Kingpin

Kingpin is the right kind of film for us to be making in New Zealand... This film is one from the heart

Kingpin, New Zealand, 1985

Director: Mike Walker
Production co: Morrow Films
Producers: Gary Hannam, Mike Walker
Screenplay: Mike Walker, Mitchell Manuel
Production manager: Bridget Bourke
Editor: Paul Sutorius
Director of photography: John Toon
Assistant editor: Vicky Yiannoutsos
Sound editor: Ross Chambers
Music: Schtung

With: Junior Amiga (Willie Hoto), Mitchell Manuel (Riki Nathan), Nicholas Rogers (Karl Stevens), Judith McIntosh (Alison Eastwood), Jim Moriarty (Mike Herewini), Terence Cooper (Dave Adams), Peter McCauley (Paul Jefferies), Wi Kuki Kaa (Mr Nathan), Kevin Wilson (Len Crawford), Buddy Ruruku

35mm, 89 minutes, M

There can be only one. The Kingpin is the biggest, the meanest, the toughest, the boss. In a world where the strongest survives, boys like Willie stand very little chance. Clutching vainly at lies and fantasies of how things might have been, Willie tries to allow some sanity to enter this insane situation, only to have his hopes dashed time and again. Then Riki appears – ironically it is the Kingpin who, through his own insecurities, forces Riki to challenge him for his title. And, there can be only one.

“Kingpin is the right kind of film for us to be making in New Zealand. It is about love and human being; it is clumsy but stylish. It strikes a blow for life. It is sensitive and caring. This film is one from the heart.” — Sam Pillsbury

A computer print-out speeds over the screen dealing out facts on the characters we’re about to meet, the crimes they’ve committed and the punishments meted out. Behind the figures are people like Karl, Riki and Willie. Heading the pecking order in the narrow world of the Kohitere Boys’ Training Centre is Karl. He’s the kingpin. He doesn’t say much but when he says move, you move. … Although named for the heavy for whom violence and threat of violence is a way of hanging onto some fantasised sense of himself, Kingpin centres on the growing friendship of Riki and Willie. The bond is not formed easily but when they establish trust and commitment the boys know they’ve made something worth protecting. So while Kingpin shows the negatives constantly at work in these kids – violence, fear, loneliness, disappointment – it is, finally, a celebration of love and life. Director Mike Walker has had a long association with the training centre in Levin. Since 1952 his company, Morrow Productions, has employed its boys as assistants in the production of animated documentaries and commercials. The television drama Kingi’s Story evolved from that association. Its star, Mitchell Manuel, was one of the centre’s inmates. Manuel, who co-wrote the script for Kingpin with Mike Walker, is the only young actor in the film with any acting experience. Yet in a story which lends itself to melodrama, simply because many of the characters are attempting to live out macho power fantasies, every acting performance is absolutely first class, utterly professional. The roles of the adults in the institution, played by Jim Moriarty, Judy McIntosh, Terence Cooper and Peter McCauley, avoid Dickensian caricature because the characters are played as real people, doing the best they can in a stifling system. It’s a moving, compelling story told in a simple style that captures the tender and funny moments as effectively as it mirrors brutality. It’s authentic, honest and gutsy. The raw energy of the film is charged by the spirit of the kids; their language, their music (scored by Andrew Hagen and Morton Wilson from Schtung) and their dance (highlighted by break-dance champion Niu Satele).” — Helen Martin, Listener, 5 October 1985

Kingpin is a locally produced film of more than passing interest… In a beginning worthy of Robert Bresson, major characters, background, and lines of conflict are all laid out with impressive economy of effort… The camera is right there, framing off images of confined but restless energy. It’s in the hands, the faces, the body language of all the boys… Publicity material for Kingpin emphasises the violent conflict between Riki and Stevens (‘There can be only one Kingpin’), but there’s more to this film that frontier Western heroics. Kingpin is consistently inventive, and interesting, and hardly ever follows a predictable course as it winds up to its climax. The credit for this must go to writers Mike Walker and Mitch Manuel, who have set up a flexible and supportive framework within which a group of talented amateur actors can function to their greatest advantage. It is difficult to estimate where the writing leaves off, and solid improvisation begins; but in any case the numerous characters who emerge are consistent, richly detailed, and realistic. … The most refreshing aspect of Kingpin is the total lack of apologist preaching. There is none of that patronising didactic drivel which would set up the inmates of Kohitere as innocent victims of society. Certainly, socio-political influences have contributed to the situation of these boys, but Kingpin doesn’t attempt to score easy political points at the expense of its drama. … Kingpin never suggests that any boy didn’t have a choice about where they ended up. It is a positive sign of Walker’s understanding and respect that he doesn’t make up facile excuses for them. Tough minded it may be, but the compassion of Kingpin’s outlook is touching too. This is a film which plays fair with all its characters, even the villains… Earlier in this review, I made a reference to French film maker Robert Bresson, who has achieved consistently excellent results using mainly untrained amateur actors. Walker demonstrates a similar facility throughout the course of Kingpin, though some people might attribute the total fidelity of the performances to either naïve, undirected energy, or else lucky casting. The seamless way in which the efforts of the more experienced professionals in the cast are dovetailed into the playing of the amateurs gives the lie to that. Junior Amiga, the youngest actor in the film, has a pivotal role as Willie Hoto... Junior is truly amazing. He has an emotional control and directness which comes at you undiluted. And this kid is really acting, not just playing about. You really care for this stroppy little car thief, just as all the other kids similarly impress themselves into your affections during the course of the film. Tomorrow, they might be breaking into your house, or outraging middle class shoppers in malls, but while you watch them in Kingpin, they’re spirited and likable boys growing up far too fast. This is the sort of movie that isn’t going to be made any more in New Zealand, so I would heartily recommend you catch it…” —Costa Botes, The Dominion, 19 May 1986

Screenings: Kingpin screened on 21 September 2005 as part of the season 'Rarely Seen But Important (& Pleasurable)' selected by x-Film Commission marketer and writer Lindsay Shelton; and on 7 December 2005 as part of a selection made by award-winning costume designer and film maker Kirsty Cameron. In her selection Kirsty commented “You can’t go past Kingpin it exhibits great craft. The writing by Mike Walker and Mitch Manuel, John Toons’ cinematography, the performances… the soundtrack, the incredible robotic breakdancing, the nomads... it has a fluidity and energy that is irrepressible…"