Product Details

• Actors: Penelope Stewart, Frank Whitten, Bill Kerr, Fiona Kay, Gordon Shields
• Directors: Vincent Ward
• Writers: Vincent Ward, Graeme Tetley
• Producers: Gary Hannam, John Maynard, Piers Davies
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Fox Lorber
• VHS Release Date: October 16, 1997
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304192282
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #370,203 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A man climbs down a dangerous ravine to rescue a stranded sheep as a young girl wrapped in heavy clothing and a hooded stocking cap looks on. She's the man's daughter, 12-year-old Toss (played with a mix of ease and intensity by Fiona Kay), and when she suddenly drops her eyes in shock and sadness we know he's fallen to his death. The setting of Vincent Ward's first film is an isolated sheep farm in the hills of New Zealand, a hard, primeval, almost timeless world surrounded by an omnipresent fog that envelops the farm like an island. A bearded stranger, a dark, terse character named Birdie (Bill Kerr), is hired to help out on the farm, much to the disdain of widowed Elizabeth (Penelope Stewart), devastated and worn emotionally raw by the hard life. She simply wants to sell the place and get away, but her conflict with Birdie brings them to an inevitable collision. Moody and portentous, it's a slow-moving film with little dramatic action but rich in vivid imagery and thick with mood. In many ways, it seems like a dry run for Ward's follow-up, The Navigator, an even more visually impressive film that mixes the medieval and the modern as seen through the eyes of a child. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vigil: One of the best films ever; bar none., September 18, 2005

By 

Daniel Mortenson "writer" (Ketchikan, AK, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Vigil [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - Australia ] (DVD)

I am heartbroken that this DVD is not region 1 or open region-code. This is not a review of the DVD, therefore, but of the film. This film changed my life, literally. From the dwelling, halucinigenic passages, to the hypnotic soundtrack, to the wrenching personal transformations at its heart; this film will take you, if you let it, into the heart of a girl at the edge of womanhood. If you watch it, give it its due; and see it big screen, with good sound, and the best in attention enhancements.

The gorgious New Zealand back-country scenery is only a small part of the attraction. The characterizations are second-to-none, and not least is the role of young Toss, by Fiona Kay. The other players are excellent, but are inevitably overshadowed by Kay in the lead role.

As with many early masters, one wonders whether the director will ever again produce a film with the scope and focus, the effortless sweep and statement, of this one. If he does not, i for one forgive him. Vigil is enough.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the best new zealand movie...so far, March 11, 1999

By 

Geoffrey P. Smith "opusposthum" (ATLANTA, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Vigil [VHS] (VHS Tape)

so you want to see where jane campion borrowed images for the piano? this exquisite movie by vincent ward will show you...a meditation on the transition from child to adult, this is a powerful and inventive movie with visuals that will tear your heart out. the soundtrack is quirky and beautiful...vincent ward is a genius from downunder and i'm sorry to see him at the helm of the much castigated "what dreams may come"- someone please wake up and give this man some really great material,and watch him soar! "vigil" will make a stunning dvd, but fox lorber must do a better job on it than they have on their current crop of dvd releases.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dark Tension Down Under, November 28, 2007

By 

Aaron Gutsell (Philadelphia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Vigil [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - Australia ] (DVD)

This DVD is currently available in Region 4 PAL format and you would need an all-region DVD player to view it. Hence this review too comes from the cinematic version, seen about twenty years ago, but that's okay 'cause I'm from New Zealand, and Vincent Ward's movies remain fresh in many of our minds. 'Vigil' is a powerful coming-of-age tale about a young girl, darkly, starkly, and beautifully shot in the back country by a young director at his peak. One of the best lines in the film was delivered to god "Beans up yer bum!" There, a direct quotation, not bad after twenty years. It's a movie you're gonna love or hate, pretty much the reaction Ward has engendered throughout his career. At the time of its release, the British press wrote 'Vigil' off, and condescendingly implied that it came from a country where a new tractor would make headlines. Ward's other major movies that are also available are 'The Navigator' (not to be confused with 'Flight of...') 'Map of the Human Heart,' and his newest, 'River Queen.' His disasterous forays into Hollywood include half of 'Aliens 3' and 'What Dreams May Come' with Robin Williams.