Coup d'État

I remember trying to see this film when I was 12 or 13 but the friend who bought the tickets ending up buying tickets for The Magic Roundabout and the Blue Cat. What a disappointment at the time.

Seeing it for the first time subsequently, the optimum word is prescient. Donaldson showed scenes that were fresh and on a scale never scene in NZ cinema before. Skyhawks dropping bombs on the terrorists (Mune and Neill). "Spooky" is the word most used by those who have commented in this forum.

Having met Carl Stead last year in London, I was impressed by his philosophy regarding the films success in NZ at the time. Comprimises were made to the author's chagrin but in the end the story fulfilled its cinematic requirements. Donaldson along with Geoff Murphy were pioneers of a new revolution in film-making for New Zealand.

The first NZ film I had seen that opened up the dark under belly of an immature and isolated nation in troubled times.

The movie is dated now but the impact in context of the time it was made is undeniable.