Cinema of Unease is the New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 contribution to the British Film Institutes Century of Cinema Series. Written and directed by Sam Neill

Sam Neill

Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill, DCNZM, OBE is a New Zealand actor. He is well known for his starring role as paleontologist Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III....

, the title refers to the dark and brooding nature of many of New Zealand's most notable films, which Neill considers a reflection of the nation's struggle to find, or form, its own identity. It won Best Documentary in the 1996 TV Guide Film and Television awards.

Filmography

films featured/discussed

• The Te Kooti Trail (1927)
• One Hundred Crowded Years (1940)
• Journey for Three (1950)
• Country Lads (1941)
• Broken Barrier (1952)
  Broken Barrier
  Broken Barrier is a 1952 New Zealand film. It was directed and produced by John O'Shea and Roger Mirams, and written by O'Shea. It starred Kay Ngarimu and Terence Bayler, and also featured Mira Hape, Bill Merito and George Ormond....
  
  
• Reach for the Sky (1956)
  Reach for the Sky
  Reach for the Sky is a 1956 British biographical film of aviator Douglas Bader, based on the 1954 biography of the same name by Paul Brickhill. The film stars Kenneth More and was directed by Lewis Gilbert. It won the BAFTA Award for Best British Film of 1956.-Plot:In 1928, Douglas Bader, a...
  
  
• The Roy Rogers Show #37 (1956)
• Runaway (1964)
• Wayleggo (1965)
• Dont Let It Get You (1966)
• Soldier Boys (1967)
• This is New Zealand (1970)
  This is New Zealand
  This is New Zealand is a documentary film showcasing New Zealand scenery that was produced by the New Zealand National Film Unit for screening at the World Expo in Osaka in 1970....
  
  
• The Seal Hunters (1973)
• Sleeping Dogs (1977)
• Beyond Reasonable Doubt (1980)
• Bad Blood (1981)
  Bad Blood (1981 film)
  Bad Blood is a 1982 British-New Zealand thriller film set in the small West Coast town of Koiterangi , during World War II, and is based on the factual manhunt for mass-murderer Stanley Graham. Directed by English director Mike Newell, much of the film was shot at the original locations. The script...
  
  
• Goodbye Pork Pie (1981)
  Goodbye Pork Pie
  Goodbye Pork Pie is a 1981 New Zealand film directed by Geoff Murphy and written by Geoff Murphy and Ian Mune. The film is considered to be one of New Zealand's most popular films, and has been described as Easy Rider meets the Keystone Kops....
  
  
• Carry Me Back (1982)
• The Scarecrow (1982)
  The Scarecrow (1982 film)
  The Scarecrow is a 1982 New Zealand film, also known as Klynham Summer in America. It was directed by Sam Pillsbury based on the 1963 horror novel by New Zealand author Ronald Hugh Morrieson.-Plot:...
  
  
• Smash Palace (1982)
  Smash Palace
  Smash Palace is a New Zealand feature film, released in 1981. It was directed by Roger Donaldson and starred Bruno Lawrence, Anna Jemison, Greer Robson and Keith Aberdein. The film has an R16 rating.-Critical review:...
  
  
• Patu (1983)
• UTU (1983)
  Utu (film)
  Utu is a 1983 New Zealand movie directed by Geoff Murphy. It starred Anzac Wallace. Utu was reputed to have one of the largest budgets for a New Zealand film at the time...
  
  
• Vigil (1984)
  Vigil (film)
  Vigil is a 1984 New Zealand drama film directed by Vincent Ward. It was entered into the 1984 Cannes Film Festival.The film was awarded three awards at the 1986 National Mutual GOFTA Awards: Best Cinematography , Best Original Screenplay , and Best Production Design .-Cast:* Penelope Stewart -...
  
  
• Came a Hot Friday (1985)
  Came a Hot Friday
  Came a Hot Friday is a 1985 New Zealand made comedy film starring some of New Zealand's best-known actors and comedians, based on the 1964 novel by Ronald Hugh Morrieson.-Plot:...
  
  
• The Lost Tribe (1985)
• The Quiet Earth (1986)
  The Quiet Earth (film)
  The Quiet Earth is a 1985 New Zealand science fiction post-apocalyptic film directed by Geoff Murphy and starring Bruno Lawrence, Alison Routledge and Pete Smith as three survivors of a cataclysmic disaster. It is loosely based on the 1981 science fiction novel of the same name by Craig Harrison...
  
  
• The Navigator (1988)
  The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey
  The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey is a 1988 feature film, an official Australian-New Zealand co-production, directed by Vincent Ward. It won numerous New Zealand and Australian awards, including the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Film, and several awards at European fantasy film festivals...
  
  
• An Angel At My Table (1990)
  An Angel at My Table
  An Angel at My Table is a 1990 New Zealand-Australian-British film directed by Jane Campion. The film is based on Janet Frame's three autobiographies, To the Is-Land , An Angel at My Table , and The Envoy from Mirror City ....
  
  
• Braindead (1992)
• Bread and Roses (1993)
• Desperate Remedies (1993)
  Desperate Remedies (film)
  Desperate Remedies is a 1993 New Zealand drama film directed by Stewart Main and Peter Wells. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot:...
  
  
• The Piano (1993)
  The Piano
  The Piano is a 1993 New Zealand drama film about a mute pianist and her daughter, set during the mid-19th century in a rainy, muddy frontier backwater on the west coast of New Zealand. The film was written and directed by Jane Campion, and stars Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, and Anna Paquin...
  
  
• Jack Be Nimble (1994)
  Jack Be Nimble (film)
  Jack Be Nimble is a 1993 New Zealand produced horror movie, starring Alexis Arquette.-Plot summary:Jack decides to put an end to the abuse he has received from his adoptive parents, enabling him to run away and find his long lost sibling Dora...
  
  
• Heavenly Creatures (1994)
  Heavenly Creatures
  Heavenly Creatures is a 1994 film directed by Peter Jackson, from a screenplay he co-wrote with his wife Fran Walsh, about the notorious 1954 Parker-Hulme murder case in Christchurch, New Zealand. Filmed on location in Christchurch, it features Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet in their screen debuts...
  
  
• Once Were Warriors (1994)
  Once Were Warriors
  Once Were Warriors is New Zealand author Alan Duff's bestselling first novel, published in 1990. It tells the story of an urban Māori family, the Hekes, and portrays the reality of domestic violence. It was the basis of a 1994 film, directed by Lee Tamahori and starring Rena Owen and Temuera...
  
  
• The Last Tattoo (1995)

External links

• Excerpt of the documentary from NZ On Screen
  NZ On Screen
  NZ On Screen is an online showcase of archival New Zealand television and film. The website is fully funded by NZ On Air and provides free worldwide access to NZ-produced television, film and music videos. Content is streamed and the webpages provide authoritative background information.The site...