What happens if a person is faced with an experience that he cannot comprehend within his frame of reference? There is no other way to understand what is happening. And the more he tries to understand, the more he will become confused. The Last Wave is one of Peter Weir’s most complex and surreal films. In it, he shows the attempts of a European to comprehend the magical thinking of the Aborigines. It is one thing to describe the thoughts of the natives, and quite another to begin to perceive the world like an aboriginal, and even to see yourself through such a perception. Maybe in the end the hero will see something hidden, not accessible to the European, or maybe he just goes crazy. His experience is becoming more vivid and powerful, but at the same time more dangerous. Ultimately, it will enrich itself to the maximum, the only question is what it will be.
There is no clear idea or definite answers in the film. Rather, the director poses questions that he does not even think to answer. Therefore, the picture is interesting not so much for the plot as for symbolism, visionary techniques and the use of sound. The general atmosphere succeeds in evoking corresponding emotions of fear between confusion and insanity, beyond which thought simply does not keep pace.