1993 was quite a pivotal year for me as a budding 13-year-old film buff. I saw the first film that profoundly altered my perception of the medium: Falling Down. Although today it’s easy to scoff at the idea that a Joel Schumacher movie could have had such an impact on me, as a naive, moody, temperamental young‘un, that’s exactly what happened. It shook me to the core; I connected deeply with its anti-authority angst, and somehow this made me realise there was much more to cinema than Star Wars or dumb action movies. Movies could be angry, impassioned, psychologically scarring, not simply “entertainment” (Taxi Driver — a clear influence on Falling Down — re-confirmed this not long after).
The second thing that happened was the New Zealand International Film Festival. I can’t remember how I came to be aware of it but I picked up the programme somewhere, and ended up dragging my dad along to the Civic in the hopes of catching a little movie called Reservoir Dogs. I knew that it was R18 but was eager to try my luck, reasoning that if I had my dad there to “supervise” I would get in. So we rocked up to the box office and asked if we could get tickets; the lady outright said NO, advising that it was “extremely violent”, “unsuitable for children”, etc. But I was adamant and retorted, with The Silence of the Lambs in mind: “I’ve seen worse”. No dice. We went home soon after, and I wouldn’t see Michael Madsen’s ear-slicing antics until a year later.
‘93 was kind of an interesting year for film too. Quentin Tarantino was on the cusp of superstardom. Reservoir Dogs reignited the controversy of violence in film. Jurassic Park stomped into theatres. Anna Paquin melted hearts in The Piano. Robin Williams cross-dressed his way to the bank as Mrs. Doubtfire. Brandon Lee died. As I nostalgically leaf through the programme guide for the 25th NZIFF, it’s all coming back to me now, with the none-too-surprising realisation that much has changed in the last 20 years…
These ads in the programme tell us a lot. For example, you could still rent videos and laserdiscs..
Brad Pitt was still in his awkward phase…
… and the most novel of all, you could still see Brendan Fraser movies at the movies…
Seriously though, let’s take a closer look and see what we can learn about the festival itself back then and what’s changed:
The Programme Cover
This artwork suggests an element of exclusivity. The gold/bronze colour scheme is dark, dull, stuffy. It looks like a prestigious, members-only VIP club that wouldn’t seem especially inviting to anyone who doesn’t watch arthouse or festival movies. Put it next to this year’s programme and the difference is night and day. The programmes have become brighter, more attractive — and “youthful” even — over the years, no longer giving off that exclusive, slightly film-snobbish vibe it might once have. And as for the sponsor…
Ticket Prices
Yes, unbelievable as it may seem, you used to pay only $8.50 to see a movie (and an insane $5 for B-coded sessions). Everything has practically doubled. We had it good. Sniff.
Venues (Auckland)
Screenings today are spread over 7 venues, including a few out of the central Auckland hub (Lido, Bridgeway, Rialto). In ‘93, they were just adding a third venue, the now-defunct Hoyts Midcity. It seems like screenings were mostly held in the Civic Theatre, and somewhere called the Civic “Showcase” — which if I recall was a small theatre under the Civic? Please correct me if I’m wrong. I remember going under the Civic to see Bride of the Monster one year.
Documentaries
Once upon a time documentaries were not cool. In his intro, fest director Bill Gosden laments, “Nobody else in New Zealand believes there’s an audience for them”. The opposite is true now of course, with docos becoming more accepted by the mainstream and contributing to some of the festival’s biggest hits of the past decade.
Film Count
I counted 100 or so films, which is about 60 less than what we have today. But…there were only 2 New Zealand films playing in ‘93: Desperate Remedies and Bread and Roses. This year we have 44 and a section completely dedicated to NZ film.
what you could see that year
– The humble, unassuming early works of two directors who went on to do bigger things: Robert Rodriguez (El Mariachi), Ang Lee (The Wedding Banquet).
– Promising American indies who have now mostly gone into TV: Carl Franklin (One False Move), Allison Anders (Gas Food Lodging), Nick Gomez (Laws of Gravity).
– A bunch of world cinema regulars still more or less going strong: Zhang Yimou (The Story of Qiu Ju), Takeshi Kitano (Sonatine), Abbas Kiarostami (And Life Goes On), Werner Herzog (Lessons of Darkness), Michael Haneke (Benny’s Video), Leos Carax (Les Amants du Pont-Neuf).
– A solid retrospective featuring the films of Buster Keaton (whose The Cameraman returns this year) and Orson Welles (Macbeth, Othello, The Trial), plus Robert Bresson’s A Man Escaped and Blade Runner: The Director’s Cut (which was the only film I ended up seeing).
– A side of quirky Canadians: Guy Maddin (Careful), Atom Egoyan (Calendar), Bruce McDonald (Highway 61).
All in all, a pretty strong line-up.
Just as a curious final note… there’s a brief blurb in the programme about censorship that refers to a “banned” “stalk and slash” movie:
Anyone out there know what it was?
Also, feel free to share your memories of past NZIFF experiences if you have any…
