Geoff Murphy is the trumpet-player who got New Zealand yelling in the movie aisles. After boning up on filmmaking on the Blerta bus, Murphy turned out a triple punch of local classics: 1981 blockbuster Goodbye Pork Pie, historical epic Utu and last man on earth tale The Quiet Earth.

The director’s rollercoaster screen ride has included everyone from Wild Man Bruno Lawrence to Mickey Rourke; from varsity safe-crackers to hobbits, with time for nail-biting hijinks both in Wellington railyards, and atop the LA Metro train.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Murphy talks about:

• The days when there were so many film reviewers in New Zealand you could easily “make a national idiot of yourself”
• Fighting to handle local distribution (and publicity) for Goodbye Pork Pie – and realising the movie wasn’t the work of genius some thought
• How the famous line “We’re taking this bloody car to Invercargill” had audiences erupting in cinemas
• Making movies on the Blerta bus, and how working without dialogue proved helpful in his latter career
• Casting union delegate Zac Wallace to star as Te Wheke in Land Wars epic Utu, and Murphy’s happiness at the high turnout of M?ori viewers
• Comical tales of filming Utu on location, with 1000 extras
• How sci fi cult legend The Quiet Earth was forced into production, thanks to its investors
• The challenge of making a movie where for extended scenes only one character (Bruno Lawrence) is on-screen
• Working in Hollywood, and the perils of taking the honest approach

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.

NZ On Screen: Direction and Interview - Ian Pryor Camera and Editing – Alex Backhouse