Shopping

An extremely compelling first film with a fantastic lead actor. We loved watching him on screen and felt a deep empathy with him. Sharp editing, strong visual choices and a complex, painful and loving portrayal of family. We appreciated the specificity of the world you brought us into. Your dedication to your vision is palpable.

– Generation 14plus jury comments on actor Kevin Paulo, at the 2013 Berlin Film Festival

[Mark] Sutherland and [Louise] Albiston have written from the heart, and directed with a talented eye, to create a worthy new addition in our cinematic history book.

– Sarah Watts, in a four star Sunday Star-Times review, 26 May 2013

... with its period-perfect setting and poignantly funny depiction of brotherhood, Shopping emerges as an affecting, memorable movie that is sure to figure in local best-of-year lists. Highly recommended.

– Writer Russell Bailie, in a four star NZ Herald review, 30 May 2013

As a coming-of-age drama laced with quiet humor, Shopping has its charms, many of them stemming from the unaffected performances of [Kevin] Paulo and [Julian] Dennison.

– Reviewer David Rooney in The Hollywood Reporter, 25 January 2013

Shopping is a personal movie for Albiston and Sutherland. Its theme, which Sutherland says is "that family is worth fighting for," is drawn from a period of Sutherland's own life, but the story is not autobiographical.

– Writer James Robinson in an interview with Mark Albiston and Louis Sutherland, The Dominion Post (Your Weekend section), 2 February 2013, page 9

We've grown up together. We know similar characters and that influences the stories we want to make . . . It can be testy. There's times when we want to smack each other.

– Mark Albiston on his co-directing partnership with Louis Sutherland, in The Dominion Post (Your Weekend section), 2 February 2013, page 10

New Zealand, 1981: muscle cars, racial tensions and a thieving bird all inform the small town life of brothers Willie and Solomon.

– Press release for the film

Shot with style — and a budget-protecting shallow focus — by Ginny Loane, Shopping leaves the audience with plenty of work to do filling in the gaps, until it reaches a suitably enigmatic conclusion.

– Dan Slevin in a three and a half star review, FishHead magazine, May 2012

The greatest concern seems to be that all the good will that's been built up between the island communities and the police has been destroyed. Officially the police are saying there is no blitz; they're not making random checks; they haven't got special squads. Police sources today tell me that is not correct.

– A television reporter, at the start of Shopping

There were two princes and they were learning how to use their dad's magic and get the dad's powers. One of the brothers won the competition, so the other brother, who lost, ran away and found this witch, and he stole her powers. Now they call him the lord of the red and black sky.

– Solomon (Julian Dennison) tells a story, early in the film

We fight heaps. It’s ugly. Half our time on set is spent working through our creative ideas with a counsellor. But when it works its like the Power Rangers sword all joined up.

– Louis Sutherland on directing with Mark Albiston, Rialto Channel website, 6 December 2013

Trust, honesty and a whole lot of workshopping. We look for strong performers whether they’ve acted before or not. Some people just know, they don’t need to be taught the basics. Luckily we spent time finding two such gems.

– Co-director Louis Sutherland on working with newbie actors Kevin Paolo and Julian Dennison, Rialto Channel website, 6 December 2013

Jacek Koman invests Bennie with a disarming combination of puckish joie de vivre and seething menace, crafting a memorable character that feels like a flipside to Bruno Lawrence's dysfunctional former racecar driver and father in 1981's Smash Palace . . . Both unschooled actors, Kevin Paulo and Julian Dennison breathe sympathetic life into Willie and Solomon, two characters who could easily disappear into the background. They charm us with an unassuming purity and realness, even as their inability to shape and control their surroundings proves frustrating.

– Barney McDonald in a three star review, Herald on Sunday, 2 June 2013

Ginny Loane's photography captures the drabness of the age beautifully, transporting the viewer back to a time when Muldoon loomed large in society, the Springbok tour was an unwelcome reality, and Ready to Roll captivated TV audiences. Not that the film is particularly concerned with such issues; instead keeping its focus narrow and intimate.

– Barney McDonald in a three star review, Herald on Sunday, 2 June 2013

The two boys, both first-time actors, are splendid discoveries, finely directed. [Jacek] Koman is attractively chilling and unpredictable. Cinematography from Ginny Loane is excellent throughout, as is the soundtrack with original music by Grayson Gilmour.

– Screen Daily reviewer Fran Hatherley in a rave review, 15 June 2013