Letters to the editor: positive responses What a hoot! If anyone will go down in Kiwi, nay in world
cinematic history, it will be this
innovative film maker. We sat down to watch an interesting and promising doco on a pioneer
of NZ cinematography (Forgotten Silver, TV1, October 28), and could only marvel at the
work and ingenuity that went into this huge, hilarious practical joke. The secrecy alone
would have been a major feat. I can't recall exactly when we cottoned on to the scam. I
think it was somewhere round the 2000 dozen eggs, but well before the city in the
hills. The digital imaging of the newspaper was a big clue as well. The rolling camera
in the Spanish Civil War was a good touch. It almost brought tears to the eye ...tears
of laughter. I have always been a big fan of Peter Jackson and
his movies. He is a man with an extraordinarily macabre sense of humour. Let's have
more of it. The lesson to be learnt from this doco is the camera CAN tell a lie. Don't
believe everything you see, hear, or read. Full marks to TV1 for going along with
the gag. When it comes to quality viewing they invariably come up with winners. Well done Peter Jackson for the creation of such an 'important'
documentary on previously
unknown film pioneer Colin McKenzie. Yes, I too would love to believe that Richard Pearce
had his first flight filmed, to shove in the noses of the Wright brothers enthusiasts.
Now, will the real genius of 20th century filmmaking in NZ please stand up - or do we
have to hark back to a certain Orson Welles radio play for a reality cheek? It was obvious early on, from the dozens of inconsistencies,
that the whole thing was a put
up job. What really gave the game away (if filming his own death wasn't enough) was the
footage of Richard Pearse and his flying machine. There were many witnesses to Richard's
flights in 1902 and 1903 and not one, in their sworn affidavits, ever mentioned a filmmaker. The Forgotten Silver hoax has caused something of a stir.
Without being too cynical, one might observe that it should serve as a timely reminder to
viewers not to take too uncritically the content of other so-called documentaries. On Monday, October 30, the aggrieved stormed the palaces
in their thousands. Actually,
angry licence-fee payers phoned NZ On Air and upset readers phoned this magazine, all because
they felt conned. The occasion, of course, was the hoax of the decade - Peter Jackson and
Costa Botes's Forgotten Silver. In an industry that finds it impossible to keep a secret
for more than five seconds, this was also the best-kept secret of the decade. Even, we
understand, NZ On Air boss Chris Prowse was briefly fooled, and Creative New Zealand got
excited over this world-class director from our past. A problem remains - will Forgotten
Silver be nominated as documentary, drama or comedy at next year's Film and TV Awards?
And will the heat have cooled down enough by then for Jackson and Botes to show their faces? Softened up by the Listener article, "Heavenly features"
(October 28), I delighted in Montana
Sunday Theatre: Forgotten Silver (TV1, October 29). Little question marks, a few major strains
of credibility, but fascinated to the end. Congratulations to the perpetrators - it was the best New Zealand
entertainment in 10 years! The producers have done us all a service by showing how easy
it is to hoodwink a viewing public
that has been conditioned to believe that anything labeled "documentary" is necessarily the
truth. What a documentary about a brilliant New Zealander
on Montana Sunday Theatre on
television. His genius amazed me, and I sat enthralled as this man's talents were
unfolded. I could not understand the ignorance of those who refused to invest money in
his epic movie; I wept at the sadness of his deep love for his leading lady who loved
his brother; and the tears flowed copiously when his brother died in the war. His
happiness mirrored my own when he finally wed his life-long love; and his death,
while a cameraman at the front, almost shattered me. |