SANDERSON, MARTYN (1938– ). Actor and writer Martyn Sanderson has had a long and extensive career in New Zealand film. He first appeared playing Fitzpatrick in Tony Richardson’s Ned Kelly (1970), which starred Mick Jagger. In 1977, Sanderson wrote—with Bruno Lawrence—and acted in the *comedy Wild Man, and followed this with similar scripting and acting roles in the poorly made drama/romance Solo (1978). He moved to Australia for a small part in The Journalist (1979), and then returned to New Zealand for another small part in Squeeze (1980) before playing a major role as Detective John Hughes in John Laing’s Beyond Reasonable Doubt (1980). Another role in a factual drama about a murder followed in Bad Blood (1981), a disturbing study of small-town alienation. Later, he played the vicar in Utu (1983), a film about conflict with Maori tribes in the 1860s, and followed this with the role of Inspector Gulland in the factual story of Sylvia (1985), about her pioneering work teaching Maori children to read in the 1940s, and the institutional hurdles she had to leap. He played the father of a boy coming to the realization that he might be gay in My First Suit (1985). Sanderson won the 1990 New Zealand Film and Television Award for best supporting actor for the role of Frank Sargeson in the Jane Campion-directed Angel at My Table (1990). He played Henry in Alan Lindsay’s well-received Savage Play (1995), a series of moving stories about the juxtaposition of cultures in New Zealand. A leading role (Bryce Tilfer) in Grant Lahood’s Chicken (1996) followed, an underrated film about a pop icon reduced to making fried chicken commercials. More recently, Sanderson appeared in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), playing the gatekeeper of Bree.
Other films include John Laing’s The Lost Tribe (1983), Wild Horses (1983), Trial Run (1984), The Tale of Ruby Rose (1988), Never Say Die (1988), Old Scores (1991), The Rainbow Warrior (1992), Desperate Remedies (1993), The Last Tattoo (1994), and Cow (2001).
SLEEPING DOGS (1977). Sleeping Dogs launched the careers of Sam Neill and director Roger Donaldson, but more importantly was, arguably, the film that heralded the renaissance of filmmaking in New Zealand. The narrative is multilayered, with the breakup of the marriage of an ordinary man, Smith, occurring within a context of the collapse of a totalitarian society, in which revolutionary guerilla groups do battle with government special forces. Smith is inexorably drawn into this battle, and his anguish over the loss of his family is articulated only through his defiant lack of concern for his own well-being. That such a scenario could be relevant to people at the time is a comment on the right-wing leanings of the contemporary New Zealand government, as well as a belief that the United States, following Vietnam, would send military forces into a country to protect a status quo that was sympathetic to its own totalitarianism. The film showed first, that audiences would respond to New Zealand–made films, with narratives drawn from that culture, set among familiar landmarks, with actors who spoke with familiar characteristics of language. Second, the film proved that New Zealand films were able to find a market in the United States, and could win critical approval. The success of this film led directly to the hurried establishment of the Interim Film Commission in November 1977, and then the New Zealand Film Commission in the following year, as the New Zealand government recognized the potential of this new type of industry—a cultural industry with the potential to develop cultural capital.
SMASH PALACE (1981). Roger Donaldson shared the writing credits for this film, which he also directed. It is a common 20th-century story of a souring relationship, and the destructive effect it has on those who were once in love, as well as those who are drawn into the vortex of hate, most importantly the child, Georgie (Greer Robson). Al (Bruno Lawrence) and Jacqui Shaw (Anna Jemison) own a car wrecking yard, which Al sees as his domain and his life, but whose rusting wrecks signify their corroding relationship. Unfortunately, Jacqui sees the yard only as a springboard to another life. Unhappy, she has an affair with a police officer neighbor, Ray, and from there events slide rapidly into the abyss of breaking relationships, with the child in the center of the cyclone of twisted emotions. Domestic violence orders, threats of death, violence, fear, and revenge all play a part. The film was successful at home and abroad, signifying the common experiences that it highlights. Indeed, the New York Times listed it as one of the ten best films of the year.
SPENCE, BRUCE. See entry in Australian section.