End of the Golden Weather, The

End of the Golden Weather

End of the Golden Weather - 1991

South Pacific Pictures - 103 min.

Cast: Stephen Fulford, Stephen Paps, Paul Gittins, Gabrielle Hammond.
Screenplay: Ian Mune, Bruce Mason (from a stageplay by Bruce Mason); Photography: Alun Bollinger; Production Design: Ron Highfield; Music: Stephen Mc Curdy; Editor: Michael Horton; Executive Producer: Don Reynolds; Director: Ian Mune.

Geoff is a lonely youngster, growing up in 1930's Takapuna, with a rich fantasy life and wanting to be a writer. He meets an intellectually handicapped young man, Firpo, who imagines that he has rather more athletic ability than he actually does. Some of the older neighbourhood boys challenge Firpo to a race, with the intention of humiliating him. Geoff tries to help Firpo to prepare, without much success. Geoff is finally infected by Firpo's simple faith that he is somehow specially gifted and bound to succeed.

Censor Rating: PG - Review Rating: C+

AVAILABILITY OF VHS OR DVD COPIES

Due to this title (as of 2007) is now OOP, real new VHS copies are going for at least $40us or 20#, if you can find one. Used copies are also getting harder to find, but they will usually be $10-20us or about 10#. Until recently, there were pal vhs copies selling in New Zealand, so used copies are around, but expect them to be around $25nz. Warning: there are very low priced vhs-ntsc copies being offered that are not legal and are of poor quality. There are no known DVD's.
NOTE: A source for new ntsc vhs copies, selling for $17us + shipping, is Family Values Videos

SOUNDTRACK ON AUDIO CD

There are no known soundtrack CDs of this title.

TRAILER - REVIEWS - MISC.

Trailer and Video clips

Information at IMDB

New Zealand Film Archive Info and Reviews

Time Out Review

IMDB Reviews

North & South article - January 1993

"Perhaps reflecting its origins in a one-man stage show, Golden Weather works best in the relationship between Firpo and Geoff, two outsiders thrown together in mutual misapprehension. Whether they are two, or only one, is debatable, since Firpo might almost be Geoff's own distorted vision of himself - presenting, with his wild outbursts, naive fantasies and knobby, angular limbs, a cruel parody of pre- adolescent awkwardness. In the final shot, Geoff heads off along the beach in his school uniform, the Firpo stage of his development evidently behind him. It's an ending, like the film as a whole, that's just a little too pat to be be poignant" - (Philip Kemp, Sight and Sound, February 1993, pg.45)

OFFLINE REVIEW SOURCES

North & South Review by Brian McDonnell - April 1992

AWARDS

1992 - New Zealand Film Awards - Best Film; Best Director; Best Actor: Stephen Papps; Best Cinematography; Best Editing; Best Score; Best Costume Design; Best Production Design.
1993 - Young Artist Awards, Los Angeles - Special Award: Best Young Actor in a foreign film and Outstanding Foreign Film.

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