Dvd
Out Of The Blue
The film begins by hopscotching across the small costal town’s various characters. One clearly stands out: the reclusive and increasingly paranoid Gray (Sunderland). An ongoing feud between Gray and his neighbour erupts in a shouting match about half an hour into the film. He cusses, goes back inside, re-appears a second later with a gun, and shoots his neighbour. His sudden & violent rampage begins and no one is spared, from children to the elderly.
The film focuses on the action of the stunned locals and under prepared police, trying to cope with the 22 hours while Gray was at large.
Starring Karl Urban, Mathew Sunderland, Lois Lawn, Simon Ferry, Tandi Wright, Paul Glover, William Kircher, Georgina Fabish, Fayth Rasmussen
Directed by Robert Sarkies ('Scarfies')
Written by Graeme Tetley, Robert Sarkies (based on the novel 'Aramoana: 22 Hours Of Terror' by Bill O'Brien)
Cinematographer Greig Fraser
Festivals & Awards Screened at Sundance 2006
True Story, Thriller, Drama, Biography | 1hr 50mins | Rated (R15) | contains violence & content that may disturb | Origin: New Zealand
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- Flicks Review
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4
- The People's Reviews
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0000000000004.50
- Press Reviews
Flicks review
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The worst thing about this movie is the title, sounds like a Californian surf movie or a shark movie or something (though ‘Aramoana’ was rejected out of consideration for the town). Anyway, the rubbishness ends there in this absorbing thriller based on the true events of Aramoana, November 13 1990. It’s a stunner actually, successfully capturing a sleepy NZ town and the intense, abrupt horror its citizens faced when confronted with our country’s largest mass-murderer (13 died).
It taps into the whole ‘we live in idyllic islands in the Pacific, we’re safe, wacky Americans have guns we don’t, the beach is great, aren’t Kiwis cute?’ mindset, and cracks it wide open.
Probably the film’s greatest asset is that it possesses a realism (making it all the more frightening) and refrains from imposing a point of view on murderer David Gray, or the Aramoana residents. It doesn’t beef up the heroics of the police and residents, nor demonize Gray - because it doesn’t have to. It merely shows them, and their actions speak for themselves.
It begins by hopscotching across the town’s various characters going about their day. One clearly stands out: the reclusive and fiery Gray (Mathew Sunderland, Strongman in Woodenhead).
About half an hour in, Gray storms out of his house and scares the shit out of his neighbour’s children who’ve walked through his property. The kids’ father intervenes and a shouting match begins. Gray cusses, goes back inside, re-appears a second later with a gun, and shoots the man. It’s a great scene, if that’s the word. It’s shocking and chilling like a hard slap.
Few hints are given to the reasons for Gray’s violence. He’s got a fascination with the army, keeps guns in his fridge, is paranoid, and there’s an indication he’s schizophrenic. The point though, is his actions were inexplicable.
After that shooting, Gray’s temperament seems to calm. With a militant stare, he finds the kids cowering in their house and fires shots. Then he sets the house on fire. The fire acts as a beacon as concerned neighbours head towards it to investigate. As they do, Gray shoots them.
The police, unprepared for such an event, miss chances to take him down and he remains at large throughout the night. The residents are on lock down inside their homes, some watching as Gray walks about their properties with his automatic in hand. He even has the nerve to go home and take a nap. It isn’t until the morning he’s found.
The performances by and large are all good, notably: Karl Urban as a policeman who fails to pull the trigger, William Kircher as another cop, and Lois Lawn (a 74 year old film debutant) as a heroic senior cit.
Though at times beautifully photographed, the overuse of short depth of field & soft focus – particularly in scenes with Gray – are more distracting than insightful. And the sound design, looking to unsettle the audience, was irritating in the first half hour. But these things become minor due to the shear force of the sad, shocking story – as something that actually happened, and as part of our history. A must see, especially for New Zealanders.
By Paul Scantlebury, Flicks.co.nz
The Peoples voice
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Stunningly emotional!!!
4
I saw this last night 01/08/2009 on TV 3. As I said above, stunningly emotional! I was in my late teens when this happened and while it was shocking back then the movie brought it home in a way that only well-developed and balanced drama (and the maturity to appreciate such drama) can. I'm a bit of an armchair film critic and I absolutely love the classic cinematography technique (hardly used these days) that those conditioned to fast moving shoot-em-ups and over-the-top action movies (a la Michael Bay) may find too slow, boring and complex for their ADHD-affected attention spans. Out of the Blue has painfully-powerful film noirish undertones but falls short of being outright cruel because it revives us with pleasurable surges of nostalgia and an inexorable yet frustratingly-delayed climax. We feel that we have overcome but have been psychologically beaten up too much to enjoy the fruits of victory when they do arrive. I'm not kidding, I was absolutely drained emotionally by the time the end credits started rolling. Also big ups to Karl Urban and Matthew Sunderland for for the emotionally-scorching character portrayals, they sold it emphatically--merchandise and all. I will definitely be getting the DVD.
By Richard
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Thrilling, frightening and moving, a Kiwi masterpiece...
4
I loved this movie, it has perfect cinematography and great acting, this movie is really worth a watch.
I knew little about the Aramoana Massacre before I watched this movie and didn't really look into it until after. I know the people at Aramoana were reluctant for this to be filmed there, most of the filming was done in Dunedin. No one will truly feel what the residents at Aramoana felt that day but at least this movie will help. My heart goes out to all those familys who suffered because of the random shooting.By Jackie
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Seat-gripper told it as it happened
5
I watched this film for the first time last night.
Two aspects especially stuck out.
The first was the building tension that gripped me to my seat as the film moved toward its terrifying and inevitable conclusion.
The second was how the film portrayed the events of November 1990 in a way that neither glorified nor sanitised them.
Highly recommended.By Darryl
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Brilliant
5
As someone who lived in Dunedin when this happened and knew Stu & Nick I think this film was excellent, my partner from the UK thought so too. Just one thing I want to know is, was the part where Nick hesitated to shoot David Gray twice true? Because that's what I was told happend.
Cheers
FayeBy Faye
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Stunning insight
5
Terror can strike anywhere. The character of individuals and a nation is revealed by the capricious cancer that exploded in Aramoana. As Mother Theresa chose for her epitaph 'love one another as I have loved you' might be the best preparation to prevent more such macabre explosions. The dear 'old' lady is a supernal signature of citizenship; the kind of cherishing I grew up with in the NZL community of the 1950s-1960s. BRilliant and highly recommended
By Pierre Beautrais
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Who would have believed that in little Aramoana
4
This is a must see part of NZ's, al beit undesirable, history.
Well portrayed and acted in most senses.By brian
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Pure NZ
5
It was presented how it existed, raw and un-tarnished truth of how the people present saw it. It may have seemed emotionless at first but the impact it gave was full of emotion. A must-see sliver of New Zealand history
By Nath
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Out of the Few!
4
The movie started very cautiously and the story line was like a documentry. The mad man was very convincing and gave an insight of how his state of mind was. The actual killing spree was realistic and gives the viewer a reason to be scared. I do know 2 of the main characters in real life and it was emotional for me. I cannot get over how beautiful Aramoana is despite the tragedy that took place.
By Michelle
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Felt like a doco...
4
Very well made film and it felt so real it was almost like a documentary.
I have no recollection of the event so I had no real emotional involvement with the story however the film proved to be educational and though-provoking. The actors and film-makers were really respectful and I commend them on a job well done.
Makes me want to read the book.By Frances T
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5
Firstly i would like to congratulate the makers of "out of the blue",there depiction of the events that occured that day,it will be forever engrained in my mind. i have closely followed the books and movie as i personally know 1 of the officers depicted in this film.The directors have shown david in a normal way, he was, he just wanted help,he needed help.i dont belive david had it planed that day,why did he shoot at the helicopter?he must of known the end was near,if he didnt want detection then he would have gone bush.thats my opinion on this absoltely brilliant film that is,and was a wake up call for everyone who just thought of a mad gun man with a AK,it shows how frustrated people get when they have a mental illness.My heartfelt sympathy to the victims and familys and wish you all the best. GREAT FILM
By brad
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2
Definetly affecting and worth a watch since it happened, as part of our recent history. But parts of it are annoyingly done, i hated the fancy focus which was distracting. And it certainly isn't fun to watch.
By harriet
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harrowing
5
i think they did an amazing job on the film, it is extremely harrowing, i have personal connections to aramoana and one of the people portrayed in the film is one of my best mates that i grew up with. this movie was extremely hard to sit through, but they did the story justice, im glad they made it the way they did, as it was sensitive yet powerful. well done.
By Alice
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3
Interestingly done, but I didn't find it as intense as other here have. Mathew Sunderland was great.
By Kimberley
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Recommended.
4
On the whole the film was very convincing, sad & shocking. There are little quips I have - like the obvious Kiwiana music everyone listens to in the film. But I think it great in capturing a defining moment in our history.
By Ropo
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heavily emotional and gripping film
5
I lived in Dunedin at the time of the massacre and still had very vivid memories of armed defender helicopters flying over head and hearing first reports of the shootings on the late news 13th november 1990, I was 14 at the time. The film is truly amazing in its realism in depicting the events of that truly horrible 22 hours, there are certain scenes that one cannot help but shed a tear in they are that sad. The acting is easily among the best I have seen in any film from here or abroad, special note must be made to Karl Urban, whose character Nick is helpless and looks truly scared by what is going on as anyone would. The scenes involving his character and the young girl from the ute are amongst the saddest and memorable in the film. Matt Sunderland is out of this world good in taking on such a difficult and horriffic role, his potrayal of Gunman Gray is chilling and perfectly done. The film makers should be extremely proud of this it is non-exploitative, moving and shows the better side of a community trapped in a living nightmare. So many moving scenes, and memorable images and lines resonate in your head long after leaving the theatre. I could fully understand why many would not want to see this, it is very unsettling to sit through, there is no music, and the sound of gunfire in the theatre never stops making you shudder. I am very pleased I went and saw this, it is a well handled take on an event that shook New Zealand.
By dayl76
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Amazing
5
I’m from a small community just like Aramoana and was only 4 when it happened. I saw Out of the Blue for a sense of NZ history but came away with so much more. The movie really hit home. Simple, moving and oh so kiwi.
By Larissa
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Great!
5
very sad but it was great! didnt think i would shed a tear for this movie but i did...
By john
Press Reviews
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NZ Herald
5 5 out of 5 stars
It can show us what it felt like to be there. And if that makes it a film to be survived more than enjoyed, it also means it's succeeded as one of the most powerful pieces of New Zealand cinema in an age...
Click to read the full review -
The Lumi?re Reader [Wellington]
4 4 out of 5 stars
In its distilled, composed articulation of tragedy amidst a prolonged drought of truly courageous local films, Out of the Blue can perhaps in time, be considered something of a watershed in New Zealand cinema. It is far too important to avoid, though may be too painful for some. It is at once paralysing and cathartic. I don’t think I’ll ever see it again...
Click to read the full review -
The Press [Christchurch]
3 3 out of 5 stars
1/2 A thoughtful and sensitive dramatisation of one of New Zealand's blackest days... Unfortunately, the filmmakers' desire not to offend means the emotional impact of the film is somewhat muted...
Click to read the full review -
TV3 [Kate Rodger]
5 5 out of 5 stars
With Out of the Blue, Rob Sarkies cements his place among our great film makers, crafting, in my view, the most important new zealand film ever made...
Click to read the full review -
Variety [USA]
An effectively harrowing and non-exploitative recap of real-life events... Chilling, often moving docudrama focuses not so much on the mayhem or murderer, but on the bewildered, occasionally courageous reactions of ordinary citizens caught in the inexplicable violence...
Click to read the full review
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