Rob Sarkies: three movies and two little boys...

Interview – 2012

Rob Sarkies' first three feature films have all begun in southern climes, then headed in unexpected directions. Scarfies celebrates Dunedin student life, before morphing into a twisted examination of morality under fire. Out of the Blue celebrates community and the ordinary person, while recreating the 1990 killings at Aramoana. Two Little Boys is a black comedy featuring Flight of the Conchords star Bret McKenzie and Australian comedian Hamish Blake.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Sarkies talks about:

How he enjoys making films which mix different flavours, genres and ideas
How Two Little Boys mixes elements of comedy, relationship drama and shock horror
How the film's lovable but heinous characters offer a chance to explore relationships — especially relationships in decay
Signing up Flight of the Conchords star Bret McKenzie
Writing scripts with his multi-talented brother Duncan Sarkies
Being aware of the stakes when he made his first feature Scarfies
Using marketing to overcome the Kiwi cultural cringe
Creating a perception that Out of the Blue was made with heart and artistry, so people could feel comfortable about being involved

This video was first uploaded on 18 September 2012, and is available under this Creative Commons licence. This licence is limited to use of ScreenTalk interview footage only and does not apply to any video content and photographs from films, television, music videos, web series and commercials used in the interview.

Interview and Editing - Ian Pryor. Camera - Andy Chappell

I think that mixing up ideas, mixing up flavours, especiallly if the flavours are opposites, was a very satisfying thing to do...perhaps a little bit unusual for some peoples tastes. But I very much like to kind of play in that area. (Rob Sarkies on blending genre and ideas in directing and writing Two Little Boys)
– Writer/director Rob Sarkies on blending genre and ideas with his 2012 movie Two Little Boys

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