New Zealand Film

The Lord of the Rings has become one of the biggest film series of all time, with the total box office for the first 3 films set at nearly $3 billion and its influence on the film and even television industry being endless. These films were huge and to this day, they remain as the most successful films in the history of New Zealand cinema.

The film industry in New Zealand wasn’t like Hollywood; it wasn’t built to be a money mine for the rich. There were films being made in New Zealand during the early 1900’s, however they were much smaller in scale and many of them, including the supposed first film ever made there, ‘Hinemoa’, have no existing copies, making them lost films. It wasn’t until the 1970’s and the founding of the New Zealand Film Commission that the film industry in New Zealand start to take off.

The first major film from New Zealand was 1977’s ‘Sleeping Dogs’, an action thriller about a fictitious political revolution against a fascist government. The film was directed by Rodger Donaldson and stared then-upcoming actor and filmmaker, Sam Neill, most famous for his role as Dr Alan Grant in the 1993 Spielberg movie, ‘Jurassic Park’.

This was followed up by New Zealand’s next big success, Geoff Murphy’s ‘Goodbye Pork Pie’, released in 1981. This film was nothing like ‘Sleeping Dogs’. Instead, it was a comedic road trip film two guys running from the law in a yellow Mini. ‘Goodbye Pork Pie’ continued the legacy of ‘Sleeping Dogs’, by further increasing New Zealand’s interest in film and becoming a smash hit in its home country.

After 1981, New Zealand’s film output increased massively, with a large influx of films throughout the 80’s and into the 90’s. Two standout films from this period being Jane Campion’s ‘The Piano’ and Lee Tamahori’s ‘Once Were Warriors’. Both were heavily praised inside and out of New Zealand, with ‘The Piano’ winning multiple awards, including three Academy awards.

The frequency of films being made in New Zealand only grew larger in the 2000’s. In fact, the films released from the 2000’s into the 2010’s make up half of the number of films made in New Zealand. The increased interest in filmmaking could be attributed to Peter Jackson’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ adaptations mentioned earlier, as they were massive money-makers for both the studios responsible for making them, and for New Zealand itself, with a huge increase in tourism since the Lord of the Rings first released in cinemas.

Whatever the reason, the rise in film’s popularity in New Zealand has led to many young filmmakers getting more and more recognition outside of the country. Filmmakers like Taika Waititi, who is responsible for directing films such as ‘Boy’ (2010), ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ (2014) and was most famously responsible for directing the Marvel product, ‘Thor Ragnarok’ and the upcoming sequel, ‘Love and Thunder’.

New Zealand’s film industry is an interesting one. It only established itself proper nearly 50 years ago, but it still manages to create many great films that rival the level of quality many people expect from big-budget Hollywood titles, which is a wonderful feet to achieve.