Draft 2 PhD Introduction - ResearchSpace@Auckland

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speaks about his mother’s childhood growing up in Maungapohatu and how at the time
of Rua Kenana’s arrest, she fled pregnant into the bush, emerging three days later with a
new-born child. Her name Puhi, means “Special One” and it was the name given to her
by Rua Kenana (known as Rua the Prophet). 476 The story of how Puhi lived with the
people of Rua Kenana deep in the Urewera Ranges, and remained there until the
government sent armed police into the community where they shot one of Rua’s sons
and one of his followers before arresting the prophet, is a dramatic slice of history,
which Ward details in his autobiography. 477 It was however, excluded from the final
script in favour of more emphasis being given to Puhi’s day-to-day activities and her
relationship with Niki, in keeping with Ward’s assertion that “The success of the film
depends on how well I can record those small gestures, actions and reactions that set up
and define the relationship between Puhi and her son. This is not a film of words or
narration, but a film of careful observation; a record of that silent milieu where the tones
of dependency and interdependency are subtly changing”. 478
This Bazinian focus on “careful observation” has an important place in the history of
documentary-making, but it is diametrically opposed to the kind of speed and
heightened drama that has become the dominant style of prime-time television
documentaries in today’s commercial environment. Ward’s approach had resonances
with that of Bazin who championed the long take and was critical of the fast editing
style of many contemporary films. Bazin argued that the use of deep focus (combined
with long takes) was superior to montage because it encouraged a “more active mental
attitude on the part of the spectator and a more positive contribution on his part to the
action in progress”, whereas montage “by its very nature, rules out ambiguity of
expression”. 479
Ward consciously tried to avoid the imposition of his own preconceptions upon the
lifestyle of the subjects of his film, principally “by remaining a ‘learner’ rather than
becoming an expert”. During the initial period when he lived with Puhi and Niki, he
476
Puhi was the daughter of one of Rua’s “disciples”, Tatu, and was married briefly to Rua’s eldest son,
Whatu, according to Judith Binney’s account of Rua the Prophet and his community which includes a
photograph of her taken in 1978. (Judith Binney, Gillian Chaplin and Craig Wallace, Mihaia: The Prophet
Rua Kenana and His Community at Maungapohatu, Revised ed. (Auckland: Auckland University Press,
1979) 85.)
477
Ward, Edge of the Earth: Stories and Images from the Antipodes 17.
478
Ward, “A Documented Account of the Making of In Spring One Plants Alone,” Section on Pre-
Production, 11 July-24 September 1978.
479
Bazin, What Is Cinema? 36.