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I'm in a small town called Pukerua Bay
in New Zealand.
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Behind me is the house of an elderly lady
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called Hannah McKenzie.
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I've known Hannah all my life.
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She's a very close friend of my parents,
who live just 4 doors away.
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00:00:21,844 --> 00:00:24,801
In fact, I remember coming to
"Auntie Hannah's" gardens,
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as we called her when I was about 7 years
old and playing in these trees over here.
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I didn't know a lot about Hannah
McKenzie back then
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I knew that she was a widow - her husband
had died many years before I was born.
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00:00:36,568 --> 00:00:40,068
About a year ago I had a call from my mother.
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She said I should drop in on
Auntie Hannah sometime because
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she was wondering if I'd be interested
in a lot of old films that she had stored
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in a shed at the bottom of her garden.
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I wasn't expecting much.
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Hannah described them as a
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lot of old home movies that her
husband, Colin, had taken.
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I was expecting to maybe find
a bunch of old home movies,
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drop them off at the film archive on my way
home and that would be the end of it.
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What I found, sitting right here,
was an old chest.
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I opened the chest and I found the
most extraordinary collection of films
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These were 35mm films.
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The tins were rusty.
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There were strange names on them.
"Warrior Season".
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Films I'd never heard of.
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I had no way of realizing the significance
of these films at the time.
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We later discovered they were made between
the turn of the century and the late 1920s
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by an extraordinary New Zealander.
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A man who has now gotta join the
ranks of the great film pioneers.
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A guy called Colin McKenzie.
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At the archives we get a lot of film coming in.
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It's family parades, babies on lawns
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A lot of it's very interesting, historically.
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Just on dress, fashion, and things like this, but
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Colin McKenzie's collection, on the other
hand, is something totally unique.
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00:02:06,982 --> 00:02:08,192
I got a call from Peter
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and he wanted to know if I knew
anything at all about
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Colin McKenzie.
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00:02:13,110 --> 00:02:16,070
And, I had to say that I didn't know very much.
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The name wasn't totally unknown to me.
I'd come across it in a couple of journals
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00:02:20,630 --> 00:02:22,520
and a couple of old papers
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but there was very little solid
information to relate to him.
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Certainly there was no films that were
attributed to him.
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We were very luck to get the
film in when we did.
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They were starting to deteriorate quite badly
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some of the reels.
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And, I think, within 5 years if it
hadn't have been found
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it would have disappeared forever.
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00:02:43,468 --> 00:02:44,428
Imagine if a film
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like "Citizen Kane" was to suddenly
come out of the blue.
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00:02:47,936 --> 00:02:52,000
Really, the discovery of this collection
was that exciting and that intriguing.
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It's a treasure trove of films of
major historical importance
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not just for New Zealand but worldwide.
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This is New Zealand filmmaker is gonna rank
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you know - I mean - with the greats,
like D.W. Griffith.
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00:03:04,961 --> 00:03:07,515
And I think, in some ways, infinitely better.
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I've gotta confess: Colin McKenzie
was just
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a name I'd read somewhere in a book,
in a history book
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and he didn't have a lot of impact to me
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until this great discovery of all his films and
the historical research that's gone with it
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and now I am just flabbergasted.
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This is just the greatest film
discovery of the last 50 years.
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Here was this unknown genius,
who died in obscurity,
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and who now belongs, you know,
in the pantheon
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of great cinema artists and innovators.
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Colin McKenzie had humble beginnings.
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He was born on the 7th of February, 1888
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in the tiny South Island farming
community of Geraldine.
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00:03:58,899 --> 00:04:02,699
His father, John McKenzie, arrived in
New Zealand in 1879.
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00:04:03,637 --> 00:04:05,307
With typical Scottish pragmatism
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he built his home and farm the hard way.
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00:04:09,541 --> 00:04:12,301
John's young wife, Ellen,
found country life difficult.
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00:04:12,623 --> 00:04:15,503
but she took pride in her
sons, Colin and Brooke.
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Colin, the elder of the two, was studious
and introverted, the opposite of his brother.
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Yet the boys enjoyed a close bond.
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From sunup to sundown they worked
the land with their father.
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in whose footsteps they
were expected to follow.
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Colin, however, showed no
aptitude for farming.
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His interests lay elsewhere.
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The boys' uncle, Albert Drury,
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owned a successful bicycle shop in Timaru.
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It was there, in the workshop,
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that Colin discovered his passion
for mechanical invention.
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Young Colin would often stay weekends,
tinkering with tools and spare parts.
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The boy's imagination needed an outlet.
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In the spring of 1900, he found it.
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The traveling picture show had come to town.
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It was like a flash from heaven,
starting out of the darkness,
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and his whole heart lifted.
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He felt this was something he wanted to do
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and he would do.
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He just followed that big picture show
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right around the district.
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And where the other kids
had been gorping at the screen
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looking at those lovelies
and horses and things
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Colin was at the back of the hall looking
at the magic machine that was doing it all.
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The projector.
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What fascinates me most about
Colin McKenzie's early films
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are not so much the films themselves,
but the technology involved.
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I mean this was 1900. 5 years
after the birth of cinema.
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You can't walk into the chemist's shop and
buy a movie camera to take home movies.
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00:05:52,565 --> 00:05:56,525
Aged only 12, Colin built his first
motion picture camera.
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00:05:56,855 --> 00:05:59,525
Impatient with the hand crank
technology at the time,
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Colin mechanized his camera
with great ingenuity.
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When Colin rode the bicycle,
his camera rolled,
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00:06:07,650 --> 00:06:10,522
thus creating the cinema's
first tracking shots.
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00:06:15,015 --> 00:06:18,055
Colin's later attempt to mechanize
a home-built projector
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lept way beyond pedal power.
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00:06:24,043 --> 00:06:25,470
I don't know who else would have thought
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of using steam power to drive a projection
system, but he did. And it worked!
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00:06:29,905 --> 00:06:33,205
Well, he was clever enough
to make his own film.
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He got flax seeds from down at the
swamp at the back of the farm.
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00:06:37,725 --> 00:06:41,635
And he boiled them and boiled them.
Turned that into cellulose nitrate.
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00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:45,020
And then he had to find something
for the emulsion and he found eggs.
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00:06:45,025 --> 00:06:47,550
Not eggs. Egg whites.
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00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:50,880
He used the egg albumen process,
which they used in the 19th century
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00:06:50,887 --> 00:06:54,691
for making materials photosensitive.
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00:06:55,312 --> 00:06:58,652
He adapted that, though,
to use the moving images.
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The trouble was, that it took 12 eggs
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00:07:02,966 --> 00:07:05,411
to make one minute of film.
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00:07:05,611 --> 00:07:08,871
That's alright as long as
he was making short films.
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Colin was caught red-handed.
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The precocious boy had been planning
the world's first feature-length film.
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Colin's father flew into a rage.
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This was an affront to his dignity.
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He ranted and he raved, and he smashed
up all of Colin's gear.
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Everything was destroyed.
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00:07:30,799 --> 00:07:34,939
Everything. All his gear. Except the camera,
which his clever mother had hidden.
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00:07:36,149 --> 00:07:38,818
Living less than 50 miles from the
McKenzie farm was
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someone who, like Colin, nursed
extravagant dreams of invention.
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00:07:42,878 --> 00:07:45,158
His name was Richard Pearse.
131
00:07:45,565 --> 00:07:47,827
In the early years of the century,
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Pearse constructed a crude flying machine
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00:07:50,521 --> 00:07:52,601
and made several attempts to get airborne.
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00:07:53,666 --> 00:07:57,211
Pearse's exploits have always been
the subject of conjecture and legend.
135
00:07:57,670 --> 00:08:00,465
Some writers believe he flew before the
Wright brothers.
136
00:08:00,882 --> 00:08:04,178
But no reliable proof has existed
that he even got off the ground.
137
00:08:04,719 --> 00:08:06,136
Until now.
138
00:08:08,097 --> 00:08:10,642
Found among the films in the
Colin McKenzie collection
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00:08:10,650 --> 00:08:13,030
was an astounding cinematic record.
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00:08:14,187 --> 00:08:16,027
Seen here, publicly, for the first time
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00:08:15,793 --> 00:08:19,776
is a piece of film currently being examined
by the Smithsonian Institute.
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00:08:19,850 --> 00:08:24,100
A fragment of cinema that will
forever rewrite aviation history.
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00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:30,660
Minutes before takeoff, Colin positioned
his camera above a wagon.
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00:08:30,850 --> 00:08:32,100
And waited.
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00:08:54,185 --> 00:08:58,648
Colin McKenzie's remarkable film contained
yet another astonishing revelation.
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00:09:00,191 --> 00:09:02,819
The man on the left has
a newspaper in his pocket.
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00:09:03,778 --> 00:09:06,906
Digital enhancement allows us to look closer.
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00:09:11,786 --> 00:09:16,581
The Wright brothers historic flight at Kitty
Hawk was not until December 17, 1903.
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00:09:17,083 --> 00:09:19,168
Richard Pearse, a farmer from New Zealand,
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00:09:19,209 --> 00:09:22,088
had beaten the Wright brothers
into the air by nine months.
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00:09:22,150 --> 00:09:25,382
But the thing that I find really funny is,
if you examine the footage,
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00:09:25,450 --> 00:09:29,330
He's flying straight at Colin McKenzie,
who's filming it, and he
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00:09:29,151 --> 00:09:32,598
has to swerve to avoid Colin and he
crashes into the hedge.
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00:09:32,650 --> 00:09:34,517
And if Colin had not been there,
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00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:37,730
he probably would have flown a lot further
and we would've all heard about it.
156
00:09:37,835 --> 00:09:40,205
His father confiscated the film.
157
00:09:41,107 --> 00:09:44,147
Forbade in his dual way
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the boy ever to have anything to do with
this new-fangled filmmaking ever again.
159
00:09:52,618 --> 00:09:56,748
Aged only 15, Colin McKenzie
ran away from home.
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00:09:58,707 --> 00:10:01,295
New Zealand was growing
into a prosperous dominion.
161
00:10:01,350 --> 00:10:04,672
Even the poorest members of society
had some leisure time.
162
00:10:04,846 --> 00:10:08,134
and most of them chose
to spend it at the pictures.
163
00:10:10,230 --> 00:10:13,930
Opportunities were plentiful for
enthusiastic young men like Colin.
164
00:10:14,515 --> 00:10:16,934
In 1905, Brooke joined him
165
00:10:16,940 --> 00:10:19,770
to form the McKenzie Brothers
Picture Company.
166
00:10:20,813 --> 00:10:24,525
Filming parades and weddings, the
brothers rapidly amassed a small fortune.
167
00:10:24,901 --> 00:10:27,550
But Colin's dreams were more ambitious.
168
00:10:31,407 --> 00:10:33,197
At 84 minutes, "The Warrior Season"
169
00:10:32,857 --> 00:10:36,621
must now be acknowledged as the world's
first feature-length film.
170
00:10:36,650 --> 00:10:41,501
But even more remarkably, it introduced
a revolutionary technical innovation.
171
00:10:43,415 --> 00:10:46,839
By 1908, after three years of development,
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Colin McKenzie had perfected a way to
record synchronized sound with pictures.
173
00:10:51,650 --> 00:10:52,930
Conventional film history tells us
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00:10:52,922 --> 00:10:55,973
that Al Jolson sang in 1927
175
00:10:56,050 --> 00:10:59,795
and in "Old Arizona" you could
here the sound of bacon frying.
176
00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:02,103
Well, that's the late '20s. Here in 1908,
177
00:11:02,304 --> 00:11:07,068
Colin McKenzie had figured out a way in
making this epic, battle-torn film
178
00:11:09,153 --> 00:11:12,073
to have gun fire, to have horses' hoof beats.
179
00:11:12,073 --> 00:11:16,327
He recorded it all and it all came through.
And, most of all, he had dialogue.
180
00:11:35,050 --> 00:11:36,806
He just forgot one thing:
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00:11:36,806 --> 00:11:39,350
All of his subjects talking were Chinese.
182
00:11:39,350 --> 00:11:43,146
And while he figured out a way to record
them, he didn't think of making subtitles.
183
00:11:43,146 --> 00:11:44,605
It was his fatal flaw.
184
00:11:51,904 --> 00:11:54,615
Audiences just walked out in droves.
185
00:11:54,949 --> 00:11:57,119
They couldn't understand a word.
186
00:11:56,763 --> 00:12:00,079
They were amused by the novelty
for a few minutes of hearing sound,
187
00:12:00,079 --> 00:12:03,207
but then when they couldn't figure out what
anybody was saying, they just lost interest.
188
00:12:03,833 --> 00:12:05,877
Disillusioned and financially crippled,
189
00:12:05,950 --> 00:12:09,088
Colin abandoned his recording
experiments forever.
190
00:12:10,089 --> 00:12:12,633
He turned his attention from
sound to pictures,
191
00:12:12,633 --> 00:12:15,721
becoming obsessed with
the images themselves.
192
00:12:16,679 --> 00:12:19,849
In late March 1911,
Colin succeeded in creating
193
00:12:19,567 --> 00:12:23,144
an emulsion that reacted to
distinct wavelengths of light.
194
00:12:23,250 --> 00:12:25,710
Producing an effect very like color.
195
00:12:26,063 --> 00:12:27,973
There was only one problem:
196
00:12:27,647 --> 00:12:32,820
the key ingredient was photinia aquefolium,
a berry found only in the islands of Tahiti.
197
00:12:34,156 --> 00:12:37,408
The McKenzie brothers wasted
no time in packing their bags.
198
00:12:38,575 --> 00:12:42,038
What Colin and Brooke achieved in Tahiti
was actually quite an extraordinary
199
00:12:42,038 --> 00:12:43,873
feat of chemical engineering.
200
00:12:43,873 --> 00:12:46,752
They take the berries, they boil them up,
201
00:12:46,782 --> 00:12:49,670
they go through this complicated process
in a home-built laboratory
202
00:12:49,700 --> 00:12:50,838
under the palm trees.
203
00:12:51,339 --> 00:12:55,008
It takes him four and a half months
to produce 22 seconds of film.
204
00:12:56,344 --> 00:13:00,057
Full of anticipation, Colin immediately
embarked on a test.
205
00:13:02,058 --> 00:13:03,392
In this astonishing footage,
206
00:13:03,392 --> 00:13:06,103
Colin trains his lens on a
colorful tropical scene.
207
00:13:06,150 --> 00:13:08,780
but his carefully-composed
image is soon disrupted.
208
00:13:10,483 --> 00:13:13,443
He attempts to reframe, without success.
209
00:13:14,488 --> 00:13:17,368
The precious film rolls through
his camera and runs out.
210
00:13:20,034 --> 00:13:23,245
Confident their technical breakthrough
would restore their fortunes
211
00:13:23,275 --> 00:13:25,275
the brothers raced back to New Zealand.
212
00:13:26,290 --> 00:13:29,040
They quickly setup a screening for
potential investors.
213
00:13:30,294 --> 00:13:33,005
But the reaction was to prove
deeply disappointing.
214
00:13:36,300 --> 00:13:41,263
On June 9, 1912, they appeared before
Justice McRobey in the Dunedin High Court.
215
00:13:41,722 --> 00:13:45,227
Colin and Brooke were charged with
exhibiting a lewd document.
216
00:13:46,103 --> 00:13:49,105
An all male jury deliberated for 37 hours.
217
00:13:49,105 --> 00:13:53,734
Requesting repeat screenings of the film
before delivering a guilty verdict.
218
00:13:54,235 --> 00:13:56,654
Colin and Brooke were jailed for 6 months.
219
00:13:57,450 --> 00:13:59,120
With hard labor.
220
00:14:01,993 --> 00:14:06,080
Upon their release, the brothers returned
home, to their mother, in disgrace.
221
00:14:07,289 --> 00:14:10,376
What seems to have happened
then is really a transition in Colin.
222
00:14:10,376 --> 00:14:13,879
Up until this point in his career he had been
interested in the technicalities of filmmaking.
223
00:14:13,879 --> 00:14:18,468
He'd experimented with building cameras,
with sound, with color.
224
00:14:18,468 --> 00:14:21,512
And now, really for the first time, I think
225
00:14:21,512 --> 00:14:24,682
Colin started to think about
the artistic uses of film.
226
00:14:24,682 --> 00:14:28,810
He wanted to produce, on film, something
that was going to have a message for people.
227
00:14:28,810 --> 00:14:32,570
And he turned to the source
of all great messages.
228
00:14:36,903 --> 00:14:40,239
Colin became fascinated by one
Bible story in particular.
229
00:14:40,239 --> 00:14:43,451
Soon he announced his intention to
make a 20 minute film
230
00:14:43,451 --> 00:14:46,911
based on the tale of
Salome and John the Baptist.
231
00:14:49,623 --> 00:14:52,294
Colin's adaptation was loose and imaginative.
232
00:14:52,294 --> 00:14:54,962
Colin himself took the role of the Baptist.
233
00:14:56,881 --> 00:15:00,635
Brooke was chosen to play Narraboth,
Herod's handsome captain of guards.
234
00:15:00,635 --> 00:15:04,388
Colin's biggest problem was finding
a young woman to play Salome.
235
00:15:04,388 --> 00:15:06,932
All the girls round about had been warned off
236
00:15:06,932 --> 00:15:11,102
by their fathers, outraged by the
scandal he'd been involved in.
237
00:15:12,772 --> 00:15:17,109
And the girls who did show up
were certainly not suitable.
238
00:15:22,406 --> 00:15:23,741
And then
239
00:15:24,158 --> 00:15:26,243
He saw Maybelle.
240
00:15:27,620 --> 00:15:29,620
She took his breath away.
241
00:15:30,956 --> 00:15:35,086
Even before he realized what was happening,
Colin was in love.
242
00:15:38,005 --> 00:15:40,217
He told no one of his feelings.
243
00:15:45,471 --> 00:15:48,431
Maybelle proved to be an excellent actress.
244
00:15:48,849 --> 00:15:51,809
The chemistry between her and
Brooke was electric.
245
00:15:52,645 --> 00:15:54,563
They lit up the screen.
246
00:15:56,440 --> 00:16:01,237
Besotted with Maybelle, Colin moved his
camera nearer and nearer to her.
247
00:16:01,237 --> 00:16:03,989
In the process, he invented the close-up.
248
00:16:04,657 --> 00:16:06,242
But no matter how close he got,
249
00:16:06,272 --> 00:16:09,410
Colin failed to see what had developed
right under his nose.
250
00:16:11,455 --> 00:16:15,083
Brooke and Maybelle had
genuinely fallen in love.
251
00:16:16,877 --> 00:16:20,756
Concealing his bitterness, Colin toasted
the happy couple and wished them well.
252
00:16:20,756 --> 00:16:23,676
But a few days later, on the pretext of
exhaustion,
253
00:16:23,676 --> 00:16:25,846
he suspended filming.
254
00:16:25,846 --> 00:16:29,640
The adjournment was to last
longer than anyone expected.
255
00:16:33,727 --> 00:16:37,267
The onset of The Great War
led to a huge outpouring
256
00:16:36,326 --> 00:16:39,233
of patriotic sentiment in the
colonies of the British empire.
257
00:16:40,108 --> 00:16:43,904
You men rushed to enlist, eager to do their
bit for King and country.
258
00:16:44,905 --> 00:16:47,074
Amongst them was Brooke McKenzie.
259
00:16:47,491 --> 00:16:51,161
He and Maybelle had been married
only three weeks when he joined up.
260
00:16:51,328 --> 00:16:56,250
Colin tried to enlist too, but he
had flat feet and was classified unfit.
261
00:16:56,375 --> 00:16:58,669
He farewelled his brother with a heavy heart.
262
00:17:00,546 --> 00:17:03,757
Brooke McKenzie was part of the first
New Zealand expeditionary force
263
00:17:03,757 --> 00:17:07,469
that landed at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915.
264
00:17:08,179 --> 00:17:13,350
He came armed not only with a rifle,
but a lightweight camera, built by Colin.
265
00:17:16,562 --> 00:17:18,522
Here, seen for the very first time,
266
00:17:18,522 --> 00:17:22,902
is the only motion picture film shot by a
New Zealander at Gallipoli.
267
00:17:23,319 --> 00:17:26,530
Brooke's camera focuses not on
battles or explosions,
268
00:17:26,530 --> 00:17:28,824
but on the human face of the warfare.
269
00:17:28,854 --> 00:17:31,785
On his comrades of the Otago Mounted Rifles
270
00:17:31,815 --> 00:17:35,331
and their daily lives during the early
weeks of this tragic campaign.
271
00:17:45,216 --> 00:17:47,134
On June 11, 1915,
272
00:17:47,134 --> 00:17:50,638
Brooke McKenzie was hit by sniper
fire at Quinn's Post.
273
00:17:51,100 --> 00:17:53,891
He was carried by donkey down
to the beach dressing station.
274
00:17:53,921 --> 00:17:56,810
where he died, that night, of his wounds.
275
00:18:04,026 --> 00:18:06,695
Maybelle was hit hard by the news.
276
00:18:06,695 --> 00:18:08,697
She gave herself up to grief.
277
00:18:13,494 --> 00:18:15,664
It was Colin's blackest moment.
278
00:18:15,664 --> 00:18:19,375
He fell into a severe depression,
unable to work or sleep.
279
00:18:19,375 --> 00:18:21,043
He'd lost his brother.
280
00:18:21,503 --> 00:18:25,089
He'd lost his partner and so many
things they'd done together.
281
00:18:25,089 --> 00:18:27,466
It was a terrible time for Colin.
282
00:18:28,175 --> 00:18:31,470
Later that year, Colin McKenzie disappeared.
283
00:18:33,055 --> 00:18:35,140
He was last seen high on the Lewis Pass,
284
00:18:35,140 --> 00:18:38,143
walking alone towards
the rugged west coast.
285
00:18:43,439 --> 00:18:47,611
At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month, 1918,
286
00:18:47,611 --> 00:18:49,196
the Great War ended.
287
00:18:49,196 --> 00:18:53,325
After an absence of 3 years, Colin
McKenzie returned from the West Coast,
288
00:18:53,325 --> 00:18:55,828
and made an astonishing announcement.
289
00:18:55,950 --> 00:18:57,740
He would resume production of Salome,
290
00:18:58,038 --> 00:19:01,000
only this time he would work on
a massive scale.
291
00:19:01,293 --> 00:19:04,670
The film would become a four-hour epic
with a cast of thousands.
292
00:19:04,670 --> 00:19:07,798
a spectacular monument to his late
brother's memory.
293
00:19:08,299 --> 00:19:13,095
With evangelical fervor, Colin McKenzie
gathered together a small army of extras
294
00:19:13,095 --> 00:19:15,097
and headed back into the hills.
295
00:19:15,097 --> 00:19:19,101
Between the years 1915 and 1918, he
basically vanished off the face of the Earth.
296
00:19:20,601 --> 00:19:23,521
There's one clue, however. In his
collection of films
297
00:19:23,521 --> 00:19:26,775
there's a tiny snippet that is dated 1917
298
00:19:26,775 --> 00:19:31,405
and it shows a construction
of some sort going up in the hills.
299
00:19:31,405 --> 00:19:33,575
And what we now believe happened
was that he retreated
300
00:19:33,575 --> 00:19:37,871
into the most remote part of the country
and he built a huge city.
301
00:19:37,871 --> 00:19:42,415
This was the biggest man-made structure
ever to be built in this country.
302
00:19:42,850 --> 00:19:45,810
After days traveling through tough
and inhospitable terrain,
303
00:19:46,295 --> 00:19:49,839
Colin McKenzie's extras were confronted
with an incredible sight.
304
00:19:50,716 --> 00:19:52,300
Nestled in a hidden valley,
305
00:19:52,300 --> 00:19:56,555
covering an area the size of 7 football
fields, was a vast Biblical city.
306
00:19:56,680 --> 00:19:59,683
A fanciful recreation of ancient Jerusalem.
307
00:19:59,713 --> 00:20:01,851
With its richly-detailed market squares,
308
00:20:01,851 --> 00:20:05,563
grand staircases, and temples towering
hundreds of feet into the air,
309
00:20:05,563 --> 00:20:09,651
This was to be the setting of the greatest
motion picture ever shot in New Zealand.
310
00:20:11,070 --> 00:20:14,281
Early in 1994, a decision was made to
mount a search
311
00:20:14,281 --> 00:20:17,071
for the location of Colin McKenzie's lost city.
312
00:20:17,071 --> 00:20:22,201
Yeah, that could mean that it's in an area
where the vegetation kinda grows quickly.
313
00:20:22,623 --> 00:20:25,084
Because, you know, what better way to hide
a place like this
314
00:20:25,084 --> 00:20:28,044
than for the jungle and for the bush
to grow back over it.
315
00:20:28,044 --> 00:20:31,215
Yeah, it's likely to be in quite a sort of narrow valley.
316
00:20:35,886 --> 00:20:38,931
An isolated valley, three days' tramp from
Hokitika
317
00:20:38,961 --> 00:20:42,142
was chosen as the most promising area
for the search.
318
00:20:49,651 --> 00:20:52,946
The team headed into the
primordial west coast bush.
319
00:20:52,946 --> 00:20:57,408
Deep into the last great unexplored
region of forest in New Zealand.
320
00:21:01,662 --> 00:21:04,038
On February 22, 1919
321
00:21:04,038 --> 00:21:06,958
filming commenced on the new
version of Salome.
322
00:21:07,750 --> 00:21:10,796
Colin was ready for the
great task that lay ahead.
323
00:21:11,213 --> 00:21:15,926
In his mind's eye, he saw his film as it
would be, imagining every detail
324
00:21:15,926 --> 00:21:18,846
with a clarity of vision he had
never experienced before.
325
00:21:19,096 --> 00:21:21,266
Maybelle resumed her role of Salome.
326
00:21:21,850 --> 00:21:26,562
Channeling her grief into a creative energy
that delivered the performance of a lifetime.
327
00:21:27,937 --> 00:21:31,400
But after 5 days of frenzied shooting,
the production stalled.
328
00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:34,862
Colin McKenzie had run out of money.
329
00:21:35,736 --> 00:21:38,158
The disappointed extras returned home.
330
00:21:38,574 --> 00:21:40,284
Colin promised that filming would resume
331
00:21:40,284 --> 00:21:42,284
as soon as he had secured a source of finance.
332
00:21:43,579 --> 00:21:47,415
In the event, the money he needed
would come from an unusual alliance.
333
00:21:47,415 --> 00:21:50,376
I first heard of Colin McKenzie at
The Film Unit when I worked there.
334
00:21:50,376 --> 00:21:54,380
And there was an old chap there, called
Stan Wilson, who worked in the laboratory.
335
00:21:54,756 --> 00:21:57,218
And it was always rumored that Stan had
been a little bit damaged
336
00:21:57,218 --> 00:21:59,470
by chemicals that were no longer used
in the laboratory.
337
00:21:59,470 --> 00:22:02,806
He was the last of the damaged
technicians, poor old Stan,
338
00:22:02,806 --> 00:22:07,102
but he was a lovely old bloke, and good to
have a yarn with over afternoon tea
339
00:22:07,102 --> 00:22:09,771
and he'd talk about the early days of
cinema in New Zealand.
340
00:22:10,438 --> 00:22:13,399
He would often mention a fellow called
Colin McKenzie,
341
00:22:13,399 --> 00:22:15,986
who none of us knew anything about.
342
00:22:16,761 --> 00:22:19,591
Stan Wilson came from
a rich family of shopkeepers.
343
00:22:20,114 --> 00:22:23,327
He was a stage clown who dreamed
of fame in silent pictures.
344
00:22:23,452 --> 00:22:27,831
In 1921, he approached Colin and asked
him to film one of his vaudeville routines
345
00:22:27,831 --> 00:22:29,457
and he was willing to pay for it.
346
00:22:31,902 --> 00:22:33,879
The storyline took an unexpected turn
347
00:22:33,879 --> 00:22:36,840
when a passing schoolgirl
stepped in front of the camera.
348
00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:40,260
In my innocent kid's way, I went over.
349
00:22:40,260 --> 00:22:43,722
Probably told him I didn't think
it was very funny.
350
00:22:43,722 --> 00:22:47,206
And he didn't like that one little bit and
suddenly he lashed out.
351
00:22:47,809 --> 00:22:50,312
Smacked me right across the face.
352
00:22:50,882 --> 00:22:54,148
I gave him a darn good kick on the shins,
I remember that.
353
00:22:54,148 --> 00:22:57,277
The I burst into tears and cried
all the way home.
354
00:22:58,804 --> 00:23:03,535
Nobody said anything at the time, but when
they showed it to an audience the next day,
355
00:23:04,158 --> 00:23:09,289
The audience only laughed
when he hit the child.
356
00:23:09,289 --> 00:23:16,754
And Stan insisted they keep this violence
against the innocent in everything they did
357
00:23:16,754 --> 00:23:18,754
forever and a day.
358
00:23:20,311 --> 00:23:24,221
Well, "Stan the Man" was a pathetically
unfunny screen comedian.
359
00:23:24,221 --> 00:23:27,683
But he has a sort of a niche, a footnote
in film history, for one thing
360
00:23:27,683 --> 00:23:30,185
which he did in collaboration
with Colin McKenzie,
361
00:23:30,185 --> 00:23:32,729
which was kind-of a Candid Camera approach
362
00:23:32,858 --> 00:23:34,488
to silent comedy.
363
00:23:34,774 --> 00:23:37,693
He would pull these pranks,
which were not usually very funny,
364
00:23:38,033 --> 00:23:39,953
but they were completely spontaneous
365
00:23:40,241 --> 00:23:44,158
and he would surprise innocent people,
usually to their dismay
366
00:23:44,500 --> 00:23:49,170
and Colin would be filming it with another
of his inventions: a suitcase camera.
367
00:23:49,623 --> 00:23:52,165
So that it was actually unrehearsed and
spontaneous.
368
00:23:52,165 --> 00:23:55,712
Now, of course, it didn't take Colin much
time away from Salome to do these because
369
00:23:55,712 --> 00:23:57,629
they would all be done in one take.
370
00:23:58,838 --> 00:24:00,507
They would go around the country
371
00:24:00,507 --> 00:24:03,885
and make a different film in different towns,
you know.
372
00:24:03,885 --> 00:24:07,055
They'd go to Taihape and make
"Stan the Man in Taihape" or
373
00:24:07,085 --> 00:24:09,183
"Stan the Man in Palmy North"
374
00:24:09,891 --> 00:24:14,188
And show it, a week later, after Colin had
done all the editing and so-on
375
00:24:14,770 --> 00:24:18,610
in the town hall and collect bags of cash.
376
00:24:19,206 --> 00:24:22,916
Regularly, Colin would take the money he
earned from the "Stan the Man" comedies
377
00:24:23,287 --> 00:24:27,247
and go up into the mountains and continue
his first love, of course, which was Salome.
378
00:24:27,450 --> 00:24:31,456
Armed with 1700 pounds, the profits from
the first "Stan the Man" comedies,
379
00:24:31,456 --> 00:24:34,791
Colin returned to his Biblical city with
the cast of Salome.
380
00:24:35,752 --> 00:24:39,042
Unfortunately, before the cameras could roll,
the heavens opened,
381
00:24:39,115 --> 00:24:42,673
marking the beginning of a
seemingly endless deluge.
382
00:24:43,134 --> 00:24:46,974
The west coast recorded its highest
rainfall figures in 30 years.
383
00:24:47,601 --> 00:24:48,521
In six weeks,
384
00:24:48,997 --> 00:24:51,707
Colin shot only 3 minutes of film.
385
00:24:53,599 --> 00:24:55,059
There was only one bright spot in the gloom.
386
00:24:56,379 --> 00:24:59,759
Maybelle's affection for Colin was growing.
387
00:25:03,106 --> 00:25:04,486
His finances exhausted,
388
00:25:04,939 --> 00:25:08,367
Colin reluctantly resumed his
partnership with "Stan the Man".
389
00:25:14,966 --> 00:25:18,876
The following summer, Colin returned
to the mountains, and Salome.
390
00:25:19,369 --> 00:25:22,369
It was the hottest summer in 30 years.
391
00:25:22,650 --> 00:25:25,424
Dozens of extras were felled by heatstroke.
392
00:25:25,910 --> 00:25:27,790
They demanded more money.
393
00:25:28,295 --> 00:25:29,885
There was none to give.
394
00:25:30,950 --> 00:25:32,307
With a heavy heart,
395
00:25:32,307 --> 00:25:36,395
Colin McKenzie returned to his only
dependable source of finance.
396
00:25:47,454 --> 00:25:51,244
Stan the Man finally pushed his luck
too far one day in Buller.
397
00:25:53,493 --> 00:25:56,073
The day's shooting started normally
enough for Stan and Colin.
398
00:26:01,876 --> 00:26:04,336
By lunchtime, Stan was hitting his stride.
399
00:26:05,562 --> 00:26:10,112
But at 3:30 that afternoon, Stan 'the Man'
Wilson was to learn a hard lesson.
400
00:26:12,039 --> 00:26:16,789
Stan spots a fresh victim. A dignified-looking
gentleman standing alone with his wife.
401
00:26:19,421 --> 00:26:24,251
Unfortunately, he fails to recognize Gordon
Coates, the Prime Minister of New Zealand.
402
00:26:34,270 --> 00:26:37,520
Exhibiting a steely nerve that would
serve him well in later life,
403
00:26:37,873 --> 00:26:40,923
Colin continues filming with his
suitcase camera.
404
00:26:47,171 --> 00:26:51,461
Stan was in the wrong place, at the wrong
time, with the wrong sense of humor.
405
00:26:53,596 --> 00:26:56,186
But what happened was,
since Colin was filming all of this,
406
00:26:56,720 --> 00:27:00,021
it was sort of a forerunner of the
Rodney King tape.
407
00:27:00,062 --> 00:27:02,482
Sixty years before that ever came to light
408
00:27:02,801 --> 00:27:06,431
because he had evidence of all these
Secret-Service-type policemen
409
00:27:07,539 --> 00:27:10,864
beating the living daylights out
of poor Stan the Man.
410
00:27:11,750 --> 00:27:14,659
"Stan the Man in Buller" was Stan Wilson
and Colin McKenzie's
411
00:27:14,659 --> 00:27:16,536
greatest commercial success.
412
00:27:16,566 --> 00:27:18,789
It went straight to Stan's head.
413
00:27:19,222 --> 00:27:21,352
Well Stan, misguided soul that he was,
414
00:27:21,648 --> 00:27:26,251
thought that the notoriety of "Stan the
Man in Buller" was due to his talent.
415
00:27:26,251 --> 00:27:30,008
He didn't understand that it was
sort of a piece of news.
416
00:27:30,008 --> 00:27:33,298
You know, an incredible actuality
417
00:27:32,550 --> 00:27:35,470
involving the Prime Minister and
all the government police.
418
00:27:35,810 --> 00:27:39,810
So he got it into his head that this
would be his ticket to Hollywood.
419
00:27:39,810 --> 00:27:45,980
Because the film, in fact, was shown in America
and got him a small, brief, bit of notoriety.
420
00:27:46,191 --> 00:27:49,111
So he came to Hollywood thinking that
he'd be greeted with open arms
421
00:27:49,111 --> 00:27:51,151
and would be perhaps the next Chaplin.
422
00:27:51,793 --> 00:27:56,093
What he was, was the next unknown
standing on a line to get a job.
423
00:27:58,260 --> 00:28:00,560
Despite the end of their lucrative association.
424
00:28:01,217 --> 00:28:04,544
Colin was secretly pleased to see
the back of Stan Wilson.
425
00:28:06,642 --> 00:28:09,352
Colin's personal life, at least, was more settled.
426
00:28:09,682 --> 00:28:13,482
On December 4, 1926, he married Maybelle.
427
00:28:17,846 --> 00:28:20,186
Hey, look, there's a bottle!
428
00:28:20,216 --> 00:28:22,394
What?
- Bottle.
429
00:28:25,229 --> 00:28:29,234
About the right period too. It's got that
moulded sort of feel to it.
430
00:28:29,264 --> 00:28:31,403
That's the way they made bottles
back in those days.
431
00:28:32,882 --> 00:28:36,002
The finding of a bottle
encouraged the searchers.
432
00:28:38,828 --> 00:28:43,415
A disintegrating wagon found nearby
seemed to confirm their excitement.
433
00:28:43,415 --> 00:28:45,415
Let's just get a photo of this.
- I'll get it.
434
00:28:46,252 --> 00:28:48,545
Hey, Johnny, what sort of period
do you reckon this is?
435
00:28:50,650 --> 00:28:53,508
More discoveries were to come.
- We've got a road up here.
436
00:28:53,593 --> 00:28:55,803
Come take a look at this, Pete.
- Look at that.
437
00:28:56,852 --> 00:28:58,602
What in the hell's a road doing here?
438
00:28:58,893 --> 00:29:00,813
After days of fruitless searching,
439
00:29:01,111 --> 00:29:04,441
would this road lead the team to
Colin McKenzie's lost city?
440
00:29:04,441 --> 00:29:06,441
It keeps on going down here.
441
00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:10,859
So, is there any road here at all?
- No!
442
00:29:11,482 --> 00:29:14,072
No road there and no reason for a road.
443
00:29:16,095 --> 00:29:19,635
Colin's efforts to raise funds for
Salome all proved futile.
444
00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:24,300
He approached local impresarios and
captains of industry without success.
445
00:29:24,780 --> 00:29:28,360
Ultimately, the backing he needed so
desperately would come from Hollywood.
446
00:29:28,768 --> 00:29:30,648
and a producer named Rex Solomon.
447
00:29:30,944 --> 00:29:34,614
Rex Solomon was a self-made man who
became a millionaire,
448
00:29:35,026 --> 00:29:38,066
oddly enough, by selling Bibles
and Bible paraphernalia.
449
00:29:38,410 --> 00:29:40,931
And was very devout and very sincere
450
00:29:40,931 --> 00:29:44,731
in his beliefs and in his interests
in the Bible and religion.
451
00:29:45,928 --> 00:29:49,518
By 1929, Solomon's studio,
"Majestic Lion Pictures",
452
00:29:49,926 --> 00:29:51,926
was turning out a dozen pictures a year,
453
00:29:52,228 --> 00:29:54,308
all drawn from the Bible.
454
00:29:55,476 --> 00:29:58,316
Colin McKenzie knew the
financier's business reputation
455
00:29:58,652 --> 00:30:00,732
He was determined to meet with him.
456
00:30:00,825 --> 00:30:02,285
They met quite by chance
457
00:30:03,213 --> 00:30:06,093
when Solomon went on a fishing
expedition to New Zealand.
458
00:30:06,150 --> 00:30:08,833
McKenzie had already been making,
or trying to make,
459
00:30:08,833 --> 00:30:12,170
his epic film of Salome for
5 years when he met Rex Solomon
460
00:30:12,170 --> 00:30:14,090
and this was just propitious timing
461
00:30:14,074 --> 00:30:18,744
because Solomon looked at it, realized the
potential of the film, and decided to back it.
462
00:30:19,155 --> 00:30:23,758
and put his not inconsiderable funds behind
Colin McKenzie to get the film completed.
463
00:30:23,758 --> 00:30:26,258
The paperwork was completed
with little formality.
464
00:30:26,579 --> 00:30:29,922
Solomon agreed to a total budget of £100,000
465
00:30:29,922 --> 00:30:33,212
immediately advancing one quarter
of this in cash.
466
00:30:33,921 --> 00:30:36,131
15,000 extras were hired.
467
00:30:36,742 --> 00:30:39,992
Men, women, and children were
recruited from all around the district.
468
00:30:42,126 --> 00:30:44,619
With the fervor of a general waging
a campaign,
469
00:30:44,619 --> 00:30:48,665
Colin assembled and rehearsed his extras
for the biggest scene of his career.
470
00:30:48,665 --> 00:30:51,205
A spectacular battle between Herod's troops
471
00:30:51,549 --> 00:30:54,679
and a rag-tag army of messianic
fundamentalists.
472
00:30:55,069 --> 00:30:58,989
This single sequence swallowed the entire
£25,000 advance.
473
00:31:00,234 --> 00:31:02,324
But Colin was undeterred.
474
00:31:02,670 --> 00:31:04,750
Rex Solomon was a rich man.
475
00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:14,110
On a single day in October 1929,
476
00:31:14,607 --> 00:31:17,445
Rex Solomon lost his entire fortune.
477
00:31:18,402 --> 00:31:21,322
It was no less a disaster for Colin McKenzie.
478
00:31:21,989 --> 00:31:24,534
For once, however, luck was on his side.
479
00:31:27,203 --> 00:31:30,873
As capitalism crumbled on Wall Street,
480
00:31:28,421 --> 00:31:31,206
halfway across the globe Communism
was about to flex its muscle.
481
00:31:32,150 --> 00:31:35,950
Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin introduced
a propaganda drive.
482
00:31:35,981 --> 00:31:39,674
The spirit of the revolution was to be
spread throughout the capitalist West
483
00:31:39,674 --> 00:31:42,014
by any means necessary.
484
00:31:43,427 --> 00:31:46,389
This it was, in 1930, that Colin received a
deputation
485
00:31:46,389 --> 00:31:48,950
from the New Zealand Communist Party.
486
00:31:50,007 --> 00:31:55,315
These documents record a transaction
which took place in October 1930
487
00:31:54,953 --> 00:31:57,942
between my government and Colin McKenzie.
488
00:31:57,942 --> 00:31:59,942
The agreement was that the money
489
00:32:00,388 --> 00:32:04,657
was going to be used for the completion
of the revolutionary epic
490
00:32:04,814 --> 00:32:08,745
documenting the class struggles
of ancient times.
491
00:32:08,745 --> 00:32:10,705
Leading a new army of extras,
492
00:32:10,705 --> 00:32:14,417
Colin returned to the city
he had built on the west coast.
493
00:32:14,959 --> 00:32:17,462
But the Soviet's cash had strings attached:
494
00:32:17,462 --> 00:32:19,172
Colin was forced to removed all religious
references from his Biblical epic.
495
00:32:22,218 --> 00:32:24,678
The Baptist became a socialist dissident.
496
00:32:24,678 --> 00:32:27,058
Herod became a fascist money lender.
497
00:32:27,097 --> 00:32:31,352
While Salome became a prostitute
who abandons her evil ways
498
00:32:31,352 --> 00:32:34,230
and learns the skills of collective bargaining.
499
00:32:35,146 --> 00:32:38,526
Colin hated the new version.
Loathed it. Despised it.
500
00:32:39,609 --> 00:32:41,649
Barely took it seriously.
501
00:32:41,986 --> 00:32:45,240
What he was doing was making two versions:
502
00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:48,119
one for him and one for the Soviets.
503
00:32:48,548 --> 00:32:51,704
So, if he took 5 takes for him,
504
00:32:51,955 --> 00:32:54,707
one would do for the Soviets.
505
00:32:56,750 --> 00:32:58,910
As Salome neared completion,
506
00:32:59,012 --> 00:33:00,672
Colin and Maybelle were overjoyed
507
00:33:00,672 --> 00:33:03,550
to discover they were expecting
their first child.
508
00:33:03,750 --> 00:33:06,790
However, a bomb shell was in store.
509
00:33:07,009 --> 00:33:09,654
Early in 1931, Colin received a telegram
510
00:33:09,654 --> 00:33:11,784
from the Palermo Motion Picture Company.
511
00:33:12,650 --> 00:33:15,740
The Palermo brothers were ruthless
and unscrupulous money men
512
00:33:16,050 --> 00:33:19,680
who now owned Rex Solomon's assets,
including Salome.
513
00:33:20,151 --> 00:33:23,821
They demanded immediate
delivery of the unfinished film.
514
00:33:24,612 --> 00:33:27,407
The Soviet investors, too, were
growing impatient
515
00:33:27,437 --> 00:33:29,784
and their threats were equally intimidating.
516
00:33:31,115 --> 00:33:35,790
Working under conditions of unbelievable
pressure, Colin raced to finish Salome.
517
00:33:37,457 --> 00:33:39,211
Barely pausing to eat or sleep
518
00:33:39,211 --> 00:33:41,831
he worked his cast and crew into the ground.
519
00:33:42,297 --> 00:33:43,631
To make matters worse,
520
00:33:43,631 --> 00:33:45,925
the Palermo brothers had arrived in
New Zealand
521
00:33:45,925 --> 00:33:47,551
and they were searching for Colin.
522
00:33:48,429 --> 00:33:50,930
Desperate to finish the last 20 shots of Salome,
523
00:33:50,930 --> 00:33:54,180
Colin worked his crew for 72 hours non-stop.
524
00:33:54,825 --> 00:33:59,315
He failed to realize the terrible toll the
stress of filming was taking on Maybelle.
525
00:34:00,063 --> 00:34:03,943
With one shot left to shoot, Maybelle collapsed.
526
00:34:05,904 --> 00:34:09,491
Maybelle went into early and violent labor.
527
00:34:09,865 --> 00:34:12,534
Nobody could stop the bleeding.
528
00:34:13,036 --> 00:34:17,831
The child, a boy, had no chance.
And neither did she.
529
00:34:18,483 --> 00:34:21,113
The both died in Colin's arms.
530
00:34:29,350 --> 00:34:34,230
Colin was torn between guilt and despair.
531
00:34:34,081 --> 00:34:36,017
Guilt over Maybelle
532
00:34:36,017 --> 00:34:41,021
and despair because he'd finished the film,
but at what a cost.
533
00:34:42,356 --> 00:34:43,776
And besides all that,
534
00:34:44,108 --> 00:34:47,403
He was afraid that Palermo Pictures
or the Soviets
535
00:34:47,403 --> 00:34:49,613
would claim Salome.
536
00:34:51,199 --> 00:34:54,827
He made a very drastic decision:
537
00:34:55,754 --> 00:35:01,543
He took all the film - cans and cans
of it - and buried it
538
00:35:01,543 --> 00:35:04,255
right after he buried his family.
539
00:35:04,450 --> 00:35:10,176
After the death of Maybelle, Colin had only
one thing on his mind: escape.
540
00:35:11,387 --> 00:35:13,471
On July 27, 1931,
541
00:35:13,471 --> 00:35:17,518
Colin McKenzie sailed away from
New Zealand, never to return.
542
00:35:27,593 --> 00:35:31,238
There's some concrete down underneath here.
Look, look, look!
543
00:35:32,198 --> 00:35:35,034
Look, Johnny! There's some steps.
544
00:35:35,064 --> 00:35:37,050
Look, see? Steps.
545
00:35:37,550 --> 00:35:40,550
73 miles from civilization, the team had
found a grand concrete stair.
546
00:35:43,126 --> 00:35:45,176
Here were ruined arches.
547
00:35:46,379 --> 00:35:49,132
What's it look made of?
- And fallen columns.
548
00:35:51,342 --> 00:35:55,555
All around was the crumbling debris
of a huge man-made structure.
549
00:35:55,950 --> 00:35:58,750
But the extent of the find was still unclear.
550
00:35:59,950 --> 00:36:01,561
Working at fever pitch,
551
00:36:01,561 --> 00:36:04,105
the searchers began attacking the
dense vegetation,
552
00:36:04,105 --> 00:36:07,233
eager to discover the secrets which lay beneath.
553
00:36:08,650 --> 00:36:13,823
After a week of solid effort, the team's
work was starting to pay off.
554
00:36:23,290 --> 00:36:27,170
Colin disembarked into the heat
and bustle of Algiers in 1931.
555
00:36:27,500 --> 00:36:29,756
Notorious as a haven for vice and corruption,
556
00:36:29,756 --> 00:36:33,469
North Africa was the perfect place for
a man who did not want to be found.
557
00:36:34,950 --> 00:36:38,388
At the age of 43, Colin McKenzie, bought
his first drink.
558
00:36:38,388 --> 00:36:42,017
and began a lost weekend that that
would continue over five years.
559
00:36:43,728 --> 00:36:47,023
He might have easily ended his days
in an African prison or hospital,
560
00:36:47,023 --> 00:36:49,442
had it not been a accident of fate.
561
00:36:52,862 --> 00:36:56,074
In 1936, the military garrison in
Spanish Morocco
562
00:36:56,074 --> 00:36:58,664
mutinied against the Republican government.
563
00:37:01,187 --> 00:37:03,623
That revolt was to escalate into the
bloody struggle
564
00:37:03,623 --> 00:37:06,459
we know today as the Spanish Civil War.
565
00:37:11,923 --> 00:37:14,258
Newsreel crews flock to the scene.
566
00:37:14,258 --> 00:37:16,260
Amongst them was Colin McKenzie,
567
00:37:16,260 --> 00:37:19,054
determined to regain his self-worth.
568
00:37:20,350 --> 00:37:22,766
Colin was not the only New Zealanders in Spain:
569
00:37:22,766 --> 00:37:25,770
A young nurse from Auckland named
Hannah Simpson was there,
570
00:37:25,770 --> 00:37:27,563
working for the Red Cross.
571
00:37:27,563 --> 00:37:32,860
Colin came in with a small shrapnel wound,
just needed a few stitches,
572
00:37:33,403 --> 00:37:35,033
but he hung about.
573
00:37:35,613 --> 00:37:39,493
And I kept watching. There was something
special about this man.
574
00:37:41,580 --> 00:37:45,915
And we began to talk about New Zealand.
It was a long time since he'd been there.
575
00:37:45,915 --> 00:37:50,962
And it all came out! His whole life,
he told me about.
576
00:37:50,962 --> 00:37:53,756
We scarcely ever were apart.
577
00:37:54,132 --> 00:37:56,634
He was twice my age,
578
00:37:57,010 --> 00:38:00,638
but that seemed to have no significance at all.
579
00:38:01,514 --> 00:38:06,853
I'd just seemed to have found someone
who understood me completely.
580
00:38:06,883 --> 00:38:08,730
As I understood him.
581
00:38:08,730 --> 00:38:13,030
There was no time for a honeymoon.
Colin left next day for the front.
582
00:38:13,776 --> 00:38:17,530
I mean, it's so frustrating that the trail
runs cold at the end of 1937.
583
00:38:17,530 --> 00:38:19,948
We have one last photograph of
Colin McKenzie,
584
00:38:19,948 --> 00:38:21,742
which is of him and the troops.
585
00:38:23,162 --> 00:38:25,829
We've faxed and telephoned
every film archive,
586
00:38:25,829 --> 00:38:30,501
every film museum, reference house -
all around the world - that we can think of
587
00:38:30,501 --> 00:38:33,254
and the name of Colin McKenzie just
doesn't surface anywhere.
588
00:38:33,254 --> 00:38:35,298
I mean, he just vanishes off the
face of the Earth.
589
00:38:46,894 --> 00:38:51,438
Colin McKenzie's lost city has been released
from the strangle hold of the western bush.
590
00:38:51,673 --> 00:38:55,109
The searchers were stunned by
the enormity of Colin's vision.
591
00:38:55,317 --> 00:38:58,317
But the site had not yet given up all
of its secrets.
592
00:39:06,782 --> 00:39:09,790
Under the remains of a ruined temple,
marked with the sign of Taurus,
593
00:39:09,790 --> 00:39:12,502
was the entrance to an underground passage.
594
00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:18,620
The tunnel led to a hidden vault.
595
00:39:23,228 --> 00:39:26,858
Inside was a sight to rival the most
opulant Egyptian tomb.
596
00:39:27,847 --> 00:39:29,852
Massive statues,
597
00:39:30,408 --> 00:39:33,523
exquisite handmade costumes
and elaborate props,
598
00:39:34,094 --> 00:39:36,514
finely-crafted swords and shields,
599
00:39:37,227 --> 00:39:39,570
Laying undisturbed for 60 years.
600
00:39:39,570 --> 00:39:43,200
This was Colin McKenzie's storeroom
for the production of Salome.
601
00:39:43,435 --> 00:39:46,945
But his greatest treasure surpassed all ends.
602
00:39:49,540 --> 00:39:52,793
Here we go. And 3, 2, 1...
603
00:40:00,241 --> 00:40:02,241
Hey! Bingo!
604
00:40:00,241 --> 00:40:02,701
The crypt held thousands of feet
of processed film
605
00:40:03,052 --> 00:40:04,762
in hundreds of cans.
606
00:40:05,040 --> 00:40:06,138
It was all there.
607
00:40:06,582 --> 00:40:09,712
Every scene Colin had shot for Salome.
608
00:40:10,924 --> 00:40:14,264
Colin would have wanted Salome to be finished.
609
00:40:15,485 --> 00:40:20,495
He was so afraid that the Palermo
people, or the Soviets,
610
00:40:20,921 --> 00:40:24,751
would take his precious film and mangle it
611
00:40:26,044 --> 00:40:29,544
that he really wasn't in his right
mind when he buried it.
612
00:40:29,907 --> 00:40:32,947
Colin would want Salome to be seen.
613
00:40:35,384 --> 00:40:38,554
Once the decision had been made to
go ahead with the restoration of Salome,
614
00:40:38,950 --> 00:40:43,540
John O'Shea, the doyen of New Zealand
filmmakers, was asked to oversee the task.
615
00:40:44,454 --> 00:40:47,214
Interpreting what he wanted is very difficult
616
00:40:47,536 --> 00:40:50,223
but an editor is always faced with the
problems of
617
00:40:50,223 --> 00:40:53,644
filling a director's wishes as best you can.
618
00:40:53,659 --> 00:40:56,709
If he was here, of course, he'd tell you
what to do, but
619
00:40:57,220 --> 00:41:00,270
an editor has got to try and divine what
620
00:41:01,614 --> 00:41:02,944
was in his mind.
621
00:41:03,998 --> 00:41:06,341
With financial support from the
New Zealand Film Commission,
622
00:41:06,341 --> 00:41:09,011
the painstaking restoration
proceeded smoothly.
623
00:41:09,450 --> 00:41:11,203
A gala premier was planned
624
00:41:11,203 --> 00:41:13,874
for New Zealand's most extraordinary
feature film.
625
00:41:13,900 --> 00:41:16,318
However, 3 days before this event,
626
00:41:16,350 --> 00:41:20,212
the Colin McKenzie saga was to deliver
one final twist.
627
00:41:20,212 --> 00:41:22,923
Six months ago, we wrote to every
Spanish film archive
628
00:41:22,923 --> 00:41:24,759
requesting footage from the Spanish Civil War
629
00:41:24,759 --> 00:41:27,479
that was credited to a cameraman
named Colin McKenzie.
630
00:41:27,650 --> 00:41:31,432
In the last six months, nothing has turned up.
Not one foot of film.
631
00:41:31,432 --> 00:41:32,772
Until this morning.
632
00:41:37,392 --> 00:41:38,902
This roll of film here
633
00:41:39,173 --> 00:41:43,513
was confiscated by the fascists at the
Battle of Malaga in 1937.
634
00:41:44,254 --> 00:41:48,514
It's been sitting in an obscure Spanish
archive all this time, almost 60 years,
635
00:41:49,992 --> 00:41:54,288
and it's credited to a cameraman
named C. McKenzie.
636
00:41:55,511 --> 00:41:59,011
When we screened the film this morning,
we couldn't believe what we were looking at.
637
00:42:05,892 --> 00:42:09,142
The minutes tick by until
the order to charge is given.
638
00:42:09,880 --> 00:42:13,050
The Battle of Malaga was one of
the fiercest of the war.
639
00:42:19,481 --> 00:42:22,261
Here we see that Colin is right behind the
Republican troops
640
00:42:22,261 --> 00:42:24,511
as they charge Franco's fascists.
641
00:42:27,165 --> 00:42:31,784
Intent on filming the action, Colin is
oblivious to personal danger.
642
00:42:40,109 --> 00:42:44,797
As a fresh assault begins, a soldier falls
directly in front of Colin.
643
00:42:47,325 --> 00:42:49,155
Colin puts the camera down.
644
00:42:49,751 --> 00:42:51,171
He runs to help.
645
00:42:51,531 --> 00:42:52,571
He stumbles.
646
00:42:58,612 --> 00:43:00,572
Both men are killed.
647
00:43:13,377 --> 00:43:15,507
On September 3, 1995,
648
00:43:15,814 --> 00:43:18,524
The New Zealand film and television industry
649
00:43:18,550 --> 00:43:21,417
gathered for a very special premier.
650
00:43:25,238 --> 00:43:29,320
There has never been a movie,
which has taken so long
651
00:43:29,320 --> 00:43:32,178
between conception and completion,
652
00:43:32,178 --> 00:43:34,218
and I predict there has never been a movie
653
00:43:34,359 --> 00:43:36,269
which has given a first night audience
654
00:43:36,682 --> 00:43:41,384
such a voyage of discovery as you're
about to embark on now.
655
00:43:41,044 --> 00:43:44,023
I'm greatly honored to introduce the
world premier of
656
00:43:44,023 --> 00:43:46,573
Colin McKenzie's "Salome".
657
00:43:58,650 --> 00:44:02,820
As the story opens, a group of women
and children await death.
658
00:44:03,151 --> 00:44:06,531
The tyrant, King Herod has chosen
to make an example of them.
659
00:44:21,850 --> 00:44:25,060
John the Baptist angrily denounces
the massacre.
660
00:44:25,650 --> 00:44:28,860
Watching him is Herod's stepdaughter, Salome.
661
00:44:33,390 --> 00:44:36,492
John's defiance quickly leads to his arrest.
662
00:44:45,150 --> 00:44:47,794
Later, Salome meets her lover, Narraboth,
663
00:44:47,794 --> 00:44:50,044
he is Herod's captain of guards.
664
00:45:10,526 --> 00:45:13,866
Deep in the cells, John continues
preaching against Herod
665
00:45:14,012 --> 00:45:15,632
and his evils ways.
666
00:45:16,300 --> 00:45:20,619
He proclaims the coming of the Messiah
and the end of false kings.
667
00:46:24,750 --> 00:46:28,960
Spurned by John, Salome goes to seek
her revenge with the king.
668
00:47:16,193 --> 00:47:18,904
John's preaching reaches a fever pitch.
669
00:47:19,192 --> 00:47:21,192
He incites the people to riot.
670
00:48:52,664 --> 00:48:54,458
With her dance completed,
671
00:48:54,458 --> 00:48:57,418
it is time for Salome to tell Herod her wish.
672
00:49:15,972 --> 00:49:19,316
Having made his promise, Herod
cannot refuse.
673
00:51:17,650 --> 00:51:20,772
We've got to get The Academy to recognize
674
00:51:20,772 --> 00:51:24,032
that Colin McKenzie is one of the great
filmmakers of our time
675
00:51:24,032 --> 00:51:27,903
and I'm gonna fight for it to qualify
as the best film.
676
00:51:28,610 --> 00:51:30,906
I was quite staggered. I mean,
677
00:51:30,906 --> 00:51:34,733
we all think that we've sort of been
the pioneers in New Zealand film
678
00:51:34,733 --> 00:51:37,113
but this was made
679
00:51:37,388 --> 00:51:39,388
50 years before
680
00:51:39,908 --> 00:51:44,545
any of us really thought about the possibility
of making a feature film in New Zealand.
681
00:51:44,729 --> 00:51:48,769
When you name Lumiere, and Edison,
and on through D.W. Griffith,
682
00:51:49,280 --> 00:51:51,830
in the pantheon of film pioneers.
683
00:51:52,154 --> 00:51:55,807
I don't think there's any question that
now we have to make room there
684
00:51:55,807 --> 00:51:57,767
for the name of Colin McKenzie.
685
00:51:58,141 --> 00:52:00,351
I think that if Colin were alive today
686
00:52:00,661 --> 00:52:03,711
and he saw the hour that
we took out of his movie
687
00:52:03,855 --> 00:52:05,649
he would be absolutely thrilled.
688
00:52:05,649 --> 00:52:10,489
He was never alive to see
the complete 3-hour version
689
00:52:10,918 --> 00:52:13,991
and I'm sure he would agree
with us with no problem.
690
00:52:14,427 --> 00:52:17,307
Colin was a man of immense talent
691
00:52:18,467 --> 00:52:22,248
and a broad and deep imagination.
692
00:52:23,163 --> 00:52:25,533
And like people of that kind,
693
00:52:25,850 --> 00:52:28,060
he had, I think, a cracking point.
694
00:52:29,286 --> 00:52:32,206
He ran away. He ran away from
his father's anger.
695
00:52:32,545 --> 00:52:34,585
He ran away from New Zealand.
696
00:52:34,888 --> 00:52:38,428
In a sense, when he buried the film,
697
00:52:39,011 --> 00:52:40,681
he was running away.
698
00:52:42,312 --> 00:52:45,939
But those episodes shouldn't diminish
699
00:52:46,940 --> 00:52:49,736
his strength
700
00:52:50,527 --> 00:52:53,572
as a creative human being.
62825
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