The Last Wave

1977

Peter Weir

Peter Weir also made Picnic and Hanging Rock another film with some mysterious possibly supernatural elements about it. Seems to be something of interest to him.

The two main actors, American born Richard Chamberlain and aboriginal David Gulpilil, were known actors. Chamberlain from the TV series Dr. Kildare and Gulpilil from Walkabout (1971) directed by Nicholas Roeg (Don’t Look Now; The Man Who Fell to Earth).

Two aspects which are in the film (a) Problems of Culture Contact at textual level and (b) the nature of “the Primitive” at both textual and sub textual levels and then there is a sub textual level as well.

In ‘culture contact” two cultures come together and one tends to fall under the control of the other.

Cultures are often defined as “shared learned behavior” , although this fails to capture its integration and its “subconscious” aspects. Cultures can easily go into conflict with one another. At the simplest level consider the side of the street people on which people drive on. Americans often find it hard to drive in Britain and those cultures where people drive on the left side of the street. (This is one of the reasons that “preserving” one’s culture in another culture can lead to serious conflict. Most cultures reject this idea except as a kind of “performance” or where the conflict between the two is non abrasive. ) It is not uncommon for one culture to even insist that another culture outside of their own change their behavior - e.g. female circumcision (Female genital mutilation) but not male circumcision (nor is that called male genital mutilation) or Australian aboriginal subincision. Western desire to make people Christians in the middle ages which lead to the crusades. Current missionary proselytizing are seen as acceptable by most Americans, but many would reject the same thing by Islamic proselytizers.

Nadia and the veil. What does it mean to be veiled.

So there is more than one way to see the world. But can one person see the world simultaneously in 2 ways without being crazy? Does one live in one and pretend to deal with the other or what?

Even within a culture, there are variations, but usually nowhere near as great as between them. Some people call their parents by their given names here. Most find it a bit odd. Rules for TLN/FN differ from place to place and time to time

LN  LN equal proper distant formal
FN FN equal friendly informal
LN  FN unequal all situations (who can instigate change? What does it mean?) Who can decided to equalize the situation? (LN can raise FN, but it is considered rude for FN to qualize because that lowers LN.

The film is Australian and as such contains information that may be clear to Australians, but may not be here. There is a problem in that because Australians speak a variety of English that there is mutual intelligibility, but the dialect of English spoken here is not the same as the one spoken there. In addition, the cultural knowledge is different among the two groups. Sharing a common language is often a way to be misled into thinking things are the same.

Similarly if the material aspects look the same, there may be a tendency to think the people think the same way. Aside from the language differences (in signs as well) Tokyo looks like any urbanized Western city so there is a tendency to think that Japanese think like Americans or Westerners. They don’t. It is much easier to believe that a aborigine in the middle of the desert has a different way of thinking about things that the Westerner, (example of Aborigines shedding clothes)

Malinowski’s sacred vs, profane

Some statements that the sacred world more real than this one to many aboriginals in different parts of the world not just Australia

What happens to people caught “Between Two Worlds”. Many American Indian made films have this theme as well – people trying to find where they belong or how to survive with a foot in one culture and the other in another. In this regard one might argue that there are some similarities when an indigenous culture is “swamped” by another culture.

In the case of this film the two cultures are an indigenous Australian culture and the European based Australian culture.

Aboriginal culture very complex. Technically and in terms of material goods it is rather simple, but socially and spiritually very complex.

Things to be aware of:

Symbols: x stands for y in an arbitrary way
Behavior/belief: how to act and what you perceive the world to be (what is real and what is not). Do people perceive the world in a specific way because that is what the culture tells them. (Is this why people see other cultures as “odd” or “silly”?)
Images: where do they originate? Are there differences in them?

Music: aboriginal? Mixture? Western? Didgeridoo wind instrument 3-10 feet long invented about 1500 by native Australians

AFTER THE FILM

What is David Burton’s relationship with Chris Lee? What do they see in each other?

(Burton and Chris a kind of double)

Aborigines: technically simple but socially and ritually very complex

Western Society: Technically complex but socially and religiously rather simple.

Somewhat mirror images

Burton’s dream of Chris Lee indicates a “brother” of family relation.

Charlie interested in Burton’s past – something Burton seems to lack in any depth. Can not know self without knowing past. Burton’s people come from the East – ancestor was minister.

Appearances of aboriginals: How are they depicted? Clothing? Neighborhood? room?

Tribal People are gone but things remain, Are the Sydney natives real? Spirits in human form

Images of weather – usually unnerving, Not controlled. Western society cannot control everything. (Interest in disaster channels on TV (Learniong Channel, History Channel, Dicsovery Channel) . In bad times things seem outside of out control. Interst in supernatural hings as well. Celebrity ghost experiences paranormal, fact or fake, UFOs. )

Cultural systemns (especially beliefs) are too complex for the viewer to grasp on their own in a film of 90 minutes or so. Need for anthropologist to explain culture in addition to Chris’ explanation.

Anthropologist is scientist who tries to understand other cultures. Outsider vs. insider can be close but not always.

What characters are alike and in what way?

The two lawyers: Burton Michael Zeadler

One denies the existence of tribal people in Sydney; Burton more open minded and ridiculed for seeing differently

Anthropologist: more positive to aboriginals. Doubts if any Westerners have the premonitory dreams of the aborigines,

Compare Burton and Zeadler; Zeadler and the other lawyer and the anthropologist and the anthropologist and Chris Lee and Lee to Burton

Symbolism

The film deals with symbolism both overtly and covertly. We are shown symbols of the Aboriginals who once inhabited the area which are unknown in meaning, but the film contains many symbols whose reference is also unclear.

Another symbol is weather and natural phenomenon – How is this evident?

Rain: water, in an out of control form – rain in the desert, rain of frogs, tidal wave.

Apocalyptic vision of nature

The film concerns two different kinds of people, who might be seen as symbols

Can we make a parallel of Burton and the West

Burton needs to find his spiritual self – follows water down through pies and sewer to ocean (rebirth) where enormous wave comes (spiritual cleansing?)

Although there have been attempts to read the film as an early environmentalist message such a reading seems hard to support/ .

The film is somewhat romantic in its approached to aboriginals