The Last Wave PG

In Sydney, business lawyer David Burton (Richard Chamberlain) is given the pro bono assignment of defending 5 First Nations men accused of murder.
None of Burton's clients are willing to speak about what happened, even in their own defence, and the medical examiner on the case can't figure out how the victim died.
But Burton has seen one of the men, Chris (David Gulpilil), in a recurring dream. Burton is also troubled by the increasingly terrifying apocalyptic visions he's having, leading him to think Australia may soon be destroyed.
Peter Weir’s films defy simple definitions of reality. But The Last Wave, visually stunning from start to finish, goes further – insisting on the tangible power of spiritual life.
‘The Last Wave is bold and wonderfully strange. It comes packed with rain-soaked foreboding and a then-progressive, muscular attitude to Indigeneity in 1970s Australia’ – Fiction Machine
‘Weir’s magnificent follow-up [to Picnic at Hanging Rock] has an unsettling surreal energy… a masterful exercise in narrative' – The Guardian
This film is held in the NFSA collection.

Presented in collaboration with Umbrella Entertainment.
This film is part of the NFSA's Australian New Wave program. See the full program listing here.
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