The Last Wave

1977
PG
1h 46m

IMDb RATING

6.9/10

11K

YOUR RATING

Richard Chamberlain in The Last Wave (1977)

A Sydney lawyer defends five Aboriginal Persons in a ritualized taboo murder and in the process learns disturbing things about himself and premonitions.

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A Sydney lawyer defends five Aboriginal Persons in a ritualized taboo murder and in the process learns disturbing things about himself and premonitions.A Sydney lawyer defends five Aboriginal Persons in a ritualized taboo murder and in the process learns disturbing things about himself and premonitions.A Sydney lawyer defends five Aboriginal Persons in a ritualized taboo murder and in the process learns disturbing things about himself and premonitions.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.9/10

11K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 4 wins & 8 nominations

Trivia
Director Peter Weir asked tribal Aboriginal actors David Gulpilil and Nandjiwarra Amagula about the script and incorporated their reactions to the finished dialogue.

Goofs
When Chamberlin's character leaves his office and drives in the rain the windshield wipers are moving at a fast rate. When the shot changes to inside the car the wipers are suddenly moving at a slower rate.

Quotes
Chris Lee: Dream is a shadow ... of something real.

Connections
Featured in Sneak Previews: The North Avenue Irregulars/The Last Wave/Agatha/Norma Rae/Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (1979)

User reviews72

Review

Featured review

7/10

Chamberlain at his finest

THE LAST WAVE is never going to win over the mainstream audience. It is a slow-moving but fascinating film for those who are willing to go along with it. An Australian properties lawyer is asked to take on the case of five aborigines accused in the murder of one of their own. All sorts of portents and omens soon pop up, as the man's death involves a tribal issue that was not meant for white man's court, and pretty soon the lawyer is having trouble distinguishing reality from fantasy. It looks like the end of the world may be at hand, and he and the aborigines may know this but no one else does. Richard Chamberlain as the lawyer is at his peak here. David Guptil, a familiar face from several other Australian flicks and a decent actor, is one of the five aborigines on trial. THE LAST WAVE is simply not for everyone, anymore than is MAGNOLIA (both happen to have strange things falling from the sky). Check it out on a slow Saturday night.