Draft 2 PhD Introduction - ResearchSpace@Auckland

135
protagonist, instead of acting like a victim, should “react assertively, face her fear, be
seen to survive, not be overwhelmed by pressure”. 451
While Trial Run and Mr Wrong do not necessarily fit the category of “art films”, there
are a number of later films which bear similarities to A State of Siege in their style and
form, including Jane Campion’s An Angel at My Table (1990) and The Piano (1993),
Alison MacLean’s Crush (1992), Nicky Caro’s Memory and Desire (1998) and most
recently, Christine Jeff’s Rain (2001). The New Zealand literary tradition that these
films are associated with is what Lawrence Jones refers to as “the other tradition” in
New Zealand writing. 452 He argues that there is a “direct line of development” from
Katherine Mansfield to Robin Hyde, Janet Frame, Yvonne du Fresne, Patricia Grace
and Keri Hulme and he describes the primary unifying feature of this literary tradition
as being “a concern for the inner life and subjective perception”. 453 It is significant that
a number of the films associated with this tradition are adaptations of literary works.
Rain for example, was adapted from a novella of the same title by Kirsty Gunn. A State
of Siege was the first of this type of film.
Summary
A State of Siege owes much to the influence of Romanticism in its depiction of the
landscape, which has resonances with the Romantic Sublime, and its portrayal of the
isolated artist striving to express her inner vision. The notion of inner vision -
evidenced by the extreme close-ups of Malfred’s eyes at significant moments -
underlies the artist’s inner journey towards her goal of “learning to see for the first
time”. Stylistically, the chiaroscuro lighting and the careful composition of shots
indicate Ward’s interest in German Expressionism, and the film’s extreme subjectivity,
creation of Stimmung and interest in the irrational seem to express an Expressionistic
world-view. The film’s atmosphere of unease and menacing landscape reflecting the
character’s state of mind indicate links with the “kiwi Gothic” tradition but the film’s
main impact on the direction of New Zealand cinema, and what differentiated its
aesthetic from other local features of the time, was that it was New Zealand’s first
identifiable art film.
451 McDonnell, "The Translation of New Zealand Fiction into Film," 153.
452 Jones, Barbed Wire and Mirrors: Essays on New Zealand Prose 229.
453 Jones, Barbed Wire and Mirrors: Essays on New Zealand Prose 225.