N.Z. model for ‘Quiet Earth’?

Press, 10 February 1986, Page 16

N.Z. model for ‘Quiet Earth’?

NZPA staff correspondent London

A 8.8. C. film critic, Barry Norman, has found a fundamental flaw in the plot of the New Zealand film, “The Quiet Earth.” Norman’s friends, who have visited New Zealand, said it was “always closed.” So, in a country so quiet, how did the film’s star, Bruno Lawrence know he was the only person left? Norman, on his programme, “Film 86,” said “The Quiet Earth” had “a lot going for it.” The plot was “a trifle basic anti had several loopholes,” but it showed what enormous strides the New Zealand film industry had made in the last few years.

The film, directed by Geoff Murphy, begins with a global experiment

malfunction which leaves a New Zealand scientist (Lawrence) seemingly alone in the world. He begins a panicky search for survivors and finds a woman (Alison Rutledge) with whom he falls in love, and a young Maori (Peter Smith) who has other ideas. Norman said the film combined tension and humour with impressive photography. There were “neat” performances by the three lead actors. The London “Standard’s” critic, Milton Shulman, was unimpressed, saying the film “piled implausibility upon implausibility.” It could not make up its mind whether it was striving for the impact of an eerie science-fiction story or a sardonic look at man’s inability to exist alone, Shulman said.