese.
1. I didn't speak at the end of class today because I was still unclear on my opinion on this movie. I know that I like the movie, but im not sure what's actually about. The mystery and suspense is what really captured my attention during the film. I can see why this film has a cult following because Weir does an excellent job on this film. I thought about it all day yesterday and couldn't wait to finish it. Even though he did an excellent job on the film it's also easy to see why this movie didn't do well in the box office. The film is pretty "out there" and can be a bit confusing. One image that stuck in my head after the movie took place when David had discovered the truth about the apocalypse and he was trying to get out of the sewer. The moment when he thinks he's locked in and he begins to cry was powerful to me. It was powerful because he knows what's about to happen but no one will believe him, or he could just be sad that he's locked in- who knows.
ReplyDelete2. If I was trying to describe this movie to someone I would tell them that the film is a mystery and thriller hybrid, and the main character has to solve a murder of an Aboriginal man.
3. I believe that this film is open to many different interpretations, and there could be many possibilities to what this movie is truly about. The largest theme, in my opinion, is nature versus science. David is a lawyer and is always looking for direct answers and when he finds out about the Murkur thing it throws off his very beliefs that he had before. He discovers that the Aboriginals predicted a second title wave that would kill everyone. This of cf course happened after David messed with the tribal law. Weir is telling the viewer that some things are out of our control and just happen.
4. As I said in my Master and Commander blog Peter Weir makes tradition a common theme in many of his films and the Last Wave was no exception. The tribe had their tribal law and their traditions associated with it and someone breaks it; therefore he has to die. The same thing happened with David and Chris when David was trying to solve the mystery. Weir was showing us what happened when people messed tradition. Though I don't believe that Weir is a pro-tradition-man.
Honestly, I don't know what to think. It was very confusing to watch, obviously, but it was kind of fun. I liked the extra challenge of trying to figure out what's real and what's in the dream world. It was a good film, and I intend to watch it again with friends and/or family, but I also think it would lose a lot after seeing it again (and also gain a lot). The main thing that kept me interested through the film was the suspense, and with that gone, it's really just a weird film that's very confusing and has a lot of foreshadowing. I really liked how throughout the film, there were images of people/owls watching David whenever he slept. Especially at the end, when he was standing in the same spot as Chris (I think it was him, but I'm bad with names) was standing near the beginning with the sacred stone. It really showed how he had changed to become what he now knew he was.
ReplyDeleteI would probably describe it as 70s horror with some suspense and Australian accents thrown in. I would say horror, but it's not very scary, just strange. It's very eerie, and once it's over, it doesn't feel quite finished; all the loose ends haven't been tied up. It leaves you wanting to watch a sequel to make sure everything's OK.
I think this film is about the struggle between the traditional tribal beliefs and laws and modern laws. This film focuses a lot on the Aboriginal religion and the rules that go along with it, such as killing people who had seen the sacred stones. It's really about how they struggle to keep their beliefs when what they think is right (for example, killing people) is not allowed by modern governments. Basically, the struggle to assimilate while keeping some traditions alive, and deciding which traditions make the cut.
I think the biggest thematic connection between Master and Commander and The Last Wave is the struggle to overcome something that is seemingly unbeatable. In Master and Commander, this is the French ship. It's faster and stronger, and it always seems to have the weather on its side, but Aubrey and his crew manage to destroy it anyway. In The Last Wave, this is, for David, his learning that he is of tribal descent and how he manages to deal with that. It's very difficult to settle in to a new life, especially if tribal people are trying to kill you, but he manages to survive through the end of the film.
Again, I apologize for the lack of italicization.
I ended up liking the movie once I was able to really see how everything came together. I specifically liked the scene where Mr. Burton says that he lost the world that he thought he knew. Before, David was content with his life, and the way that things were, but through the movie he begins to question everything, and although we don’t know if he was able to save anyone in the end (I think he probably didn’t save anyone at all, and was only able to watch in dread, only realizing the imperfections of his world too late). I think that maybe a constant journey for Weir’s character maybe self-doubt and exploration.
ReplyDeleteI would say that this movie is a mix between a thriller and the mystery. While the film does a good job keeping an audience on its toes, I think that the film really illustrates another case of social differences. Burton and Mrs. Burton seem to have thing idea that the aboriginal people are this distant community, far away from the city. Even Mrs. Burton herself is aware that she is completely ignorant to the ways of the people with whom she shares a country. More than once in the film, a character states that Chris and the other aboriginal man cannot be a tribal man simply because tribal men do not exist within the city. In my opinion this idea was poorly executed evidence for the selfish cause of self-preservation. However, there are men, like Mr. Burton’s partner, who doesn’t look at the aboriginal men as lesser people, and views the beliefs like that Burton hold to be barbaric in a way. Like I said in class, the men in court were still wearing the European wigs, and thus keeping up with a tradition, like in Master and Commander. Another theme that we talked about after the movie was the concept of nature and the force it played in the story in both movies. Obviously, the strange weather has everyone wondering, but it also plays along of whether man is more important than the law, and what happens when men are left to extend their destructive force.
1. It was certainly not what I was expecting. After watching the first 35 minutes yesterday, I thought it would clearly come together and make sense in the end. I like how the core parts are more or less explained, while the other details are left open for interpretation. My favorite scene was when Charlie and Chris have dinner with Richard and his wife. In the beginning of the meeting, you could notice the very tense setting. The tenseness of the situation died down when the wife left and Richard falls in to an almost trance-like conversation with Charlie and Chris. I felt like this progression of the dinner scene showed that, although that Richard is very different from Charlie and Chris, there is an odd connection between them that draws the viewer in.
ReplyDelete2. I would tell my friend that you have to be in the right mood for it. Don’t watch it unless you’re ready to commit to it. In my opinion, it’s a movie that is very easy to get frustrated with, but overall worth watching. I would probably only recommend it to my friends who enjoy strange sci-fi.
3. I think the main point of the film is the natural world is beginning to be overlooked by the growth of urban culture. We are shown many social divides between the spiritual aborigines and the modern workingmen of Australia. These divides are eventually broken when Richard is discovered to be a spiritual man himself. Throughout the movie, the urban civilization was trying to make sense of the continuous rain. The real answer to the continuous down poor was found with the spiritual men, the men in touch with the natural world. This shows that as much as man tries to urbanize the natural world, it will find a way to remain.
4. As I was discussing in my previous answer, the natural world vs. man is a reoccurring theme in both movies. In Master and Commander we have Jack Aubrey and the doctor representing either side of the spectrum. In the Last Wave, both sides are represented by the group of aborigines, for their understanding of the natural world, and Richard and his family, for their every day lives in a large city of Australia.
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ReplyDelete1. I really want to like this movie, but honestly, I didn’t enjoy it as much as others might have. But that doesn’t mean that I didn't find it interesting because the story line was really unique and intriguing. Like Virginia said, I felt that the entire movie spent all this time building up to a certain climatic point that would basically make everything click into place, which I thought it never really did. It just kind of fizzled to me. The moment that stuck out to me the most was when all of David’s dreams/visions begin to come true in different pieces.
ReplyDelete2. I would describe it as just outright weird. As for categories, this film has the qualities to match the description of a thriller, a drama, or a mystery and then to add on to that, it’s also apocalyptical.
3. I think that the film is about how modern society begins to overtake the values of nature, and, one of Peter Weir’s reoccurring themes, tradition. Throughout the film, there is the conflict of the spiritual and natural world to the developed and modern one. I agree with Jenny in saying that Weir seems to be suggesting that there never really will be an understanding between the two worlds of the Aboriginies and white Australians such as David. This lack of connection can be seen through different parts of the film, but specifically when white men keep insisting that there no Aboriginal tribe exists within the city.
4. Just as the theme of tradition is prominent in Master and Commander, it’s key in The Last Wave as well. Despite other lawyers’ protestations, David defies their traditional ways with his determination to figure out the truth about the murder of Billy Corman and to find the answers to who he is. Both movies also present the major theme of water and as Coles said, the natural world vs. man.
ReplyDeleteI did not like this movie at all. I’m not big on horror-y/sci-fi movies, and honestly, I did not think this movie was particularly enjoyable. It was compelling, no doubt, and I’ve been thinking quite a lot about the themes it brought up, but I cannot say that I liked it. While we were watching it, all I wanted was for the suspense to end and the movie to finish up. The ending was very unsatisfying for me, and didn’t seem to tie up all the loose ends I wanted it to. The moment that stood out to me was when the little girl (Sophia?) starts babbling to her mother about her dream with angels in pink dresses and Jesus. I thought that that moment perfectly captured the innocence of children, and it brought the whole movie into a perspective that was easier to understand for me.
I would categorize this movie as a science fiction/ horror I think. It scared me a lot at moments. I guess it could also just be dark fantasy, but there’s definitely some aspect of voodoo or the supernatural involved in this movie, not just concrete human relationships. I actually attempted to explain this movie to my parents twice, and both times my explanations came out as garbled garbage. I think it would best be described as “a movie about a court case involving a murder, but no one really knows how the victim died. The suspects are aborigines and the lawyer is a middle-class white man. Through speaking with the suspects and turning a critical eye on himself, the lawyer finds out some supernatural conflict inside himself.”
Okay, so I’ve been thinking a lot about this movie in particular and it got me thinking about faith to an extent. This movie made me think about how people sometimes blindly follow this idea passed down by generations with no thought to if this sort of faith is right for them. Burton’s daughter showed this perfectly: babbling on about her dreams and ending with “I love Jesus, mummy” and her mother responding tearfully with “Jesus loves you too, darling.” I think that of course, this child is, what, seven? She has not even begun to think about who Jesus is in context of religion, just that he is a good man and what ever her parents or church has taught her. But even the aborigines show this to an extent with their tribal law. It’s something that has been passed down for generation after generation without question and it must remain untouched. Both “sides” in this movie have some sort of blind faith that plays a big part in their life. David’s life is flipped upside down when this faith is questioned and he realizes that he harbors some sort of spiritual power that is out of his control.
I think a big theme between the two movies is control. Control over surroundings, control over others, and most of all control over yourself. Jack Aubrey says that all men need to be governed, but who governs him? Who controls his choices and thoughts? He governs himself almost completely, but he also controls about 195 other men and their lives on his ship. Same with David Burton, what does he control? His family maybe, but not really. He mainly feels in control of his mind. When he loses some control over his mind, he feels as though his life is spiraling away from him.
1. After watching the whole film it was really quite interesting because I have never seen a movie like this. I don't really watch a lot of super natural films, so it was very different from the normal genres I watch. This film was definitely not the easiest thing to understand, and many parts were confusing. One thing that I really did enjoy was the music choice that they picked out. It wasn't too over done, it was actually quite basic in most scenes. In the end I'm pretty neutral about this film, it wasn't a super strong love for this film or a big dislike. One scene that really stuck out to me was when Rev. Burton told his son, David, that he had dreams about his mom one month before and that she was going to die, and later on that came true. That happened the same way with Chris and Charlie, when they showed up in David's dreams.
ReplyDelete2. As I said in the first question, I think it's a super natural film. It's about a man who believes who has an insight into nature like the aborigines.
3. In the end of the movie David sees a big wave coming, and I think it's a tsunami. During tsunamis the animals know when it is and not humans. I think that the aborigines knew about the tsunami and that's what the big secret was that Chris couldn't tell David. It makes sense with the rain, hail, and storms showing a sign of a tsunami, but people don't realize it except for the aborigines. It would also make sense big a tsunami is one big wave, and a lot of people die from it, so it could be the last wave of David. That is also really relevant because a wave could be meaning a hand wave and that could signify David's and others peoples death.
4. In both films they show water as a threat, and it seems very scary. In Master and Commander they're on a ship, and they hit some pretty rough storms. In the Last Wave there is water throughout the movie, and at the end with the huge wave that looks like a tsunami appearing.
1. I liked the film a lot, although I think I was hoping for a little more of a reveal at the end. Maybe these are just things that I would get after watching a second time, but I don’t get why that guy stole that stuff at the beginning, what David discovered about himself at the end, or the point of the apocalypse and how it is linked with the stolen items and the events of the film. I do like it however, for its initial impact (it’s creepy and visually enthralling), and the fact that it poses so many questions is actually a good thing as long as they can be answered. The scene that stuck with me was when David went back to his house and the doors and windows began to break open with the storm. Specifically when he saw that the stairs were flooded just like they were at the beginning of the movie because of the bathtub.
ReplyDelete2. I would say that it’s thriller and a mystery story. It starts with a murder, and an unsuspecting lawyer working on the case gets caught up in what he finds to be a much larger and supernatural occurrence that is somehow linked to him. That’s as much as I’d want to say. Really this is one of those movies you really don’t want to describe. Just tell them to try watching it.
3. I agree with what most people are saying. This is a movie about the clash of two very different cultures. Neither group really comes out looking great in this movie. Honestly the Aboriginal people who lost their way of life at the hands of the white people come across looking creepy and almost evil. I don’t know if that’s what was intended, but come one. They killed a guy with a death bone, invaded David’s dreams, creeped out his family, and possibly caused a giant flood to cleanse the invasion of the invading culture (I’m still unclear about whether they caused it or if it was inevitable and they were just waiting for it to happen). It’s interesting because I definitely don’t think that Weir was trying to make this about criticizing a culture. He wanted to show the culture class in a thrilling, suspenseful, and mysterious way. In fact, maybe the only reason they seem evil is because they’re so far from our understanding.
4. I think the main theme that carries over is the struggle between old traditions and progress/change. In Master and Commander, Jack seems to adapt and change his views a bit while still giving the sense that he will retain the majority of his character as he sails around the globe looking for fights until he dies. Jack chooses the safe and humane option in going back to the Galapagos to save his friend. He also takes advice from this friend(the naturalist) and an insect to win his fight. The doctor then puts his healer/scientist persona on hold to grab a sword and enter the battle. On the other hand, The Last Wave shows no merge between two views. The modern civilization comes and pushes the traditional out of the way. The traditional then comes back and kills everyone.
I didn't particularly like, nor dislike The Last Wave. Mainly because I didn't completely understand it, i can make a decision and whether i liked it or not. If the goal of movie is to simply entertain the audience, then the film was successful It was suspenseful, funny, scary, exciting and probably a great movie in general if i understood the connections and relationships of the different aspects of the movie. My biggest critique of the movie was there use of the raining frogs. Why is it raining frogs if there isn't going to be any water turned to blood or firstborns being put to death?!?! After it rained frogs i waited for other references to the 10 plagues to occur.I feel Weir should have chosen something else in place of the raining frogs.
ReplyDeleteI would describe this movie to a friend as a cheesy, old, horror version of Inception that is not very good. There are a lot of horror aspects in the movie. The creepy music, the rain, the defenseless blonde wife and cute kids; i was waiting for more people to die. The part about the dreams made me think about inception and how it is similar.
I have absolutely no idea what the film is about. But, if i had to BS my way through it, I would say;The Last Wave shows how connected the entire world is. 2 completely different types of people, the aborigines and David, the tribal people and the white, rich man, end up being connected to each other.
The biggest similarity i noticed between the two Weir films we've seen thus far is the theme of tradition. The Last Wave's entire plot was created when the man stole artifacts from the cave, breaking tradition. Also, David goes away from tradition when he agrees to do a criminal defense case and ends up dead!
1. Unfortunately, I ended up disappointed with the film. Part of that is because there were multiple hints dropped that there would be aliens, and I think that would have been cool. So that was sad. Additionally, I am still a tad confused about the ending. As others have said, I hoped for a big reveal where the viewers have a revelation and suddenly everything is made clear. Instead, the reveal itself was confusing and certainly left up to interpretation. That can be nice in many plotlines, but in this case I was hoping for an answer that explained everything. Still, I think Weir was very aware of the choices he was making, and I appreciate them. The ending left me unsatisfied, but there was so much more to the movie that I really enjoyed. I loved the detail and the small hints that were dropped. One of my favorite parts of the movie was the soundtrack. It was so creepy and unusual. Also it totally sounded like alien abduction music. Seriously. The image of David looking down at the stone face really stayed with me because, and I don't know that Weir actually intended this, the bust looked like David's face. I still don't totally understand what being Mukuru means, but I wondered if he was destined to be a prophet or something and that's why there was a bust of his head in the sacred spot. Again, I totally could have misread that. Probably did. Also when David attacked Charlie with the stone…that was intense. I don't understand it, except that he was scared. Another scene that really stuck with me was the scene when David came home, and was acting a lot like Gerry Lee had in David's dream, and then he and his wife talked about her and the kids leaving the city. It was loaded with meaning that I wish I had understood.
ReplyDelete2. I would say it's a confusing film about a man who experiences all these abnormal occurrences and takes it upon himself to figure out what's going on. I would say it's well done, although I don't think it was made to please an audience. That's a weird thing to say, but I think it's true. It seemed to me that more than anything, Weir had a point to make. I would call it a suspense and mystery film, although ultimately the suspense and mystery were not the point.
3. I think it's a movie about belief, trust, spirituality, and ethnic and cultural origins. There is a comment on racial tension and tradition versus change. Noting the film's conclusion, and the interview with Weir I think the biggest emphasis is on the divide between spirituality and simple, rational thought. Weir's comment about David first glimpsing the lost dream, and then touching it suggests that his mind originally wasn't prepared to accept such a notion. This is befitting his logical mind. Weir shows him opening up, and accepting a new kind of spirituality into his life.
4. Two major themes that are present in both films are tradition and control. I think that in The Last Wave tradition could be seen as both beneficial and detrimental. The rules of the aborigines helped protect their sacred space, but it also resulted in the death of a man. The traditions of law in the courts supposedly keep order and punish bad deeds, but at the same time they are biased and racist. Also, like in Master and Commander, the protagonists try to keep control, but there are some situations where control is impossible. This is shown in The Last Wave primarily with the images of water. David is a lawyer, is very well-off, and clearly operates in a world of control and order. Of course, David can't control nature, but in this film he can't even count on traditional weather patterns. Plus, the bathtub, an object meant to be controlled, randomly overflows twice. David can't even control his grasp on reality.