NZ Film

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Our whole topic for Media Studies this year is New Zealand film, from producing to analysing and all inbetween.

Now, film is not my forté. Last year Media Studies was devoted around print media, which is more my area of expertise. My teacher is great but like all people, has an agenda and their own point of view, and I would like to hear different ideas.

Therefore, I was wondering about your thoughts on NZ film so I can gain a better understanding of it. I would settle it down to a particular topic but I thought that would be restrictive, so feel free to say whatever you want about New Zealand film that you have noticed over the years.

Any help would be appreciated, thank you.

David

Here is a good place to start:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_New_Zealand

I think that New Zealand films very often have a dark, disturbing tone to them. They show people at their worst. Not "evil" people, but just regular people who do things that we don't like to think that people do. Incest, murder, violence, etc. They also usually have rural themes and Maori characters, to give them a New Zealand flavour on the international market.

It might be difficult to decide whether or not Lord of the Rings counts as "New Zealand films". They are set in NZ, with a lot of Kiwi extras and a Kiwi director, but they are essentially Hollywood films in some ways.

I reckon its because its easier to do a film like this and requires less imagination and ability to hold an audiences attention in some ways. Also a sign of immaturity of an industry, thats just what I think.
Thankfully thats changing, and theres films on the other side of the ledger e.g. "Boy", "Siones Wedding" etc.

LOTR and Avatar were made here, but yeah I would say they are films made in New Zealand rather than a "New Zealand film" i.e. a film thats setting is in the nation.

Hmm... I don't think that's what it is.

In fact, this is a hilarious post in some ways, because my theory is that New Zealand films are weird exactly because of people like you! There is always an undercurrent of "we're not good enough to compete internationally" that is inherent in New Zealand culture. I think that it is this feeling which expresses itself in twisted films.

A confident country produces nationalist propaganda films. A country that doesn't feel confident in itself produces films that are the exact opposite of nationalist propaganda. They will show the inhabitants of the country in an unfavourable light.

This thesis is expressed by Sam Neill in his documentary Cinema of Unease.

You could be right!