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 Sleeping Dogs
 Smash Palace
 Kaleidoscope - NZ Cinema, The Past Decade
 Cowboys of Culture
 Numero Bruno
 The World's Fastest Indian

Synopsis

In the early 80s, director Roger Donaldson was part of a new generation of down under screen talent, making their mark overseas. In this extended interview, the nominally Kiwi, Oz-born Donaldson talks about success, failure, famous actors, the talented Bruno Lawrence, and his big-budget remake of Mutiny on the Bounty. Donaldson describes how stateside reviews of Smash Palace paved his path to Hollywood, and talks with candour about his feisty first encounter with legendary producer Dino De Laurentiis - who invited him to take on The Bounty. 

 

Credits (3)

 Heath Lees

Heath Lees
Presenter

 Roger Donaldson

Roger Donaldson
Subject

 Kerry Fowler

Kerry Fowler
Interviewer

See all credits ›

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Comments (1)

 Bruno Fan

Bruno Fan

Posted at 09.35PM - 21.11.2010

Smash Palace-A National treasure, easily one of the best movies ever

View all 1 comments ›

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 TVNZ

TVNZ

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Related Titles (7)

 Smash Palace

Smash Palace

Film, 1981 (Trailer and Excerpts)

Directed by Roger Donaldson

 Numero Bruno

Numero Bruno

Television, 2000 (Full Length)

Doco about Donaldson's Smash Palace star

 Sleeping Dogs

Sleeping Dogs

Film, 1977 (Trailer)

Roger Donaldson's first feature

 Cowboys of Culture

Cowboys of Culture

Television, 1990 (Full Length)

Donaldson talks about the Kiwi film renaissance

 The World's Fastest Indian

The World's Fastest Indian

Film, 2005 (Trailer and Extras)

Donaldson works again with Anthony Hopkins

 Kaleidoscope - NZ Cinema, The Past Decade

Kaleidoscope - NZ Cinema, The Past Decade

Television, 1987 (Full Length)

Roger Donaldson features in this survey of NZ film

 In Bligh's Wake

In Bligh's Wake

Television, 1983 (Full Length)

The story of the ship that starred in The Bounty

Quotes

One of the reasons that I looked beyond New Zealand for my filmmaking career was that there was so little happening, and that it was so difficult to make a living being a filmmaker there. 

– Donaldson, on leaving New Zealand

There were a number of very influential film critics who really liked the film [Smash Palace], and talked about it a lot in the press. The industry here [in the USA] takes a lot of notice of what the critics say, and they’re always looking for new talent ... for new cheap talent. 

– Roger Donaldson on Hollywood