llustrious Energy

llustrious Energy Leon Narbey, cinematographer on The Orator, Whale Rider, Rain of the Children, No. 2 – to name a bare handful – has only ever directed two feature films, both of them co-written with Martin Edmond (The Autobiography of My Father, Luca Antara, Dark Night). This one, their first, won a slew of awards when it first appeared in 1988, and promptly vanished without trace. Quite literally; the master negative was lost. Rediscovered and remastered, this new print played the Wellington and Dunedin film festivals earlier this year, and this week it becomes the first film to play in Howick’s newly restored Monterey Cinema. It’s a stunner. Beautifully shot – by Alan Locke; I assumed initially it must be Narbey, simply because it looks so good – it traces the fortunes of two Chinese miners in the gold fields of Otago, in the 1890s. Poignant and beautiful: so good to have it back. DL http://www.listener.co.nz/culture/now-showing/now-showing-december-15-2011/