Olympics 2012 Film Part 2 - South Africa, Yugoslavia, Turkey, New Zealand & Austria

New Zealand €“ 85 Medals A relatively young national cinema, New Zealand has instead played host for a lot of international productions. It wasn€™t until the 1970s that the government of New Zealand actually created a Film commission board, helping to develop films for their national cinema. Even after that progression, it hasn€™t been until recently that their cinema has fully begun to flourish. With directors such as Jane Campion and Peter Jackson coming through to feature prominently, New Zealand has begun to make its mark on the domestic and international stage. Jackson in particular has played a massive role in helping to establish the country€™s reputation. Making his name by directing many critically acclaimed films in his native land, albeit ones which involve an awful amount of blood, he has also formed studios in Wellington, which have helped in the development of features both domestically and internationally. Furthermore, he has helped to attract many big names on the world stage to film in New Zealand, such as James Cameron. There is some argument as to whether this helps or hinders the industry, but the publicity that the country is getting from these productions is priceless. Forever to be known as the land of Hobbits, Orcs and Sauron, New Zealand has so many diverse locations, that hopefully the domestic market will fully embrace them in the near future, rather than loaning them out to Hollywood. Bronze - Once Were Warriors (Lee Tamahori, 1994) Before Lee Tamahori became a cross dresser offering police oral sex, he examined the life of an urban Maori family and their struggles with domestic violence, alcoholism and poverty. Jake the father of the family, is central to all the issues. He regularly drinks, often hits his wife Beth and spends most of their money on alcohol. His son Nig soon moves out of the house, dismayed by his father€™s behavior he joins a Maori gang and soon adorns a face tattoo after a gruelling initiation. Their other son Boogie is sent to a foster centre due to the anti-social nature of Jake and Beth. However, the most prominent sibling is Grace, their young daughter. She keeps a diary of her life and writes stories as escapism to her brutal upbringing. However when one of Jake€™s friends, Bully, goes too far with masculine bravado, the family is torn apart from the vicious repercussions. Tamahori tackles the struggle of Maori identity in modern New Zealand, with a brutal film, holding nothing back in its depiction of violence. Such a raw and contemporary take on Maori culture is rare in cinema, to approach it in such a way may seem exploitive, yet the film is full of such unruly emotion, that it€™s hard not to be impressed by the fierce boldness and honesty in the films tone. It never shies away from the more discouraging part of its culture, and in turn never turns a blind eye to the more horrific elements of humanity. Silver - Meet the Feebles (Peter Jackson, 1989)

We all know who the Muppets are. They€™re fuzzy, happy and friendly. Now meet the Feebles, they€™re anything but. They have STI€™s, an underground porn studio and drug addiction all over the place. Before Peter Jackson made the Lord of The Ring Trilogy, he delved into the realm of the revolting, repulsive and sordid. Bad Taste and Braindead are two more examples of this, yet Meet the Feebles fully deserves the Silver medal over its fellow grotesque nationals. The film follows a theatre troupe of puppets, as they seek to get a syndicated TV show. It is hard to summarise the plot, but it is safe to say that all mayhem breaks lose in their attempts to become famous. There are botched drug deals involving a Walrus, HIV scares involving Rabbits, A heroin-infused Vietnam War flashback scene involving a frog (Kermit?) and a gun toting Hippo named Heidi. The film is crazy, random and hilarious. Jackson gives every character screen time to shine, utilising the disgusting contrast between this and the family friendly worldwide popular Muppets, to great antithetical effect. My only wish is that Jackson would return to this kind of filmmaking, as he clearly has a talent for madcap comedy, instead he seems intent on constantly focusing upon adaptations. These tend to display either his new found talent for large productions (LOTR), or his weakness in finding the essence from the source thus losing narrative focus (The Lovely Bones). It€™s a shame really, because Meet the Feebles is probably the most fun you could have in a cinema and yet the majority of us, me included, will have to settle for the DVD. Gold - The Piano (Jane Campion, 1993)

Often seen as Campion€™s piece de resistance, The Piano stands atop New Zealand€™s cinematic kingdom as the sparkling jewel of its crown. Ada, a mute, and her daughter Flora, relocate from Scotland to New Zealand for an arranged marriage, their only possession to come with them being Ada€™s piano. When her new husband Alistair sells the piano to their next door neighbour George, Ada is offered the opportunity to gain it back by allowing George to listen to her play. George and Ada€™s relationship develops and ultimately turns sexual. Obviously this causes fissures in her newly married life but also in the relationship between her and Flora, who becomes an ashamed participant in her adultery. Campion has such a beautiful way of eliciting the erotic out of her characters, and the performances of Harvey Keitel as George and Holly Hunter as Ada are fascinating examples of this. The subtlety in how they communicate is stunning; it is touching and delicate in its approach, a true honest development of love over the course of the narrative. With a beautiful score and a stunning setting, The Piano is a faultless love story which manages to liberate both of its characters, even with the disadvantage of one side being devoid of dialogue.