The Films of Peter Jackson - Report Example

Running Head: The Films of Peter Jackson The Films of Peter Jackson Name Course Lecturer Date The Films of Peter Jackson Introduction Peter Jackson is a film actor, director, screenwriter and producer, famous for the film, The Lord of the Rings. He is one of the best-known actors in New Zealand. He was honoured in 2010 for his contribution in the Kiwi movie industry. He developed a passion for films when he was still a child and produced his first film which bore the name, Bad Taste in 1987. Since then, he has produced so many films such as Heavenly Creatures; Meet the Feebles; Forgotten Silver among others. At the present, Peter Jackson is a film star who is recognized worldwide. He has collaborated with Hollywood film stars like Michael Fox and Robert Zemeckis to produce films like The Frighteners (Sibley, 2010). The films of Peter Jackson do not reflect a Hollywood vision of the world rather they give an exclusive New Zealand vision. The films of Peter Jackson According to Sibley (2010), the development and shooting of a big percentage of the films of Peter Jackson is done in New Zealand and the ideas that are presented in the movies vary from one movie to another. In other words, the themes in Peter Jackson films have different visual backgrounds which depend on the kind of message that Peter wants to put across to all the viewers around the globe but present a vision of New Zealand. Heavenly Creatures This film, whose director is Peter Jackson, talks about the Parker-Hulme murder which took place in 1954 at Christchurch in New Zealand. It is based on a friendship between two girls, one from a working class family and the other from a rich English family, which ends up in murder of the mother of the working class girl (Jackson, Heavenly Creatures, 1994). The vision that is presented in this film is an exclusively New Zealand perspective of the world. This is supported by several reasons. The first one, the main characters in the movie who are the two teenage girls are New Zealanders, having been born and brought up in New Zealand and thus the only life experience that they have is New Zealand oriented. The fact that, one of the girls is from an affluent family while the other is from a working class family, reflects the socioeconomic and family backgrounds of most families in New Zealand. According to Chatterjee (2001), socioeconomic inequalities between the rich and the poor have existed in New Zealand for a very long time since the colonial days. Therefore, the family statuses that are presented in the movie are purely New Zealand. Moreover, during the early days, children from different social classes were not allowed to interact (Chatterjee, 2001). It is no surprise that, as the relationship between the girls become more intense, the working class family’s girl starts to have issues with her mother, with the two having constant fights. The mother is to some extent opposed to her daughter friendship with the rich girl. Drawing from Chatterjee (2001), rich people are rarely Christians and in New Zealand, majority of the people who go to church are those from middle and low class families. In the film, the rich girl introduces the other to the Fourth World, which is a Heaven which does not have Christians and art and music are celebrated. The rich girl believes that she will go to that world after her death. The vision of a Fourth World is an idea which is unique to New Zealand. This is because; before the Heavenly Creatures film was produced, it was only known to few people mostly those in New Zealand. Actually, for Peter Jackson and his co-producer Walsh to produce the film, they had to read contemporary newspapers which talked about the trial of the two girls on murder. The incident took place around forty years ago before the film was produced and thus tracing the real happenings on which to base the movie was a hard task for the film producers. The girls’ perception of the happenings in their daily world began to be purely based on the belief about the Fourth World. The rich girl was to be left with a relative in South Africa as her parents left Christchurch. She could not imagine living without her friend, so she came up with the idea of killing her friend’s mother so that they can escape together. All the events that are presented in the film’s storyline took place in New Zealand and thus the vision that is presented in the film is exclusively a New Zealand one. Forgotten Silver This is a New Zealand mockumentary which claims to talk about a New Zealand filmmaker, Colin McKenzie whom people seem to have forgotten him as well as the finding of his former films which Peter Jackson, a presenter says to have discovered in some old shed (Botes & Jackson, 1995). The idea that is presented in this film has a New Zealand orientation because it revolves around New Zealand film industry by presenting some of the films that were produced by one of the New Zealand filmmakers, McKenzie, who is an imaginary character. According to Botes & Jackson (1995), among the character’s films, there is a classic Biblical film, which was shot in the New Zealand forests. In addition, Forgotten Silver shows a McKenzie film’s computer enhancement which gives a clear proof that, Richard Pearse, a New Zealander became the first to create a power-driven aircraft a couple of months before the Wright Brothers (Botes & Jackson, 1995). In both cases, the films by McKenzie do not exist. Peter Jackson alongside Costa Botes included the supposed films in the movie while developing its plot. Although the films are imaginary, it is evident that the film writers’ thinking visualized New Zealand in all aspects. If that was not the case, the two could have brought different ideas when writing the movie such as using McKenzie as a Hollywood movie star or even shooting McKenzie’s Biblical film in other parts of the world like Amazon forest. Moreover, if the movie reflected a Hollywood vision, then the Forgotten Silver could have talked of the Wright Brothers or other inventors rather than Richard. From this point, it is clear that, the ideas that the movie presented to the viewer have a background in New Zealand. Furthermore, the characteristics of early cinema that are featured in the Forgotten Silver, match those of the New Zealand film industry in the early days before modern cinema was introduced. In the film by Peter Jackson and Costa Botes, McKenzie is portrayed as the greatest inventor of modern cinema in New Zealand. According to Fox, Grant, & Radner (2011), in the early cinema in New Zealand, films did not have colour, they appeared as black and white. In addition, they did not have the close-up as well as tracking shot. However, McKenzie is seen to accidentally invent the tracking shot and unintentionally discover the close-up which is now present in the contemporary film industry in New Zealand (Botes & Jackson, 1995). There are so many movie actors and directors in New Zealand like Alfred Whitehouse and John O'Shea who used to be famous in the early years but are no longer being featured in the current film industry (Fox, Grant, & Radner, 2011). In other words, the main idea in Forgotten Silver is not groundless but has a strong backing from current practices in the film industry in New Zealand. Braindead This is a New Zealand film which introduces the danger that is associated with Sumatran Rat-Monkey, which according to a myth, was reproduced when plaque rats raped tree monkeys. When the film starts, an explorer in the Skull Island captures a Sumatran Rat-Monkey which later bites him as he escapes from warriors. The explorer is killed by his fellow explorers to prevent him from biting them and take the rat-monkey to Wellington Zoo in New Zealand (Jackson, 1992). There is no a single animal all over the world that is known as Sumatran Rat-Monkey. The legendary tale about the rat-monkey is purely a Peter Jackson’s idea. Braindead is a horror film and thus, when Peter developed it, he intended to present something that is unique and which would get the viewers to believe that, such a creature existed. During the time that this movie was produced, Peter Jackson was not very famous in the international film field and thus it was mostly made for the New Zealand film sector. The fact that, the explorers that captured the rat-monkey are from New Zealand and that, the monkey is taken to Wellington is not a pure coincidence. Peter Jackson included that part in the film with a purpose of portraying some of dangers that researchers in New Zealand faced during their study. This movie could have been used as a form of warning to the people who were planning to carry out research in the future, to be careful in their research activities. Not that because they would be bitten by a rat-monkey but because, there are other risks involved in researching about wildlife. Therefore, from here, it is clear that, the movie writer’s idea represented a New Zealand vision. According to Jackson (1992), Lionel lives with his mother and falls for the daughter of a local shopkeeper. As the mother snoops on the two lovers when they go to the zoo, the Sumatran Rat-Monkey bites her and starts acting like a zombie that bites people. The terrifying idea in the horror film that is presented in the Braindead film is a unique feature of New Zealand. Conclusion In Heavenly Creatures, Peter Jackson presents a New Zealand vision through the use of the teenage girls, who are New Zealanders, socioeconomic inequalities between the poor and the rich and disapproval of relations between people from different social classes. Also, the introduction of a Fourth World is an idea that is unique to New Zealand which is only known through the film. In Forgotten Silver, New Zealand vision is depicted through the use of an imaginary New Zealand filmmaker, the idea of inventing a modern cinema whose features are not found in the early cinema in New Zealand. It is also shown by the invention of a powered aircraft by a New Zealander. Braindead presents a New Zealand vision through featuring Sumatran Rat-Monkey, which only known in that country and which is later captured and taken to Wellington Zoo. References Botes, C., & Jackson, P. (Directors). (1995). Forgotten Silver [Motion Picture]. Chatterjee, S. (2001). The New Zealand economy:issues and policies. Wellington: Dunmore Press. Fox, A., Grant, B. K., & Radner, H. (2011). New Zealand cinema : interpreting the past. Chicago: Intellect. Jackson, P. (Director). (1992). Braindead [Motion Picture]. Jackson, P. (Director). (1994). Heavenly Creatures [Motion Picture]. Sibley, B. (2010). Peter Jackson:. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. Read More

It is no surprise that, as the relationship between the girls become more intense, the working class family’s girl starts to have issues with her mother, with the two having constant fights. The mother is to some extent opposed to her daughter friendship with the rich girl. Drawing from Chatterjee (2001), rich people are rarely Christians and in New Zealand, majority of the people who go to church are those from middle and low class families. In the film, the rich girl introduces the other to the Fourth World, which is a Heaven which does not have Christians and art and music are celebrated.

The rich girl believes that she will go to that world after her death. The vision of a Fourth World is an idea which is unique to New Zealand. This is because; before the Heavenly Creatures film was produced, it was only known to few people mostly those in New Zealand. Actually, for Peter Jackson and his co-producer Walsh to produce the film, they had to read contemporary newspapers which talked about the trial of the two girls on murder. The incident took place around forty years ago before the film was produced and thus tracing the real happenings on which to base the movie was a hard task for the film producers.

The girls’ perception of the happenings in their daily world began to be purely based on the belief about the Fourth World. The rich girl was to be left with a relative in South Africa as her parents left Christchurch. She could not imagine living without her friend, so she came up with the idea of killing her friend’s mother so that they can escape together. All the events that are presented in the film’s storyline took place in New Zealand and thus the vision that is presented in the film is exclusively a New Zealand one.

Forgotten Silver This is a New Zealand mockumentary which claims to talk about a New Zealand filmmaker, Colin McKenzie whom people seem to have forgotten him as well as the finding of his former films which Peter Jackson, a presenter says to have discovered in some old shed (Botes & Jackson, 1995). The idea that is presented in this film has a New Zealand orientation because it revolves around New Zealand film industry by presenting some of the films that were produced by one of the New Zealand filmmakers, McKenzie, who is an imaginary character.

According to Botes & Jackson (1995), among the character’s films, there is a classic Biblical film, which was shot in the New Zealand forests. In addition, Forgotten Silver shows a McKenzie film’s computer enhancement which gives a clear proof that, Richard Pearse, a New Zealander became the first to create a power-driven aircraft a couple of months before the Wright Brothers (Botes & Jackson, 1995). In both cases, the films by McKenzie do not exist. Peter Jackson alongside Costa Botes included the supposed films in the movie while developing its plot.

Although the films are imaginary, it is evident that the film writers’ thinking visualized New Zealand in all aspects. If that was not the case, the two could have brought different ideas when writing the movie such as using McKenzie as a Hollywood movie star or even shooting McKenzie’s Biblical film in other parts of the world like Amazon forest. Moreover, if the movie reflected a Hollywood vision, then the Forgotten Silver could have talked of the Wright Brothers or other inventors rather than Richard.

From this point, it is clear that, the ideas that the movie presented to the viewer have a background in New Zealand. Furthermore, the characteristics of early cinema that are featured in the Forgotten Silver, match those of the New Zealand film industry in the early days before modern cinema was introduced. In the film by Peter Jackson and Costa Botes, McKenzie is portrayed as the greatest inventor of modern cinema in New Zealand. According to Fox, Grant, & Radner (2011), in the early cinema in New Zealand, films did not have colour, they appeared as black and white.

In addition, they did not have the close-up as well as tracking shot.

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