Draft 2 PhD Introduction - ResearchSpace@Auckland

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of Ingmar Bergman or Carlos Saura (Spirit of the Beehive), but pointed out that in
Bergman’s films, in contrast to Ward’s script, “the human relationships are so richly
developed that the images and symbols are not too insistent”. Horrocks added that he
hoped his suggestions for development “will not be misinterpreted as a desire for more
‘realism’. In my opinion, New Zealand films have generally been so ‘realistic’ that they
have lacked emotional depth and mystery. I am delighted to find a script that moves
away from realism towards emotional depth”. He went on to make suggestions about
how the scriptwriters could develop the relationships between the characters, ending
with the comment: “My main suggestion, in terms of each of these relationships, is to
condense the later section of the film, and to provide more scenes – more room for
shifts of emotion and decisions to build intensity – in the middle part of the film”. 607
Ward was frequently in the situation of being an unorthodox filmmaker receiving what
is basically orthodox story-telling advice from friends and assessors. He welcomed and
was open to such suggestions, but never changed a detail until he felt it was in keeping
with his own underlying vision. In fact, his and Tetley’s draft did move basically in the
direction that Horrocks and no doubt others were suggesting, giving a better proportion
to the narrative. Ward was, however, very reluctant to ease back on the symbolism.
In Draft Three, the first twelve scenes were omitted and the film began with Toss at the
breakfast table, Liz kneading bread, and Justin outside burning stillborn lambs. Rather
than a long discussion between Toss and Liz where Toss explained that her father had
promised she would be able to accompany him on Saturday, Toss simply slipped out
behind her mother’s back to go with her father. However, after Justin had been killed
and Toss was trying to explain to her mother what had happened, Ward and Tetley
retained Toss’s remark from Draft Two that there were three goats and they were “like
the Holy Family” (ignoring Horrocks’s suggestion that this could sound “unconvincing
and pretentious”). 608 Other scenes surrounding the death, which will not appear in the
final film were retained from Draft Two. These included the scene where the
ambulance arrived to take Justin’s body away and the scene where Ethan came back to
the farm to explain that the death had been accidental. In this scene there was a long
conversation between Ethan and Liz, who appeared surprisingly chatty, given her
607
Horrocks, undated letter to Vincent Ward.
608
Vincent Ward and Graham Tetley, “First Blood Last Rites: Third Draft Screenplay” (Auckland:
Vincent Ward Productions, 1982) 23.