Goodbye Pork Pie

Infobox Film
name = Goodbye Pork Pie


imdb_id = 0082464
writer = Geoff Murphy
Ian Mune
starring = Tony Barry
Kelly Johnston
Bruno Lawrence
director = Geoff Murphy
cinematography = Alun Bollinger
editing = Michael J. Horton
producer = Geoff Murphy
Nigel Hutchinson
released = 1981
runtime = 105 min.
language = English
country = New Zealand

Goodbye Pork Pie is a 1981 (international release) film directed by Geoff Murphy and written by Geoff Murphy and Ian Mune. The film is considered to be one of New Zealand's most popular films, and is occasionally considered New Zealand's equivalent of Easy Rider.It was filmed during November 1979, and during filming, utilized only 24 cast and crew. Its overheads were surprisingly minimal, to the point that the Holden Police cars used doubled as crew and towing vehicles, and that the director Geoff Murphy, performed some of the stunts himself.

Plot

"Goodbye Pork Pie" is set in the Spring of 1978. The film's story is centered around Gerry Austin, a confused 19 year old on a North Island-South Island road trip the length of New Zealand. Gerry is played by Kelly Johnson.

At the top of the North Island in Kaitaia, Austin opportunistically steals a wallet (although only after trying to return it) accidentally dropped by a wealthy woman named Lesley Morris. He uses the identity inside and takes on her name of Lesley. With his new found identity he rents a (then brand new) yellow Mini, which is nicknamed "Pork Pie" after the name on his bright yellow sun hat and t-shirt. With no particular aim in mind, he drifts down to Auckland and hits town.

Meanwhile, the middle-aged John (Tony Barry), has just received a "dear John" letter from his girlfriend, Sue, who has left him to go home to Invercargill, at the other end of New Zealand. After a night on the bottle, John telephones Sue at her sister's house and says he is coming down. She tells him she won't be there, but he says he is coming anyway. The film cuts to John walking apparently aimlessly through the city, with hopeless thoughts of getting to the other end of the country.

Gerry is stopped by a traffic officer for failing to wear a seat belt, but rescued when a passing John intervenes and insists Gerry was wearing the belt. Gerry gives John a lift although he doesn't know where he's going. Further down the road Gerry and John pick up Shirley (Shirl) (Claire Oberman), who she says is heading for family in Wanganui, "maybe", and within minutes is casually informing Gerry and John that she is still a virgin.

Immediately, behind Shirl's back, Gerry and John have a $2 bet in which Gerry says he will be "hanging out of her before they reach Wanganui".

Initially they have no trouble with the law, until Gerry leaves a petrol station without paying after filling up. The theft of the petrol is initially inadvertent due to a misunderstanding as to who has paid, but even after John explains he hasn't paid, Gerry is unrepentant and drives on. Shirl is horrified that they left without paying and states she would have paid, Gerry says he would have refused this as then he would have had to listen to her talk.

As a result of stealing the petrol the car is reported to the police. At around the same time it is discovered that the stolen wallet was used to hire the Mini and that Gerry is the culprit, and a rather comedic pursuit is on through the central North Island.

Shirl stays with the guys, deciding not to get out in Wanganui, but continue to Wellington. The trio drift south, paying their way by selling parts of the car as they drive. In doing this they meet some rather shady characters, including Mulvaney (Bruno Lawrence), an old associate of John's, who gives the trio overnight accommodation at his garage in Wellington, and supplies them with money and drugs in return for parts of the car. Rather than use his real name, John introduces Gerry to Mulvaney as "Blondini", a moniker that Gerry readily adopts.

They stow away on the Inter Island ferry after escaping a car chase through Wellington. On the ferry Gerry and John have a confrontation - they now need to go together to Invercargill - "all the way". Anything less would be "half-arsed." The railway carriage they stow away on is decorated with the name Blondini, and the car gets "Pork Pie" spray painted on its doors. The trio enjoy a leisurely ride along the South Island coastal railway and Gerry finally wins his bet.

After Christchurch, where they lose Shirl (arrested for shoplifting), the two men and their small machine are visually contrasted with the vast and inhospitable landscape, illustrating the hopelessness of their odds against the forces of law and society. The pair drive the car down the west coast, and the discovery of the decorated railway wagon leads the police to label them the "Blondini Gang." The media coverage of the "gang's" activities leads some to label them "hooligans" and others to consider them "heroes".

Gradually it becomes clear the only person with a place to go is John, whose heart belongs in Invercargill. Further meetings with shady characters and more parts of the car are sold off until their betrayal, and ambush by the police. "Goodbye" is finally said to Gerry (Pork Pie), though John escapes, to reach the fiery climax in Invercargill, which brings resolution to the only remaining question - what will happen between John and Sue?

The plot is minimal, basically man alone becomes two men alone. But the dialogue is realistic and often witty, as are a series of visual jokes (including a much quoted jump cut from Gerry vomiting to John splurting tomato sauce on his dinner. The film is really made by a series of non-CGI car chase sequences, including hide and seek in the Horopito Smash Palace car wreckers and a stunning pursuit through downtown Wellington and its railway station ending in the Mini driving from a platform into a moving boxcar.

The film itself is filmed across New Zealand in Auckland, Wanganui, Wellington, Picton, Christchurch the Southern Alps, Dunedin and finally Invercargill.

Cast

*Tony Barry as "John"
*Kelly Johnston as "Gerry Austin"
*Claire Oberman as "Shirl"
*Shirley Gruar as "Sue"
*Bruno Lawrence as "Mulvaney"

ummary

Though coming after Sleeping Dogs, the release of "Goodbye Pork Pie" is considered to be the coming-of-age of New Zealand cinema as it showed that New Zealanders can make successful films about New Zealand. It was the first really financially successful New Zealand film of modern times.

Trivia

* The film was filmed chronologically from start to finish over six weeks in late 1979. Filming began in Kaitaia and ended in Invercargill.
* The director, Geoff Murphy, was good friends with Tony Barry (Smith) and Bruno Lawrence many years prior to Goodbye Pork Pie. They were all in Bruno's band Blerta.
* Geoff Murphy would direct another New Zealand car chase related feature film, 1988's "Never Say Die", with Temuera Morrison and Tony Barry - in lead roles - being chased by Police from the West Coast to Auckland, in a (much more spacious) Ford Falcon.
* The film is one of New Zealand's most highly regarded feature films.
* It was the first New Zealand movie to make a profit at the local box office.
* The yellow mini was a 1978 Morris Mini 1000, registered IZ6393. However, three 1978 Minis were used during filming, they came from the New Zealand Motor Corporation (assemblers of British Leyland products in NZ). After the film two of the Minis that were undamaged were returned to The New Zealand Motor Corporation, the third, which had a hole cut in the roof and the front bodywork removed was used for promotion and is still in New Zealand, its actual registration is IX2992 . A fourth 1959 Mini was used for the final scene where it was burnt out.
* The Police Holden HQs utilized in the film doubled as towing and support vehicles for the cast and crew. It is the same police cars chasing the Mini throughout both the North and South Islands.
* An early scene in the film shows John and his partner in a taxi, after she has officially left him, crossing the old Mangere Bridge. The new bridge, at the time of the film's production, was on hold for a couple of years in an unfinished state due to prolonged industrial action.
* A later scene in the film shows Blondini and John in Cromwell, Central Otago. The part of Cromwell shown is now underwater, due to the Lake Dunstan hydroelectric project.
* The scenes in the Mini done in the Wellington railway station prior to the car being smuggled into a railway wagon destined for the Interislander ferry were very cramped. In the Mini was a camera, a camera operator, sound recordist, actor and stunt driver. The car could only get around the tight corners by utilizing handbrake turns.
* A scene which involved a traffic officer's Holden car being dumped into a West Coast lake was (due to the budget being too minimal to fly in a stuntman) performed by Geoff Murphy himself, who had performed numerous stunts in previous films. This particular Holden - originally a red car resprayed in Traffic Police colours - was then towed out of the lake, dried out and sent back up to Auckland.
* A recurring scene that involved a holidaying family in a similar yellow Mini with fighting kids, featured Ian Watkin (a friend of Geoff Murphy and Tony Barry's from Blerta), Geoff Murphy's wife Pat and his son Linus, and two of Bruno Lawrence's kids, Mellisa and Gilly.
* Almost all of the dialogue in the chase scenes had to be re-recorded in post-production, due to the loudness of the gravel road surfaces.
* The scene at McNab, Southland where Gerry is caught by the police shows a decrepit old toilet block at the side of the road. It was actually a temporary structure built specifically for the film.
* A scene near the end of the film showed an Invercargill hotrod club and their cars, communicating through CB radios with country music playing over the stereos. This hotrod club were "The Southland Sports Car Club".
* All radio stations shown in broadcast - those being Radio Hauraki (Auckland), Radio Windy (Wellington), 3ZB (Christchurch) and 4XO (Dunedin) - were actual AM radio stations of that time (there was no FM in NZ in 1980). The scene where 4XO is playing on the radio is done in error as 4XO could not be received in Invercargill, a more realistic local station in Invercargill would have been 4ZA.
* The score of the soundtrack was done by John Charles. He also put forward Street Talk, one of Auckland's major bands of the late 1970s, whose music appears throughout the film,. Led by Hammond Gamble, they almost scored an international record deal from Kim Fowley. They had split up by the time the film was released however.
* The film had much beneficial assistance from The Interislander ferries, NZ Railways, Radio Hauraki and New Zealand Motor Corporation.
* Goodbye Pork Pie was released to New Zealand cinemas on Waitangi Day (February 6th), 1981.
* After 10 weeks in New Zealand cinemas, the movie grossed over NZ$1 million dollars.
* The first time the movie was screened on New Zealand national television it was viewed by over 50% of the population over the age of five - 1.5 million people.
* Over 25 years since the film was released, Kelly Johnston (Gerry "Blondini" Austin) is still instantly recognisable as being Blondini. He is now a popular lawyer in Whangarei. Apparently whenever he visits clients in prison, they often jokingly shout out "Blondini!", and ask him to steal them a yellow Mini.
* In 2002, the Wellington dub band Rhombus did a video for their song "Clav Dub", which paid homage to "Goodbye Pork Pie". When asked to appear in the video as "Blondini", Kelly Johnston jumped at the chance. The yellow Mini that appeared in the video was actually an Australian Leyland Mini Clubman 1275.
* Many New Zealand films since "Goodbye Pork Pie", particularly car related ones, have paid homage to it. Notable ones include 1988's "Never Say Die" (another car chase film, and featuring Tony Barry), and 2001's "Snakeskin" which in the end scene (after a Valiant VJ convertible is pushed over a cliff and blown up), a Yellow Mini appears, complete with the IZ6393 numberplate.
* The title was inspired by the song "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", an elegy to jazz saxophonist Lester Young written by Charlie Mingus.
* Geoff Murphy appears in the film at the second petrol station. Nigel Hutchinson sells a banana milk shake "with an egg in it" to John short time before Gerry falls off the car.

External links

*imdb title|title=Goodbye Pork Pie|id=0082464
* [http://www.filmarchive.org.nz/archive_presents/1981/1981.html New Zealand film and television in 1981]