Draft 2 PhD Introduction - ResearchSpace@Auckland

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can completely affect the content”, but putting together a budget from European sources
has also been difficult. 980 In general, he feels that his experience has taught him a
harsh lesson: “I used to believe that if something was good, it would get made. I’m way
too seasoned to believe that anymore. In fact I tend to believe the opposite”. 981 John
Maynard who regards Ward as a major talent says: “what we’re seeing is visionary
filmmakers finding it harder to make films”. 982 There is also the problem that Ward is
neither a fully New Zealand director, nor a fully international one. Peter Jackson’s
example (in requiring Hollywood to come to New Zealand) will certainly enlarge the
range of possibilities, but The Lord of the Rings is clearly an international project in
terms of its content - what the Hollywood unions would call a “runaway”. In contrast,
Ward’s script has specific New Zealand content, and despite the precedent of The Piano
(made with funding from a French source) - and despite all the talk today about the
internationalism of the film industry River Queen has taken years to fund.
As this thesis is sent away to be bound (August 2004), the latest news of River Queen
suggests that the fate of this project now hangs very much in the balance. In July, the
film went into production. But filming came to a dramatic halt approximately three
weeks into the start of principal photography. The Completion Guarantor had been on
location since the beginning of the shoot, and he is now involved in negotiations over
the future of the film. Local newspapers have carried stories heavy on speculation and
light on facts, looking for signs of a scandal (since three million dollars of public money
are now at risk). The production company has attempted to keep publicity to a
minimum, suggesting that what has happened is merely a delay rather than a serious
collapse. It is difficult at present for someone outside the production to know what has
actually happened. I was about to take up an invitation from Ward to visit the location
when the announcement was made that filming had come to a halt.
Gossip has suggested that the lead actor, Samantha Morton, began to rebel against the
production on the first day of filming, after being required to walk into a freezing river.
Unsympathetic reports have described her as fragile or temperamental. However, the
official story is that she came down with serious illness, and there is certainly evidence
980 Butcher, "What Films May Come," 85.
981 Ward quoted in Butcher, "What Films May Come," 88.
982 Butcher, "What Films May Come," 88.