The Last Wave Page #2

just to go through

the whole thing?

Would you go in now, please?

Okay. Here we go.

Right.

Gerry, where's your brother?

Where's Chris?

Now, listen, all of you.

You heard the magistrate.

You're in serious trouble.

Now, where is he?

I want the truth.

- He hasn't run away, has he?

- Chris wouldn't do that.

You tell him from me that if he

or any one of you let David down,

he'll drop the case, all right?

Well, I'll let you

get on with it.

- Thanks.

- That's okay.

- And you blokes make sure you turn up for your appointments.

- [Door Closes]

My field

is corporate taxation.

Please bear with me.

I have here...

Oh, sit down. Sit down.

We have here...

a police statement...

a statement

you gave the police...

uh...

which I can't seem to find.

Anyway, they say that you had

a fight with... Billy Corman,

knocked him into a pool of water

and he drowned.

Is, is that what happened?

- Gerry?

- We didn't do it.

What did happen?

Billy died. That's all.

How? How did he die?

Too many drink.

Fight.

Billy died.

They're keeping something from me.

- Why should they do that?

- I don't know.

It's just a feeling.

Little things.

One of them says they

knew Billy only slightly.

Another one says they were old friends.

Things like that.

"Latest evidence suggests that

the Aboriginal people have been here...

for over 50,000 years."

A few blacks...

get drunk, have a fight,

kill a man.

It seems simple.

They get three or four years.

Perhaps they're tribal Aborigines.

Don says there aren't any

tribal people in the city.

Maybe he's wrong.

Darling,

he works with these people.

[Sighs]

Well, I'm going to bed.

- You come too.

- No.

- I must do some more work.

- That's not the real reason, is it?

You're worried

you won't be able to sleep.

Sweet dreams.

Don't drink too much coffee.

- Good night.

- Good night.

[Thunder Rumbling]

[Animals Noises, Wind Howling]

[Thunderclap]

[Croaking]

Yeah, it's been raining,

hasn't it? Very hard.

[Grace] Daddy said we could have

cream on our toast.

[Sophie]

I'm putting rice balls on mine.

What did he talk about?

What, what, what did he say?

Oh, he said he knew things...

um, that, um, uh, he had things.

He, uh,

said that he could get rich.

What sort of things

do you think he had?

Oh... an old kangaroo skin?

You know the way these blokes

brag when they're drunk.

[David]

Why do you think they attacked him?

I don't think.

I got work to do.

What have the Aborigines got to say for

themselves? There's nothing here of any value.

They won't tell me anything...

nothing important.

You mean, you couldn't get

anything out of them.

I don't know.

I've been reading about a case in the

desert region above South Australia...

a tribal killing.

Some of the men were talking

about tribal secrets.

A woman overheard them. One of the men

broke a bottle and... slit her throat.

- [Man Whistling]

- So?

- They were let off.

- [Glass Shatters]

- Bastard!

- The judge...

put them in the hands

of, of his tribal elders.

Uh, they speared him in the leg three

times, and that was his punishment.

Yes. Well, the tribal law angle

might work...

if you were dealing with

tribal people in a tribal area.

But we're not.

These are city people.

- You might be wrong.

- Oh, come on, David!

I think I've got to dispel

a few romantic notions you seem to have.

Number one:
The traditional

culture of the Aborigines...

only survives among full-bloods

in the far north...

and in some parts of the desert.

The nearest tribal Aborigines

live a thousand miles from Sydney.

Number two:
The people we call

Aborigines in the cities...

are no different culturally

from depressed whites.

We destroy their languages...

and their ceremonies,

their songs, their dances...

and their tribal laws.

- The only thing to do is to...

- [Door Opens]

Is to plead guilty,

from the beginning.

Get a light sentence, send them up the river

for six months then to their wives and kids.

That's all we can do.

This is Gerry.

- Jacko.

- Gerry.

- Lindsay.

- Lindsay.

And Larry.

Michael Zeadler.

He'll be your barrister in this case.

Hello. I'm Chris Lee.

[Zeadler] All right.

Now I want to help, and I will help you.

But first of all,

you've got to help me.

I've got to know certain things

that happened here on that night,

and you've got to tell me

exactly as it happened, all right?

Now, the first thing I have to know

is where exactly were you standing.

So can you tell me, please?

Where were you standing

on the night that it happened?

Here's Daddy!

You can have a go at my bird,

Daddy. His name is Monty.

- David, hello!

- Oh, darling, er...

One of the Aborigines

is coming here to dinner.

- Tonight? - Yes, l-I thought if I

could get him away from the others,

he might give me some sort

of line on the case.

Sorry I didn't call.

- Who is he? What's his name?

- Chris.

[Doorbell Rings]

[Ringing Continues]

[Chris]

Charlie there?

[Thunder Rumbling, Cracking]

Did you tell this Chris that

you'd seen him in the dream thing?

Yes, I did.

Well?

He just nodded...

as if it were quite

an ordinary thing to say.

[Knock At Door]

[Sighs] You know,

I'm a fourth-generation Australian.

I've never met

an Aboriginal before.

[Chuckles]

[Raining]

This is Charlie.

Well, come in.

Come in, please.

Annie, uh, this is Chris.

- How do you do?

- And Charlie. Hello, Charlie.

[Girls Giggling]

Back to bed this minute!

[Giggling Continues]

Excuse me.

Shall we go in for a drink?

Beer, wine?

What would you like?

He doesn't speak English.

- Ah.

- Uh, water will be fine.

Water. Yes, um, I'll just get some.

[Whispering] Why didn't you tell me

he was bringing somebody with him?

- Well, I didn't know.

- Well, who is he?

I don't know.

Is Charlie

a relative of yours, Chris?

- He's a painter.

- Oh.

I paint too.

That's some of my work over there.

[Speaking In Native Dialect]

- Very nice.

- Thank you.

Are you and Charlie tribal people?

No tribal people in the city.

Charlie?

[Chuckling]

Oh, no, darling.

They've asked to see it.

Ah.

This is my stepfather.

[Native Dialect]

He's a minister.

And my mother.

She died when I was still a little boy.

Both my parents are dead.

[Chris Speaking In Native Dialect]

Uh, let's see. Older ones.

This is my grandfather.

[Chris Continues Translating]

Ah, yes. Here are two pictures

of my mother's grandfather.

[Native Dialect]

Where is your...

clan... territory?

- My clan territory?

- I don't know what he means.

Uh, from sunrise or sunset?

[Chuckles]

From sunrise.

From South America.

I was born there.

Why is he so interested

in my, my mother's grandfather?

He's interested in you.

[Charlie Speaking In Native Dialect]

We're nothing but the law...

we learned from our forefathers.

But surely men

are more important than laws?

No.

The law is more important...

than just man.

[David]

Why did Billy die?

I'll, um, get some coffee.

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