Sleeping Dogs

I was slightly confused by the content of this movie. From what I gathered, Sam Neill's character was a family man whose wife had an affair, and he was then mistaken for a guerrilla. There was plenty of guerrilla warfare on the streets who were trying to protest something. I couldn't quite gather what it was. There were plenty of shoot-em-up scenes on the streets and in the wilderness when Neil was trying to escape and clear his name. Other than that, I thought the movie was decent. The scene where he was imprisoned in a dank jail cell was harrowing and unforgettable, and I loved the part where he vomits on the guards to escape from the transport car. I sort of liked the movie and might recommend it.

** 1/2 out of ****

Based on the novel Smith's Dream by academic C. K. Stead, Sleeping Dogs is set in a totalitarian New Zealand. Smith moves to the country to escape trouble but is framed by the state as a terrorist.The rest of the film involves his attempts to avoid arrest and his eventual fate.

Released in 1977, the film possessed a poignancy for New Zealanders, who at the time viewed the then Muldoon National Government with some suspicion. A scene involving riot police in an Auckland street was a chilling portent of events during the 1981 Springbok rugby tour to New Zealand, and indeed on its release in the USA, some Americans confused the film's images with media reports of the tour protests.

Notable for Sam Neill's role as Smith, the movie started a late 1970s revival in the New Zealand film industry, including movies such as The Scarecrow, Skin Deep, and Smash Palace.

With Sleeping Dogs, director Roger Donaldson near enough single-handedly cemented New Zealand's place on the cinematic map. It was, at the time, the biggest box-office hit the country had seen, and also boasted what is only the second big-screen appearance by Sam Neill. With Ozplotation in full swing just across the water, Sleeping Dogs kicked off a New Wave in New Zealand, with the likes of Donaldson's Smash Palace and Vincent Ward's Vigil following in the subsequent years. The film is odd and off-kilter, but never less than fascinating. Donaldson clearly looked at Adolf Hitler's own rise to power in post-World War I Germany for inspiration, as he depicts a New Zealand of the near future falling foul of a rising dictatorship who are eager to hunt down anybody they believe could belong to a growing band of freedom fighters. It all starts with television reports of fuel strikes across the country, and quickly spirals out of control from there.

The report is being watched by Smith (Neill) as his children write him goodbye letters and his wife sobs in the kitchen. He is the victim of infidelity, so decides to pack up and live off the grid for a while, but not before his wife's new lover Bullen (Ian Mune) arrives before he has even left the house. He spots an island on the Coromandel peninsula, arranging with the Maori owners to live out there untroubled, even exchanging his expensive car for their rusty old boat. He fishes, listens to the radio, and befriends the locals nearby, but his idyllic existence is soon interrupted when the government goes into full crackdown mode, arresting anybody on suspicion of assisting the revolution. He is taken in by the police to be interrogated and tortured, and likely sentenced to death. Seeing no other alternative, Smith takes his chance and escapes his captors, fleeing to a quiet camping ground where he meets a nice local girl. Smith is no guerilla revolutionary and is quite happy to live in ignorant bliss, but when US Army Colonel Willoughby (Warren Oates) arrives with more on his mind than policing the country, it becomes clear that Smith's destiny lies with the uprising, whether he likes it or not.

Donaldson deliberately holds back certain pieces of information to keep the goings-on away from Smith a mystery, making Sleeping Dogs a rather frustrating experience. But frustrating isn't always bad, and here the loose, drifting storyline gives the film a unique style and atmosphere. You're never quite sure where the story will go next, and when Warren Oates arrives with a smile and willingness to party, there's a disorientating sense of unease as the beads of sweat drip off his quivering moustache. Cinematographer Michael Seresin, who would go on to work on the likes of Midnight Express, Angel Heart and the third Harry Potter, captures the country beautifully, imbuing the scenery with a sense of beauty and peace one minute, and a sense of terror the next. It all sounds a bit George Orwell, but it really isn't. It's actually much stranger than that, and has a rich vein of humour throughout, usually stemming from Smith's frustration as he unwillingly grows into a revolutionary leader. In many ways, it mirrors Gary Bond's experience trapped in the small, violent town of Ted Kotcheff's masterpiece Wake in Fright, only with less booze, more humour, and some bizarre turns along the way.

This film is a chilling view of how New Zealand could be if ruled by a totalitarian oppressive Government, like so many other countries around the world. It focuses primarily on one character named Smith (played by the now famous Sam Neil). The direction is excellect thanks to the talents of Roger Donaldson (Dantes Peak). But if you read those names and expect a big budget, action-packed, thriller your out of luck, it was made back in 1977 when they were starving artists. This may not appeal to those unfamiliar with New Zealand, but its worth a look if you like well scripted well acted emotional movies

Sam Neill stars, in his 2nd feature film, as Smith, a man who leaves his family when his wife takes up with another man, and moves to an island where he is the only resident. While he's on the island, political turmoil in New Zealand worsens and a form of martial law is declared. Smith is framed as a terrorist and arrested. Facing certain execution, he escapes and goes on the run, eventually hooking up with Bullen (Ian Mune), the man who had stolen his wife. This is the first feature made in New Zealand that received international distribution, and it's readily apparent why. Neill is a magnetic screen presence, and the film has the ramshackle appeal of the best small action films of the 70's. Warren Oates even appears in a small role as a US army officer.