Cast:
Bruce Lyons (Connor), Chris Haywood (Arno), Hamish McFarlane (Griffin), Marshall Napier (Searle), Noel Appleby (Ulf), Paul Livingston (Martin), Sarah Peirse (Linnet), Mark Wheatley (Tog 1), Tony Herbert (Tog 2), Jessica Cardiff-Smith (Esme), and Roy Wesney (Grandpa) Directed by Vincent Ward (#627 - What Dreams May Come)
Review:
"It's easy to get films made that are more generic. I want my films to be accessible, though I also want to do them on my own terms, and to be about my own concerns as a filmmaker."
Sure, of course New Zealand counts for World cinema, since they do manage to conjure up a few interesting directors and movies from time to time, particularly with this co-production between New Zealand and Australia. Vincent Ward was born in Greytown to a background of farmers (his father] had damaged hands from the war that still maintained his farm). He studied Fine Arts in university but ended up becoming a filmmaker in 1978. He made his feature debut with Vigil (1984) that had come from years of searching for ideal settings to film and in casting; the movie was the first of the country's type to get on the prominent festival circuit. Apparently, the impetus of the next film by Ward started when he tried to cross a German autobahn (a federal controlled-access highway system) and got stranded. Ward wrote the script with Geoff Gapple and Kely Lyons. Made over the course of ten weeks in 1987 with a look that had influence from the Middle Ages (the film utilizes certain shades when it is set in the present day when compared to the black-and-white medieval sequences) to go alongside elaborate shots, the movie only became reality when the Australian Film Commission gave partial funding when the usual way of tax breaks was rejected. Ward didn't exactly become a household name, although it was not really his fault. He was actually the first director tapped to direct Alien 3, as he wrote the treatment that was thoroughly beaten to hell in the final rendition. Instead, Ward followed the Navigator film with Map of the Human Heart (1993). His next batch of films came with What Dreams May Come (1998), River Queen (2005), and Rain of the Children (2008), with the latter being his last released movie. At any rate, he keeps busy with painting and video art.
Whether seen as a fantasy adventure or as seen as movie of keeping one's faith under all circumstances, it is a pretty curious movie that is far more than, well, travelling through time (or do they...). Dream land or not, the atmospheric qualities of the movie come out pretty well in showing the wacked world of a place closed off (in some way) from certain people (one is in 1348, the other, well, in the 20th century), as one does when involving New Zealand, I suppose. It isn't so much that the modern world would look spooky to someone from an older time: nay, it (be it a highway full of many lanes) would look downright hellish, and it really is a bit of destiny to hold it all together for the plight of God and for themselves. The ragtag ensemble is pretty good in conveying the foibles and lingering destiny, mostly on the shoulders of McFarlane, who actually didn't become a regular actor (instead favoring being an assistant director in films and TV), but it is true that they have a wide-eyed appeal here that works for those who understand the zeal that comes in youth. It also reflects well on Lyons (who acted in just one other film), who actually was thought of in mind by one of the co-writers (K.Lyons, who he was married to). It just so happens that the ordinary can look extraordinary in the faces of youth, and that works out to make the ending all the more ironic. It is a moody film that does look really nice while conveying a sense of adventure with its own playing of time and imagery, which does make the 93-minute runtime go off without too many hitches. As a whole, its a movie that reminds one that some folks really believe that faith can override anything, rationales be damned.
Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.
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