Draft 2 PhD Introduction - ResearchSpace@Auckland

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over the drama. Bollinger believes that this scene should have been shot either from the
point-of-view of the medievals or with a very long lens so that the cars were seen as a
blur, the way the villagers would have perceived them, being unable to recognise them
for what they were. “We should know it’s cars but we should never see it from our
point of view. [The point of view] should always be with the characters”. 810
Bollinger’s comments imply a particular theory of the relationship between image and
narrative, as indeed McDonnell’s comments reflected his particular assumptions. Both
are closer than Ward to orthodox modes of filmic story-telling. It is, however, the
unorthodox nature of the narrative and the power of the imagery that sets The Navigator
apart from mainstream science fiction narrative such as George Lucas’s Star Wars
trilogy. In Star Wars the viewer is dazzled by the special effects, but the images are
generally conventional ones that quickly fade from memory. The power (to use an
appropriate phrase) is in the story, even though it must rely upon the viewer’s
suspended belief with regard to space travel and the existence of alien beings. In
contrast, although The Navigator is also a heroic myth, its images have such a vivid life
of their own that there is more room for viewers to exercise their own imagination and
to construct their own meanings from the images. Ward’s approach can also be
explained by arguing that for him the story is more difficult to separate from the images
than it is in the case of Star Wars. The “drama” that interests him is the drama
subsumed within mise-en-scène, the projection of his auteur’s vision. This is not to
imply that such a director can do no wrong. In addition, Star Wars and The Navigator
can both be seen as authorial projects, with the differences a matter of style and
emphasis (differences that may be defined in terms of textual qualities, or the viewer’s
experience, or the director’s production methods). Whether one prefers Lucas’s films
or Ward’s, each represents a basically consistent aesthetic, marshalling the possibilities
of the film medium in a distinctive and powerful way.
Critical Response
The Navigator was widely acclaimed both in Europe and in Australasia. Like Vigil, it
was selected for competition at Cannes, and Ward was given a five-minute standing
ovation at the Cannes screening. It also won a number of prizes at European festivals
and in Australia and New Zealand. Because the film is an Australian/New Zealand co-
810 Lynette Read, interview with Alun Bollinger, 3 December 1998.