“HERE IS NEW ZEALAND"

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25741, 1 March 1949, Page 6

“HERE IS NEW ZEALAND"

■ COEtrem iLM BOUGHT BY GOVERNMENT CHRISTCHURCH SCREENING “Here is New Zealand,” a fine colour film of the scenic attractions of the Dominion, was shown in Christchurch last evening. The 16-millimetre film, which has been bought by the Government. will not be publicly screened by the production company, Neuline Film Studios. The studios specialise in educational and industrial films. More than 3000 ft in length, the film was produced by Mr Robert Steele, and the commentary was written by Mr A. R. D. Fairburn. Under the title “Amazing New Zealand.” it has been shown by the New Zealand Railways representative in the United States, where its reception has been excellent. “I had no idea New Zealand was so picturesque,” one woman in last evenings audience was heard to say as she left the theatre and probably the film left the same impression on most of the others who attended. All of the country’s leading scenic attractions are shown and few New Zealanders would have nothing to learn about their own country by seeing the film. Perhaps the finest sequences in the film—which, incidentally, is almost equally divided between the North and South Islands—are those showing Rotorua and the alpine scenes in the South Island. The commentary on the Rotorua scenes is, appropriately, spoken bv a Maori woman. Although the sunsets are a little Turneresque in their vividness, the photography throughout does justice to its subject. “Travelling throughout .New Zealand one realised that a camera could be propped up anywhere to get a beautiful picture.” said Mr Steele at a screening in Wellington. “The difficulty was in cutting the film.” This difficulty has evidently been overcome. The more prosaic ~of the country’s secondary industries are omitted, but there are some admirable shots of agricultural and pastoral scenes. Perhaps a glimpse of a Rugby football match, or a cricket game, might hav£ been included to balance the impression of New Zealand’s sport, represented in the film by a short sequence of a race meeting. The commentary alone would raise the production above the level of a travelogue. Mr Fairburn’s script, sympathetically read, never fails to do justice to the photography. Attention to the pictures of some well-known scene may profitably be diverted to concentrate on Mr Fairburn’s prose.