New Zealand Cinema

Landscape, The Darker Side of New Zealand Cinema

New Zealand cinema is one of the latest starting cinemas to get off the ground in term of proper industry in the world. The country’s film industry really start going only from the 1980’ and is both rely on but at the same time reject the Hollywood mainstream.  The reason why New Zealand cinema started so late can be explained by the massively small population compared to the size of the country which makes the industry had not got enough audience to sustain. In 1991, there were only 140 screens in NZ compared with a massive number of 24,639 screens in the U.S. However, after 10 years the number of screens in NZ has been increased by 3 times. Although, this number is very small compare with the US but with rapid growth, New Zealand cinema will soon catch up with the world’s cinema industry.

Number of New Zealand screens compare with U.S screens, 1991-2010
Year	New Zealand screens	U.S screens
1991	140	24,639
1992	175	25,214
1993	211	25,626
1994	228	26,689
1995	255	27,843
1996	270	29,731
1997	285	31,865
1998	290	34,168
1999	315	37,131
2000	317	36,379
2001	325	35,506
2002	323	35,688
2003	337	35,650
2004	343	36,435
2005	369	37,688
2006	378	38,415
2007	403	38,794
2008	415	38, 834
2009	410	39,233
2010	411	39,520
Source: The National Association of Theatre Owners + Motion Picture Distributors’ Association of NZ

Before 1970, there was only 5 feature film that has been produced in 30 years and the main source of films is imported mainly from the U.S. There was very little Government support or interest in feature filmmaking. The vast majority of the three hundred feature films that New Zealand has produced up till today occurring after 1977.  Instead, as a country best known as the most beautiful country in the world, the government has invested a lot of money and seen documentary filmmaking as an ideal way to introduce New Zealand to the world.  

This image of the beautiful landscape, fresh air, wonderful sea and freedom is strongly emphasized in the trilogy “The Lord of the rings” which once again definite the image of New Zealand to the world.

Despite the perception that New Zealand is a place of paradise, of pure nature and freedom, in reality, there is a darker side of the country. In 1977, one of the most notable films of New  Zealand “Sleeping dog” directed by Roger Donaldson was released. This is also the key turning point of the New Zealand film industry as the success of the film helped lead to the establishment of the New Zealand film commission with the mission of promoting the country's film industry to the international audience. Along with the commercially successful films, the government also support films that offer other sorts of commercial exploitation such as tourism( Fox,2011).

Once  Were Warriors(1994), a film about poverty, child abuse, domestic violence and alcoholism, strongly emphasizes that idea of a darker side of  New Zealand society which we don’t often see when speaking of the country. 

"There is, in a way, two New Zealand's - the pastoral paradise promoted by the image-makers looking to add value to our primary products and our tourist industry, and the "other" New Zealand characterised by the unseemly and sordid"(Conrich, 2000).

Another important element which we often see in New Zealand films is the country's landscape also plays an actives role, acts as obstacles to the protagonist's journey. In the comedy horror film Black Sheep directed by Jonathan King, the antagonist is the sheep, an obstacle created by nature. Or in the film Hunt for the Widerpeople directed by Taika Waititi, the film once again introduce the spectacular scenery of New Zealand, but that beautiful landscape is also dangerous to the characters. Schafer (1998, p.144) also describes landscape as the darker side of New Zealand Cinema "We move from a sense of alienation and rootlessness-being separated and detached from the landscape around us-to a sense of being rooted in it, sprung from it, possessed and haunted by it".