Pallet On The Floor - 1986
Mirage Films - 88 min.
Cast: Bruce Spence, Peter McCauley, Jillian O'Brien, Shirley Gruar, Alistair Douglas, Tony Barry, John Bach, Marshall Napier, Terrence Cooper.
Screenplay: Martyn Sanderson, Lynton Butler, Robert Rising based upon the novel by Ronald Hugh Morrieson; Photography: Kevin Hayward; Editor: Patrick Monaghan; Music: Bruno Lawrence, Jonathan Crayford; Production Designer: Lyn Bergquist; Producer: Larry Parr; Director: Lynton Butler.
A murderous black comedy set in 1960's Patea. Sam (McCauley) and his small band of hard-drinking and eccentric friends are having a night of it when a drunk truck driver, Jack (Bach), attacks Sam's Maori wife Sue (O'Brien). In the struggle, Sam and friends end up killing Jack. None of them regrets this, but it has been observed by Miriam (Gruar) who decides to blackmail Sam. Then Jack's brother Joe (Napier) comes looking for revenge and ends up being killed by Basil (Spence). Their jobs at the freezer works are terminated, and Basil has his own idea about how to get out of their troubles. A weak renduring of Morrieson's last novel. Excellent jazz score by Bruno Lawrence, who has a cameo as the bass player at the wedding.
Censor rating: M - Review rating: C+
