Vincent Ward

  • Vincent Ward – Rain of the Children (2008)

    2001-2010DocumentaryDramaNew ZealandVincent Ward

    Vincent Ward weaves drama with documentary to unravel the extraordinary story of Puhi, the Tuhoe woman who welcomed the young filmmaker into her home in 1978. Ward made the observational film In Spring One Plants Alone about Puhi’s day-to-day life in the remote Urewera Ranges. By then almost 80, she was obsessively caring for her schizophrenic adult son Niki, whose violent fits terrified her. In this new cinema feature Ward sets out to unravel the mystery that has haunted him for 30 years: Who was Puhi?

    And why was she so obsessed with this last remaining son?Read More »

  • Vincent Ward – The Navigator: A Mediaeval Odyssey (1988)

    1981-1990AdventureAustraliaSci-FiVincent Ward

    From IMDB:
    “A tantalizing meditation on faith, mystery, and imagination.

    Sometime in the Middle Ages, a group of men living in fear of the Black Death follow the visions of a nine year-old boy (Hamish MacFarlane) to go on a pilgrimage by digging a tunnel through the center of the earth (!) emerging instead in twentieth century New Zealand (!) where they try to complete their journey by erecting a cross atop a church steeple. A willing suspension of disbelief (or the kind of unquestioning faith that the main characters have) never hurts when watching something like this, but if you’re in the right frame of mind, this fable will gradually draw you into its tantalizing meditation on faith, mystery, and imagination.”Read More »

  • Vincent Ward – In Spring One Plants Alone (1980)

    1971-1980ArthouseDocumentaryNew ZealandVincent Ward

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    “A thoroughly devastating documentary on 82 year old Maori woman’s struggle for survival.”
    Los Angeles Times

    This is the story of Puhi, an aged Maori woman and Niki, her fully grown but wholly dependent son. The world they occupy is not a world of large events but the rituals of everyday life, traditions and interdependence. “In Spring One Plants Alone” documents the minutiae of their very enclosed existence. Filmed over a period of one and a half years, it emerges as a rare, haunting and powerful portrayal of their life together. This is the story of their rituals and of their survival. The small and disconnected instances that we encounter form a lone vision of the rifts and the bond between an old woman and her disturbed son.Read More »

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