VIEW TRAILER FOR "WAKE IN FRIGHT"

The virtually unacknowledged auteur behind such beloved hits like First Blood, Fun With Dick And Jane and Weekend At Bernie's, as well as critically acclaimed dramas like The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz and The Winter People, Ted Kotcheff does all the things well that are easiest to underappreciate and hardest to discern. His skills are unflashy, but essential to good movies: a keen understanding of story, a mastery of social satire (one of the subtlest and most laid back forms of comedy, with jokes only those familiar wit the milieu could pick up on,) and a knack for getting consistently great performances from consistently inconcistent actors, big talents like Richard Dreyfuss and Sylvester Stallone. With every one of his successes, audiences think they simply sprang from the earth, or credit the star in question, but line up his films in a row, and you'll see the sure hand of a director who seems to get everything just right.Ted Kotcheff will be in person at the Cinefamily to introduce the screenings and do Q&As!



Wake In Fright
"The best and most terrifying film about Australia in existence" -- Nick Cave

The recent resurgence in Aussie exploitation movies has recovered some wild curios from the forgotten drive-in circuit, and one of the earliest, least-seen examples is this tense thriller soaked in palpable dread from its opening frames. In the desolate Australian outback, a bunch of bored yokels (including sleazy, alcoholic doctor Donald Pleasence) decide to drag a visiting teacher into their excessive lifestyle of booze and sex, but things take an even nastier turn before the final reel. Kotcheff really cut his teeth on atmospheric action here before doing First Blood, a film which owes a strong debt to this overlooked peek at the nasty underbelly of the folks who live Down Under. Along with Nic Roeg's Walkabout, its landmark creepiness inspired a generation of Aussie auteurs as well, as its touches can be felt across the early works of folks like Peter Weir (The Cars That Ate Paris, Picnic At Hanging Rock.) Watch for the appearance of one of the country’s busiest actors, blond he-man Jack Thompson, in his first feature role!
Dir. Ted Kotcheff, 1971, 35mm, 114 min.

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
With a terrifyingly dead-on portrait of the boundless energy of youth, Richard Dreyfuss earned his star credentials early as Duddy Kravitz, a Jewish kid growing up in post-WWII Montreal who schemes his way into to the bigtime by emulating his rich guy heroes. Desperate to be a business titan, Duddy sheds off attention from females and friends to intensely focus on his dream, only to face all the heartwrenching, icky stuff that comes with adulthood, like ego clashes, death, anti-Semitism and the big "R": Responsibility. Dreyfuss's backstabbing and schmucky Duddy is easily the best performance of his you've never seen, and Kotcheff wisely surrounds him with equally sharp and realistic supporting performances by great folks like Denholm Elliot, Jack Warden and Randy Quaid. One of the biggest Canadian box-office successes of its day, Duddy Kravitz is a bustling, satisfying nostalgic whirlwind.
Dir. Ted Kotcheff, 1974, 35mm, 120 min.