Draft 2 PhD Introduction - ResearchSpace@Auckland

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both on the outer edges of the world, with the result that “our view of the world is
similar”. 895
As an attempt to find a larger audience for his filmmaking internationally, Map of the
Human Heart had mixed results. That it made little money for Miramax is evidenced
by the studio eventually selling the rights of the film, as one of several films it had
“acquired but could not afford to release”, to the Disney studios to release on video. 896
Nevertheless Ward remained optimistic: “Believing in the material – that’s the main
thing. If you have an honesty and integrity about how you do things, it brings out
veracity. There are some directors who keep making films they care about but still
manage to reach a wider audience”. 897
1993-1995
Ward had now had unsuccessful encounters with both Hollywood and with international
co-production arrangements. His experience of making Map of the Human Heart “left
him feeling drained and it didn’t make any money”, but at least “everyone sort of felt
they could raise their heads about it”. 898 His work on the film resulted in other job
offers in Hollywood and he was given about five hundred scripts to read, all of which he
declined. He retreated instead to Sydney, bought himself a house in Surrey Hills, but
then somewhat surprisingly given his experiences with Map of the Human Heart and
Alien 3, moved back to Los Angeles on a semi-permanent basis, and set out to re-
establish his career in Hollywood. He must have realised that it would always be
difficult for him to adapt to Hollywood, but perhaps it was simply that he had outgrown
New Zealand in terms of the scale of film funding available there. 899 France and
Canada had also proved to be disappointing.
He continued to be determined to work only on films that he believed in, but to earn a
living in Hollywood he turned to acting, making a cameo appearance in Leaving Las
Vegas (directed by Mike Figgis, 1995) and playing minor roles in other films, including
a low-budget independent comedy, The Shot (Dan Martin, 1997), and another film
895
Ward quoted in Butcher, "What Films May Come," 108.
896
Peter Biskind, Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film (New
York: Simon & Schuster, 2004) 142.
897
Calder, "Finding His Way," 2:1.
898
Gordon Campbell, "Driven to Dreams," Listener 9 November 1996.
899
Cf: "Vincent Ward: Arthouse Madman," Ad/Media 11.3 (1996): 19.