Other Halves

John Laing’s ability to tell a lot by a very simple scene makes Other Halves one of the most intelligently constructed New Zealand films around

Other Halves, New Zealand, 1984

Director: John Laing
Producers: Tom Finlayson, Dean Hill
Screenplay: Sue McCauley from her novel of the same name
Director of photography: Leon Narbey
Editor: Harley Oliver
Production designer: Robert Gillies
Art director: Grant Major
Costumes: Judith Crozier
Music: Don McGlashan

With: Lisa Harrow (Liz), Mark Pilisi (Tug), Fraser Stephen-Smith (Michael), Paul Gittens (Ken), Clare Clifford (Aileen), Bruce Purchase (Irwin), Emma Piper (Audrey), John Bach (Jim), Temuera Morrison (Tony), Grant Tilly (Dr Wray)

35mm, 102 minutes, R13—Contains offensive language

Liz Harvey is affluent, middle class, thirty-two and white. Tug Morton lives on the street, doesn’t know his family, is sixteen and Polynesian. Their struggle to forge a relationship across the barriers of age, colour and class is poignant, gritty, funny and in the end, heartwarmingly triumphant.

“McCauley’s economy with words here and director John Laing’s ability to tell a lot by a very simple scene makes Other Halves one of the most intelligently constructed New Zealand films around, other than Smash Palace. It would have been easy to make the social commentary overt, the racialism and other prejudices blatantly obvious. But such social ills in New Zealand are much more insidious than that and the film rightly eschews hysterical sloganeering.” — Rob White, The Star, 19 March 1985

“McCauley’s screenplay compresses and streamlines the novel but the rhythm and idiom of her dialogue retain their freshness and force. Many scenes seem to have leapt straight from the page… As Tug, Mark Pilisi is working close to his own experience. He makes an impressive debut as a sulky rebel who claims to be the dumbest of the dumb kids but who won’t be underestimated or patronized. Auckland audiences respond with affection to his bravado and debunking humour… Lisa Harrow’s Liz is no less than magnificent; she is an intelligent actress of marvelous gifts… Other Halves tells a complex love story briskly with energy, insight and feeling. Through Leon Narbey’s lenses Auckland looks stunning. The screenplay is taut and punchy, rife with ironies and engagingly unsolemn about serious matters. Director John Laing, whose Beyond Reasonable Doubt was more than promising, has many reasons for pride in this handsome film. For Mark Pilisi and Lisa Harrow it is a triumph.” — Tom McWilliams, NZ Listener, 9 February 1985

“The movie of the book especially when the book is a well-respected milestone first novel, invites the inevitable comparison. I came to the movie first … Coming subsequently to the novel, you realize what a brilliant screenplay adaptation the author has made. It is a no-nonsense distillation of the essence of the book. Of course the book is richer and fuller, but the story has been simplified into a single thread without being made simplistic… As a new movie in its own right Other Halves is a powerful statement… Mark Pilisi is sensational as Tug, as brittle as cast iron. Lisa Harrow is a perfect Liz, a foil for the contrasts and similarities of Tug. There are also outstanding performances from just about everyone else… Auckland has never looked better. Leon Narbey’s photography leaves lasting images of the urban landscape, like a series of still photographs. Art direction by Robert Gilles gives a style that is both international and domestic. The flat Liz is minding is a brilliant visual comment on bleeding heart liberal racial attitudes. The restored loft in Ponsonby is decorated with ethicana. Educated whites have ripped off the artifacts of other cultures as if the world was some sort of primitive art supermarket. The images continue into the costumes where Judith Crozier has used a contemporary tribalism. The costume design is particularly clever in that the style is from a period that hasn’t happened yet. It probably never will, so the movie will have a freshness and a timelessness of look. Director John Laing has gone for an overall feeling of separateness. ... Maybe Other Halves is the most important movie to have been made here. It deals with the complex issues of rich/poor, young/old and Polynesian/Pakeha in an accessible and highly moving way. It is a movie I can’t stop thinking and raving about.” — John Parker, Metro, February 1985

Screenings: Other Halves screened on 14 September 2005 as part of 'Rarely Seen, But Important (& Pleasurable)', a season selected by x-Film Commission marketing chief, Lindsay Shelton.