Draft 2 PhD Introduction - ResearchSpace@Auckland

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been taken for, sitting apparently contentedly at the back of her grandfather’s hut as it is
towed away from the farm – indicates acceptance on a number of levels. On one level,
she appears to be reconciled to the idea of leaving the farm. On another level, she
seems to have arrived at a new acceptance of her father’s death and her burgeoning
womanhood. The ending works in imagistic or symbolic terms, but clearly leaves some
viewers behind. Ward’s emotional universe is consistent and distinctive but
challenging. Horrocks’s own comment was: “While I feel that the finished film
retained some of the narrative problems, I was astonished by the value that had been
added to the scripts in the process of realising them. Vincent has such an extraordinary
sense of image and sound that the scripts for his films give only a shadowy sense of
what will be communicated by mise-en-scène”. 624
At the stage where the second draft of the script had been completed, Ward needed a
producer for the film, and approached John Maynard. Maynard had an unusual
combination of film and visual arts expertise. He had been an art gallery director before
becoming a film producer, including the foundation directorship of the Govett Brewster
Art Gallery, known for the strength of its commitment to contemporary art. Prior to
taking on the Vigil project, he had produced a handful of artistic films and political
documentaries, including two feature films – Skin Deep (1978) and Strata (1980) –
directed by Geoff Steven. Maynard’s contacts were with the more art-oriented
members of the new generation of filmmakers that had emerged in the 1970s, and he
was making a reputation for himself as “the auteurs’ producer”. He was clearly
motivated by cultural values more than commercial ambitions, and had given up his
career in the visual arts to pursue the far less secure path of filmmaking in a small,
emerging industry. He was attracted to the script of Vigil both by its quality and its
potential audience impact (although it was clearly never going to be a commercial hit).
According to the producer, he was drawn to Ward because he had “always worked with
people that I thought were talented. I’ve never had any doubts about following my
judgement … I’ve got a good sense of what inspires audiences”. 625 If Maynard was
looking for auteurs, he had certainly come to the right person. While he was convinced
of the director’s potential, there were significant differences in their approach. Maynard
likened the director’s scriptwriting method to “constructing a twelve-storey building on
624 Lynette Read, interview with Roger Horrocks, December 2003.
625 Lynette Read, interview with John Maynard, 27 September 1999.