A chicken in kiwiland.
Ok, what's next on our agenda?
Let it be an overview of my favourite NZ films. I take a well-deserved break after choosing a topic of my next article.
When watching films, very often the things of primarily importance for me aren’t precise characters but rather the atmosphere that directors create around their heroes, penetrating beyond the appearances, creating a vivid, real, complex world. NZ film directors certainly have a knack for it.
1. Boy, 2010
If somebody ever asks me who my favourite director is, I would say Taika Waititi. I don’t know whether he is exploring the realm of feelings or he is just enjoying himself making warm, funny and touching films. Music, dancing, parody and acting smooth out the overwhelming ambience of the movie.
2. Who would have thought that Sir Peter Jackson is famous not only for “Lord of the Ring” movies? Yesterday I watched “Heavenly creatures”, 1994, a critically lauded drama. Why am I talking precisely about that film? Well, because it was made in Christchurch, a big village (so to speak) where I will be dwelling for several months. If you really want to understand the spirit of Christchurch, its pace of life: that is a film for you. Even though it’s a psychological drama, based on real events, I really enjoyed the atmosphere that makes the film worth watching. It was fun to look at the screen, realising that you have been to almost all the places in the Garden city.
3. Hunt for the Wilderpeople, 2016
miss_alika
8 chapters
15 Apr 2020
NZ cinematography (1)
Christchurch/New Zealand
Ok, what's next on our agenda?
Let it be an overview of my favourite NZ films. I take a well-deserved break after choosing a topic of my next article.
When watching films, very often the things of primarily importance for me aren’t precise characters but rather the atmosphere that directors create around their heroes, penetrating beyond the appearances, creating a vivid, real, complex world. NZ film directors certainly have a knack for it.
1. Boy, 2010
If somebody ever asks me who my favourite director is, I would say Taika Waititi. I don’t know whether he is exploring the realm of feelings or he is just enjoying himself making warm, funny and touching films. Music, dancing, parody and acting smooth out the overwhelming ambience of the movie.
2. Who would have thought that Sir Peter Jackson is famous not only for “Lord of the Ring” movies? Yesterday I watched “Heavenly creatures”, 1994, a critically lauded drama. Why am I talking precisely about that film? Well, because it was made in Christchurch, a big village (so to speak) where I will be dwelling for several months. If you really want to understand the spirit of Christchurch, its pace of life: that is a film for you. Even though it’s a psychological drama, based on real events, I really enjoyed the atmosphere that makes the film worth watching. It was fun to look at the screen, realising that you have been to almost all the places in the Garden city.
3. Hunt for the Wilderpeople, 2016
It’s another coming-of-age story that I was lucky enough to watch on a big screen. It has been long time since I was REALLY laughing at the cinema.
There are lots of NZ stories and films that structure our experience. What is so special about them? I don’t know… maybe they are a celebration of individual agency?
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