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coverage, And once Runaway was ready for its première he prepared a press kit
containing a detailed description of the film, the players and production personnel.
For example:
Filmed against breathtaking backgrounds which extend from the warm
beaches of Northland to the ice-bound wilderness of the Westland glaciers,
Runaway tells a tense dramatic story of a young New Zealander, David
Manning (Colin Broadley), who finds himself in financial difficulties in
Auckland, and tries to escape from city life. He heads for Northland, where he
mixes with both Maori and European, and endeavours to adjust himself to life
there. However, a torrid love affair with a wealthy, spoilt Yugoslav girl
(Nadja Regin) who falsely alleges to the police that he has assaulted her,
forces him to leave the district, with the intention of going back to the
mountain country of Westland, where he was happy as a child. 4
The summary of the plot concludes with details of the climax which is described as
“both exciting and realistic, and brings Runaway to a tense, dramatic conclusion.” 5
The style of the press release is significant. Although basing his film to some extent
on European art cinema, O’Shea deliberately tailored the text to read like the
description of a thriller :
New Zealand can be proud of this compelling, intimate, adult motion picture,
for here is not only a film that forcefully presents the face of contemporary
New Zealand to the world, but also provides thrilling entertainment by any
standards. Great credit must go to producer – director John O’Shea, for his
courage, talent, ambition and assurance in creating a film that meets world
competition head-on and emerges with flying colours. 6
Media hype is a necessary part of all film marketing. What is interesting in
Runaway’s case was the way the publicity played down any “high culture” aspects
such as the thought-provoking way the film transferred the concept of “man alone” to
a post-war setting, or highlighted the alienation of contemporary youth in a
conformist, prosperity-obsessed society. Neither was there any suggestion that the