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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Could have happened in New Zealand, January 10, 2002
This review is from: Sleeping Dogs [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This film had some impact on thoughtful people in New Zealand between its release and the end of the conservative Muldoon administration in 1984. The prime minister in Sleeping Dogs behaves in ways strikingly similar to NZ Prime Minister Robert Muldoon's policies, 1975-1984. Faced with economic decline, Muldoon attacked immigrants, anti-apartheid protesters, homosexuals, trade unionists, indeed any interest he thought he could use to divert attention from his government's performance. Perhaps it's a testament to how stoic New Zealanders are that an insurgency of the sort depicted in this film did not develop in this small South Pacific nation. The film departs from C.K.Stead's novella, "Smith's Dream" upon which it is based, in three main respects. First, the "man alone" theme is sold much more gently in the novel than here. In the film, Smith's Kiwi independence is at times a violent impulse. Second, the link between the secret police commander and Smith is much clearer in Stead's book. In the film, we know they are familiar with each other but not why. It's therefore hard to understand how they relate to each other subsequently. Third, the insurgency is a communist one in the novella. In the film, this isn't clear and for the most part the cold war links are not made (except for Warren Oates' post-Vietnam US military advisers), making it harder to see the events in context. I assume the intent on the part of the screenwriters was to avoid anything that took our attention away from the "man alone" theme. One of the screenwriters and the actor who plays the character "Bullen" in the film - the multitalented Ian Mune - has appeared in many NZ films since the early 1970s, including "The Piano." He has an amusing - to me anyway - cameo in "Lord of the Rings" as a town watchman who challenges the wraiths outside the village with the pub.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Look out for Smith, September 13, 2009
This review is from: Sleeping Dogs [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Sam Neill, in his first starring role, is Smith. He's an everyman who gets mistaken for a rebel leader in a suddenly Fascist New Zealand. He struggles to stay alive and fight the tyranny, as well a treachery from informers. Also look for Warren Oates as an American officer who is part of the effort to crush the rebellion. Sleeping Dogs is a fine thriller. Give it a look.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The accent does it!, December 8, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Sleeping Dogs [VHS] (VHS Tape)
I found this film really interesting just able to listen to the New Zealand accent! Its so interesting to see a whole film in that accent, most films one sees usually being made in hollywood etc. So, it gives a bit of insight into New Zealand also, it was also the first New Zealand film released in the US. The film, made in the late 70s, obviously in the middle of the cold war, has a background with one government trying to keep in power, and then group of guerilla revolutionaries! Very funny senario to imagine in little New Zealand. Sam Neill plays a guy, so it says on the blurb, 'running from a broken marriage' and then he gets caught in the middle of the government and revolutionaries, both dangerous and willing to go to extrodinary lengths and violence to acheive their ends. The film also shows some of the beauty of the New Zealand landscape. I found this movie very enjoyable.
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