Scarfies

Started watching this film a little apprehensive - seemed to be much like other films made in New Zealand. Made you question what you would do in this position, a little slow to start but a very enjoyable film. Must see films for anyone who enjoys New Zealand films such as Goodbye Pork Pie and Smash Palace.

Provides a wonderful view of Dunedin and the student lifestyle. Dunedin is very much a University town which becomes sleepy during the breaks (I know - I used to live there) so focusing on students is great. The plot is quite good and realistic but the thriller side of the movement isn't as thrilling as it perhaps could be. The suspense isn't built high enough. However it does bring up some very interesting questions about life and being true to what you believe in.

This film is another fine example of what New Zealand filmmakers can do when they hold the audiences' enjoyment above their own artistic w**k-ness.

The Sarkies Brothers have created an extremely (un)pleasant film that isn't really about University life at all, but about those staple cinematic conventions -paranoia, murder and er, flatting.

I strongly urge any one not from New Zealand to check out this little gem. God knows when it'll get released anywhere else though. I hope it gets onto screens in the U.S.

One quibble however, three times in the film, characters describe each other as 'jerks'. Honestly, who in New Zealand uses that word with a straight face? It's such a sitcom-ism. 'Dick' would have been much more suitable in my eyes.

Having spent a few months in New Zealand, I had the chance to see Scarfies and it turned out to be a very good surprise. Many countries have bought the movie since so check it out, it could play soon at a theater near you. The characters, sharing a house in Dunedin, are what work best and succed where a film like "Shallow Grave" failed. Their development, going from pure comedy to dramatic/horrific moments doesn't come too artificially. The consequences of their discovery just make perfect sense in the way they act and in their relationships, but still manage to surprise you. And that's why you're stuck to your seat when one of the guys start to torture another one in the cave. Then the moments of fun you had half an hour before come back to memory and the movie takes another dimension: no, it's not just a farce. That's nice and neat on the surface, but pretty explosive inside. A last word to thank Mr Sarkies to have made a "non-teenage" teenage movie. He managed to avoid the trap of easy identifiyable characters as Hollywood does.

Scarfies was a great movie from a very small film making country. Done on a relatively small budget and full of imagery and lanuage of Dunedin students living in virtual poverty; it is a witty and black comedy.

The plot centres around five students who take over an abandoned house and make it their own. They discover in the basement a huge drug planation left by the previous owner, which they decide to sell for moderate profit. Their life style improves, and relationships develop.

All goes well until the return of the drug crop's owner.

A fantastic soundtrack of New Zealand music, well worth checking out.