routemarch

This movie is set in 1970s New Zealand, the same society I grew up in so it's not surprising that I find watching it gives me the uncomfortable impression that someone has brought home videos of family holidays to life. The impression is reinforced by the editing which reproduces the human system of memory and recall by occasionally settling on seemingly unconnected detail - a door handle, the curve of an arm in sunshine. Maybe for people in other countries this kind of recognition is a common occurrence, but in NZ it's extremely rare to see a truely observational local movie which doesn't ruin the impression by screaming it's nationality from the rooftops. What really holds it together hasn't got anything to do with an obsession with landscape or accents - the strength of the movie is in it's detailed exploration of families. The only down side was that the cutesy-kid card was slightly overplayed.