Wake in Fright

Australia    Donald Pleasance

Here we follow the reversion of a mild-mannered schoolteacher to a primitive, savage state simply by being exposed to the dominant behavior pattern of males in the outback. Apparently all the men in these isolated towns do is drink, gamble, drink, sing bawdy songs, drink some more, go out in trashed-out cars and shoot roos, collapse in the early morn, get up and start drinking again. Occasionally they will rut with a willing female but even then are prone to vomiting in the middle of the act.

This is about as ugly a depiction of male culture as I've ever seen. I was astonished to learn that to Australians when this was released (1971) it was considered a largely true indictment. Away from the cities and their civilizing influence boys will be boys. Actually, boys will be pigs.

This theme was picked up in a later film - Shame (1988) - which focused on the outback's rape culture.

Who knew? Unforgettable.

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