I’ve gone back and read reviews of this film to find out
what others loved about it, to discover why it was considered such a milestone.
Upon reading those reviews I gathered it was a milestone because it was unlike
anything to come out of New Zealand at the time. That being said I still didn’t
find myself thinking it was a movie I’d choose to revisit.
Sam Neill stars as Smith, a young man who as the film opens
is leaving behind his wife and two daughters. It seems his wife has had an
affair with a man named Bullen (Ian Mune) who is now moving in. Smith leaves
behind his world and moves on to another area where he enquires about living on
an island owned by a Maori tribe. Given permission as well as a dog they don’t
want, he does so and sets about making a new life for himself there. Among the
things he finds in the house still standing is an old military radio.
While this is going on there is unrest in the country. A
fuel crisis has led to revolutionaries popping up to lead a rebellion and a
police state brought about by their actions. It turns out that Bullen was a
leader in the revolutionaries and this has put him and Smith’s ex in jeopardy.
Smith returns home one day to find a hole dug on his
property. As he’s trying to figure out what was in the hole a group of soldiers
arrives and take him prisoner while ransacking his house. They find remnants of
explosives, what was in the hole, and arrest Smith, taking him to a facility
where he is left in a large basement. And ex-schoolmate now an officer gives
Smith two options: a formal trial where he will be found guilty and executed or
he can plead guilty and leave the country forever.
Smith is then being transported when he escapes and thinks
he’s found safe haven working at a motel under a new name. Then Bullen shows
and tells him the motel is run by revolutionaries and gives him no choice but
to follow instructions. A group of soldiers is coming to stay at the motel and
Smith is to give a signal at a specified time. I’ll stop here with the
description since that’s most of the movie.
I truly had a hard time with this movie for so many reasons.
I could set aside the look of the film, a grainy bland look in all things seen
from cityscapes to country sides. But it was more than that I found difficult.
The acting felt stilted and put on. The story itself felt disjointed at best
and confusing at worst. Why does Smith’s wife take up with this revolutionary?
What about the kids? Why does Smith seem complacent about leaving? Is he being
set up from day one or a victim of circumstance? Most of the movie provides
questions rather than answers including the ending.
I’m sure there is a market for the film and in looking at
several sites have read reviews that were favorable for the movie. I can’t
bring myself to do so, even though I’m a fan of the star as well as director
Roger Donaldson. I know this was Donaldson’s first feature but still I couldn’t
get into it and found it difficult to watch. Completists will want to add this
to their collection though.
Arrow, true to their desire to offer the best presentation
possible, is releasing this in a cleaned up blu-ray format. Extras include a
commentary track with Donaldson, Neill and Mune, THE MAKING OF SLEEPING DOGS a
65 minute making of featurette, the theatrical trailer, a reversible sleeve
with new artwork by Sean Phillips and for the first pressing only in
illustrated booklet with new writing on the film by Neil Mitchell, a
contemporary review by Pauline Keal and the original press book.
In the long run I’d say this is for fans and completists
only.
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