Cinema
Broken Barrier
John O'Shea and Roger Mirams · 1952
Synopsis
Tom Sullivan, a young Pakeha journalist, writes sensational articles about the Maoris. To investigate their rural life, he takes a job on a farm on the Māhia peninsula and lodges with the family of Rawi, a young Maori woman, with whom he falls in love. His own people disapprove, and a quarrel separates them. They meet again in town, where Rawi has become a nurse, and it is then Tom's family and friends who refuse to accept that he should become attached to a Maori woman.
Context
The project first came from the cameraman and founder of Pacific Films, Roger Mirams, who wanted a film about the Maoris; O'Shea agreed on condition that he co-direct it. Shot in 1951 on a tiny budget with two silent cameras, one of which had been taken from a German soldier who died in the desert, the film replaces dialogue with the characters' thoughts, spoken in voice-over. Bill Parker was Maori adviser. Released on 10 July 1952, it shocked viewers who judged it dirty because it encouraged mixed marriages.
Who it is for
About seventy minutes, in English. Almost no direct dialogue: a voice says what the characters are thinking.
Prizes and reception
The first New Zealand fiction feature film since 1940, and one of only three shot in the country between 1940 and 1970.
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