Wednesday, March 16, 2011

30 years since 'Goodbye Pork Pie'


New Zealand's best known and most popular road movie was released in NZ in 1981 - Goodbye Pork Pie - in which a yellow 1978 Morris Mini 1000 (a stolen rental car) is taken from Kaitaia near the top of the North Island to Invercargill at the bottom of the South Island, part of the way - from Wellington to somewhere on the West Coast of the South Island - in an empty railway boxcar.  It was filmed in late 1979 and first screened overseas in 1980.

The three stars, a boisterous guy about twenty, a nymphomaniac gal in her early twenties, and an older guy are all impecunious party types and their antics aren't intended for serious thinkers.  Along the way parts of the car are sold for cash so its end appearance is rather sorry.  This car features in the entrance to the NZ Film Commission offices in Wellington.

These two stills are taken in Lambton Quay (all the buildings in the background have since been replaced) and Panama Street, Wellington, respectively. 

The choice of car may have been an inspiration for the lime green and black mini used in the Mr Bean UK comedy series.

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