you know the people in the movie be in for it when king size hailstone fall from a clear blue sky . in fact and the weather stay pretty bad throughout this atmospheric thriller and and only lawyer chamberlain have the answer . but he too much the european rationalist and i gather and to get in touch with that inner be that only reveal itself through dream . darkly original mystery heavy on the metaphysics from director writer peter weir . already he have prove his skill at flirt with other dimension in picnic at hang rock ( 1975 ) . here it the arcane world of the australian aborigine that confront that the tightly order world of the predominant white . something strange be go on inside the aborigine community when they kill one of their number for no apparent reason . yuppie lawyer chamberlain be suppose to defend them in a white man court . but the more he look into thing and the more mysterious thing get and and the more interested a strange old aboriginal man get in him . and then therere those scary dream that come and go at odd time . well structured screenplay deepen interest throughout . one reason the movie work be the background normalcy of chamberlain wife and little daughter . audience can readily identify with them . and when their little world run into force beyond the usual framework and the normalcy begin to buckle and and we get the feeling of world begin to collide . chamberlain underplays throughout and especially during the underground discovery tour where i think he should have show more grow awareness than he do . after all and it the pick up of the mask that hold the key ( i believe ) to the riddle and yet his reaction doesn not really register the revelation . of course and the notion of nature strike back have a certain resonance now and thirty year later . in the film and the notion be wrap in a lot of entertain hocus pocus and but the subject itself remain a tell one . one way of bring out a central irony in the movie be the symbolism of the opening scene . a big white suv barrel past an aboriginal family and leave them in the historical dust . the terrain look like an interior tribal reservation of no particular importance to the coastal fleshpots where industry dwell . yet and it also a region most likely to survive anything like a destructive last wave . perhaps there something about past and future to think about here . anyway and this be a really good movie that will probably stay with you .