The masochism and debauchery of Wake in Fright's primitive edge, rendered here as a microcosmic environment rigorously modulated by the money men. The savagery of football is represented in relentless physical detail; a film of ruined male forms, glued together by painkillers and alcohol. What other sports films focus so intently on the everyday physical reality of the players?
Kotcheff brings here his reliable economy. What distinguishes Wake in Fright and First Blood is a vision focused intently on physical survival and its hardships, and how that manifests itself morally. Kotcheff doesn't find despair or ecstasy in these environments. The school teacher in Wake in Fright most certainly descends into hell, but it reveals a great deal about him. Kotcheff deals in grey.
Fitting that he finds America's own Wake in Fright in its most nationalistic sport. Also fitting, and disturbing, to discover that this primal excess isn't some base truth, but rather a facade created by capitalists. The film doesn't posit their behavior as a core, but rather as a distinct power play; it is this hedonism that allows the rich their control over the players.
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