Wake in Fright 4K 1971 Ultra HD 2160p

Story Movie

John Grant works as a teacher in a remote province. Finally getting his long-awaited vacation, he passes through the small town of Bundeyabbe on his way to Sydney. What was supposed to be a one-time innocent overnight stay turns into a journey first through the seedy parts of town, and then into a protracted immersion in provincial madness with drunken revelry, robbery, and kangaroo hunting.

Review 4K Movie

A pleasant surprise. An old film, and an Australian one at that. But that's how it sometimes happens—you find something where you weren't looking for it. In this case, it was a strong impression and a lot of enjoyment. The impression came from the deceptively banal plot, and the enjoyment came from how it was presented—the magnificent acting and the cinematography. There is no point in delving into its twists and turns; I want to talk about something else – the timelessness of the themes presented for consideration. There are several of them. The main one is the influence on a person of the environment in which they are forced to exist, without the ability to change it. Another is the influence of a person on their environment, which is unable to get rid of them. The complete powerlessness of “culture” and “education” in cases where a person falls into the trap of terrible circumstances of their own making, carrying within themselves Adam's predisposition to vice.

And then – a rapid (or slow) fall into an abyss, at the bottom of which lies death or a new form of existence, already in a different guise. “Man can be worse than an animal” is a true observation.

But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the fact that this Australian film magically became for me a magnificent cinematic illustration of two Russian stories. Bunin's “The Teacher” and Kuprin's “Melyuzga.” It's a mixture with a predominance of Bunin. The difference is that Bunin and Kuprin's characters (the teacher and the paramedic) are doomed, while the Australian teacher has a chance to stay alive. I don't know if the director and screenwriter have read these stories. But I am convinced that true talents inevitably repeat each other. Because despite the diversity of visual means and possibilities, the metaphysical landscape of human existence is always the same.

“Moonlight, like snow on the dusty face of the desert.”