New Zealand in Ten Movies or Less
<p>I'm not usually one to jump onboard the blog meme wagon, but after seeing the recent proliferation of <a href="http://www.worshipnaked.com/?p=321#comment-1218">America in Ten Movies or Less</a>, I started wondering which ten films would best sum up the New Zealand experience. This is a somewhat tricky proposition - if only because there's just nowhere near enough cinematic material emanating from this little place for there to be much choice in the matter.</p>
Despite the small range of possibilities, once I started looking, a very clear list started to emerge. This top 10 is purely my own predjudiced opinion of course. The prescence of certain films in this list is indisputable, yet I don't doubt that many people would disagree with the particular order I've chosen.
But if you're not a Kiwi and want a good starting point for immersion in our wonderfully confused culture and history, here are the singularly brilliant films that you can't go past...
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Once Were Warriors (1994)
☻ ☻ ☻ ☻ ☻The greatest New Zealand film ever? This groundbreaking adaption of Alan Duff's novel is certainly the most moving. I can't think of any other film that captures the reality of urban poverty in such an intense and sensitive way. From the struggle of a family confronted with issues of rape and domestic violence, there's no smoothing over the rough edges, this is a harsh journey through life in South Auckland that is likely to upset many viewers. It's edge comes from an incredible combination of strong acting and natural dialog, where rage and frustration are tempered with moments of laughter and tenderness, creating a verisimilitude unmatched by any other portrayal of New Zealand life.
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Heavenly Creatures (1994)
☻ ☻ ☻ ☻ ☻Based on a true story, this still rates as one of Peter Jackson's most outstanding cinematic achievements, a deeply imaginative exploration of the human psyche that doesn't hold anything back. The setting of Christchurch in the 1950's provides a lucid picture of the class differences and pressure towards conformity that defined New Zealand society for so long. Unlike many films, the brutality and tension of the violent climax is unrestrained by cliche or melodrama, providing a gripping contrast to the elaborate fantasies concocted by the lead characters, Parker and Hume. Amazing performances by Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey seal it's status.
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Sleeping Dogs (1978)
☻ ☻ ☻ ☻Perhaps the definitive Kiwi classic, this film was surprisingly unknown to a large majority of New Zealanders until much more recently. Anyone with more than a passing familarity of what New Zealand was like in the 70's and early 80's will feel an affinity for this portrayal of backwards beaureacratic cities and timeless small towns. Drawing on the critically acclaimed novel "Smiths Dream" by C. K. Stead, and filmed at the time of Muldoon's rise to power, Sleeping Dogs explores the paradoxical tendency that New Zealanders have towards acceptance of authoritarian leaders and provides a vivid illustration of gender tension in a post-feminist but still wholly patriachical society. Famous displays of bad acting only reinforce the realism. This gets as close to New Zealand's heartland as any film yet, while managing to convey the feeling of a strange foreign place before the onset of American cultural influence.
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Whale Rider (2002)
☻ ☻ ☻ ☻Ten years after The Piano launched New Zealand cinema into the international spotlight comes another masterpiece of beauty and originality. When I first saw it, I wondered whether or not it could ever make sense to anyone who hadn't grown up here; on reflection, there is a certain universal understanding of the values it confronts. In a cinematic era dominated by frenetic visual destruction and soundbyte driven dialog, it's rare for any film to evoke such emotions of empathy and hope without descending into glib sentimentality. Perhaps this is the film's greatest strength, uncovering a truly unique way of life in a way that crosses cultural boundaries, while not being tied to dogmatic stereotypes.
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An Angel At My Table (1990)
☻ ☻ ☻ ☻The story of Janet Frame, one of New Zealand's most respected writers, this is a a poignant insight into the harsh nature of social conformity and the tragedy of Frame's misdiagnosed mental illness which led to years of debilitating shock treatment. This film is one of the few that exposes the difficulties of growing up creative and talented in the passionless egalitarian society that was New Zealand in the mid 20th century.
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Footrot Flats: The Dog's Tale (1987)
☻ ☻ ☻ ☻No list of Kiwi films would be complete without recognizing this cartoon classic brought to life on the big screen. Unlike other screen adaptions of popular comics that fell flat (think Terry and the Gunrunners), this perfectly captures the good natured humour and blokeishness of Murray Ball's original comic strips. Perhaps the best play on the Kiwi farmer, black singlet stereotype yet, add in Dave Dobbyn's brilliant song "Slice of Heaven", and you get an animated feature that is yet to be surpassed.
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Utu (1983)
☻ ☻ ☻Long before the New Zealand public became fascinated with local history, before the Labour Government set up the Waitangi Tribunal, there was Utu. This gritty tale of strife and colonial arrogance effectively conveys the extreme ambiguity of Maori allegiances, a hallmark of the infamous land wars during the 1860's.
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The End of the Golden Weather (1991)
☻ ☻ ☻"Who cares? Who bloody bloody cares?" Like Sleeping Dogs, this is another film that echos a work of archetypal New Zealand literature, Bruce Mason's 1962 play of the same title. Viewers less than familiar with the Kiwi accent are likely to find this film rather frustrating to watch, but that's exactly the point - the hysterics and nasal slang are so authentic, you just need to learn to laugh at it. Notable for the way it captures the shimmering aesthetic of a Kiwi summer, this story of an immaginative young boy's coming of age in the 1930's comes as close as anything to explaining the New Zealand experience.
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Pictures (1981)
☻ ☻ ☻The first New Zealand feature film to explicitly deal with a difficult social history, Pictures is the story of the conflict of two photographer brothers after one tries to publish images of the mistreatment of Maori prisoners. Lush scenery, and authentic reconstruction of 19th century New Zealand towns set this one apart. Few other films capture such a broad vision of the colonial past.
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Goodbye Pork Pie (1981)
☻ ☻I never particularly liked this film, but it has to be included here, purely because as a Kiwi road film, these antics have never been outdone. A sometimes amusing, but mostly bizzare exposition of an iconic culture. If nothing else, watch it for a great visual tour around the North and South Islands.
Honourable mentions of course, go to The Piano, Rain, Smash Palace, Came a Hot Friday, Ngati, and The Last Tattoo. Not specifically relating to New Zealand, but still worth watching are The Quiet Earth, and Peter Jackson's insane first films Meet the Feebles and Braindead. Anything else?
If you're in Wellington, definitely go visit the Mediaplex where you should be able to watch all of these and more for free...