Adapted from C.K. Stead's novel Smith's Dream, Sleeping Dogs almost single-handedly kickstarted the New Zealand New Wave, demonstrating that homegrown feature films could resonate with both local and international audiences, and launching the big-screen careers of director Roger Donaldson (No Way Out, Species) and Sam Neill (Jurassic Park, Possession). Neill - in his first lead role in a feature - plays Smith, a man escaping the break-up of his marriage by finding isolation on an island off the Coromandel Peninsula. As he settles into his new life, the country is experiencing its own turmoil: an oil embargo has led to martial law and civil war, into which Smith reluctantly finds himself increasingly involved. Co-starring Warren Oates (Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia) as the commander of a US army unit drawn into the conflict, Sleeping Dogs is simultaneously a political thriller, a personal drama and a true landmark in New Zealand cinema.
Up Next in New Year Body Transformation
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The Reflecting Skin
1990 · United Kingdom & Canada · Directed by Philip Ridley
An instant cult classic when it premiered to sold out screenings at Cannes in 1990, THE REFLECTING SKIN is a darkly humorous, nightmarish vision of the American dream. Growing up in the 1950s in small-town Idaho, 8-year-old Seth and his ...
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Wolf Guy
1975 • Japan • Directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi
Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba is a martial arts "manimal" in the ultra-70's, 100% bizarre mixture of horror, action and sci-fi that is Wolf Guy, one of the rarest and most sought-after cult films produced by Japan's Toei Studio. Based on a manga by Kazumasa...
