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Chapter 14: POST PRODUCTION
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The original script, the result of the joint efforts of John Graham and John O’Shea,
contained a number of scenes which for one reason or another never appeared in the
completed film. In some cases these scenes would have made little difference to the
film’s quality, but in others, their omission diluted Runaway’s dramatic impact.
Although the original script devoted a considerable amount of space to the recurring
theatre motif, it made no appearance in the finished film except for the opening.
Whereas the script begins with David Manning clambering out of a luxury runabout,
the film starts with the sequence described in the previous chapter, with Deirdre
McCarron moving slowly through a confined space as Manning’s voice intones,
“Diana, Diana, let us make a beginning.” Her voice is then heard replying, “Our love
and comforts will increase, even as our days do grow.” This is followed by the beach
sequence.
This mysterious opening, the only residue of the theatre strand, serves several
functions. In symbolic terms, the phrase “Let us make a beginning” could well refer
to the second attempt by Pacific Films, after a break of a decade, to create a New
Zealand feature film industry. The second sentence could suggest an optimistic future
for the industry as it develops its skills and expertise. The scene also re-asserts
Pacific’s ambitions to make an artistic film, and not merely a straight forward
commercial entertainment. There is, however, a considerable risk of confusing the
audience. Diana and David certainly made a beginning, but rather than their love and
comforts increasing their relationship ended in apparent tragedy. After this opening
scene, Runaway followed a strictly linear progression, so the scene functioned purely
symbolically, not as a flash-back or flash-forward.
It is difficult in the finished film to recognise elements that in any way symbolised the
impending economic problems facing New Zealand. Certainly, the nation was living
– like David Manning – beyond its means, and it was incumbent upon it to make a
new beginning, to rethink its materialistic priorities. New Zealand also appeared to be
drifting, heading for a fall. But it made little sense to interpret other narrative aspects
of the script (such as Manning’s relationships with various women) in allegorical