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I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

How sad is this?

Blistering performances.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

A crushing hailstorm in Sydney, Australia is bad enough to injure schoolchildren. Heavy rains continue while successful lawyer Richard Chamberlain (as David Burton) dines with his wife Olivia Hamnett (as Annie) and two little daughters. Upstairs, their bathtub overflows, causing water to run down the stairway. The taps seem to have turned on by themselves. The rains continue to slam down on residents as Mr. Chamberlain agrees to defend five Aborigines (native Australians) accused of drowning a man...Chamberlain is startled upon meeting one of his five wayward clients, eerie David Gulpilil (as Chris Lee), who previously appeared to him in a dream or vision. When even more mysterious Nandjiwarra Amagula (as Charlie) appears, the plot thickens. The rain turns darker..."The Last Wave" is an interesting take on the Sumerian "Flood Story" re-told in tales of Gilgamesh and Noah. It seems appropriate that a fourth flood (by one count, anyway) should herald an Apocalypse. Although story gets washed away in hocus pocus; it is thought-provoking, well directed by Peter Weir, and beautifully photographed by Russell Boyd. You could probably come up with several better endings; a simple re-editing of what is there would be more satisfying and less confusing.******* The Last Wave (11/5/77) Peter Weir ~ Richard Chamberlain, Olivia Hamnett, David Gulpilil, Nandjiwarra Amagula

Across the great divide which we call understanding, there is still much we do not know about that which was explained by the early tribal Elders. In every instance, there is much concerning the dangers of knowing too much. Conversely, there are those who warn us of not preparing for what they warn is the 'End Time.' In this movie called " The Last Wave " an aboriginal native is murdered for no apparent reason. When those responsible are arrested, they remain silent less they disturb the order of things. David Burton (Richard Chamberlain) plays the Defense Attorney assigned to defend the accused. Although haunted by prophetic images from his own childhood and warned by modern signs given to him by an sympathetic Aboriginal named Chris Lee (David Gulpilil), Burton proceeds to defend the infraction as Tribal Law and therefore not subject to standard justice. The movie is fraught with puzzling, dark foreboding images of apocalyptic end world disasters and warns of a future island tsunami and doom. Black drama and deep rituals are what gives this film it's frightening allure and therefore is not for the faint-hearted, in fact the simplest haunting apparitions can last for years in the nightmares of innocent movie goers. Good silent drama. ****

This motion picture has a steady, haunting pace backed up with great acting (one of Chamberlain's best performances) and a story that is revealed to us over time.Beyond that, the music fully establishes the mood and assists in maintaining an uneasy, cautious and somber tone.Weir's story is enhanced by using aboriginals, their stories and their tensions with the dominant white population to deliver a fantasy tale that is ominous.Although they are unrelated in story as well as genre, this maintained the same feeling within me as Ursula Le Guin's "Lathe of Heaven" (1980). "The Last Wave" is a dramatic thriller with some shocking moments. Remember, "hacking and slicing" doesn't make a film a horror movie, it's the psychological element of fear and trepidation that rests within us all.

You know the people in the movie are in for it when king-sized hailstones fall from a clear blue sky. In fact, the weather stays pretty bad throughout this atmospheric thriller, and only lawyer Chamberlain has the answer. But he's too much the European rationalist, I gather, to get in touch with that inner being that only reveals itself through dreams.Darkly original mystery heavy on the metaphysics from director-writer Peter Weir. Already he had proved his skill at flirting with other dimensions in Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975). Here it's the arcane world of the Australian Aborigines that confronts that the tightly ordered world of the predominant whites. Something strange is going on inside the Aborigine community when they kill one of their number for no apparent reason. Yuppie lawyer Chamberlain is supposed to defend them in a white man's court. But the more he looks into things, the more mysterious things get, and the more interested a strange old Aboriginal man gets in him. And then there're those scary dreams that come and go at odd times.Well structured screenplay deepens interest throughout. One reason the movie works is the background normalcy of Chamberlain's wife and little daughters. Audiences can readily identify with them. And when their little world runs into forces beyond the usual framework, the normalcy begins to buckle, and we get the feeling of worlds beginning to collide. Chamberlain underplays throughout, especially during the underground discovery tour where I think he should have shown more growing awareness than he does. After all, it's the picking up of the mask that holds the key (I believe) to the riddle, yet his reaction doesn't really register the revelation. Of course, the notion of nature striking back has a certain resonance now, thirty years later. In the film, the notion is wrapped in a lot of entertaining hocus-pocus, but the subject itself remains a telling one. One way of bringing out a central irony is the symbolism of the opening scene. A big white SUV barrels past an aboriginal family, leaving them in the historical dust. The terrain looks like an interior tribal reservation of no particular importance to the coastal fleshpots where industry dwells. Yet, it's also a region most likely to survive anything like a destructive last wave. Perhaps there's something about past and future to think about here.Anyway, this is a really good movie that will probably stay with you.