Starring
Sam Neill, Ian Mune, Nevan Rowe, Ian Watkin, Warren Oates, Donna
Akersten, Clyde Scott, Snuffles the dog. Directed by Roger Donaldson.
(1977/107 min).
Available
on Blu-Ray from
Review
by Fluffy the Fearlessđ¸
Sleeping
Dogs is notable for a few reasons. It was the first feature
film entirely made and financed by New Zealand to have any
significant global impact. More importantly, it put Sam
Neill and director Roger Donaldson on the map.
While
both men would obviously go on to bigger and better things, Sleeping
Dogs is more than a fascinating curio. It's an intense, harrowing journey taken by a fiercely reluctant everyman, Smith
(Neill), who we first meet just as he's leaving his wife, Gloria
(Nevan Rowe). She's been cheating on him with Bullen (Ian Mune), and
though the film doesn't explicitly say so, we get the feeling Smith & Bullen were
once friends. Meanwhile, the entire country is in a state of
political upheaval when an oil embargo turns New Zealand's fascist
government against its own people, resulting in violent protests from a
growing guerrilla movement.
 |
| Sam Neill...feelin' groovy. |
Wanting
to escape everything and everybody, Smith leaves the city, rents a
remote island and lives there with his dog. Things are idyllic for
awhile, until the police show up and arrest Smith on an illegal
weapons charge; a lot of guns & explosives had been stashed on the
island by guerrillas and they suspect Smith is one of the
ringleaders. One officer, an old school acquaintance,
offers Smith the opportunity to leave the country a free man if
he confesses, otherwise he'll be executed. Instead, Smith
escapes, managing to lay low for awhile, at least until Bullen shows
up. It turns out he and Gloria are part of the
guerrilla movement and need Smith's help eliminating US soldiers recruited to assist the government. Now that Smith is the most
wanted man in New Zealand, he really has no choice and gets in deeper
than he ever wanted to.
What's
interesting is the change Smith undergoes during the film. It's
quickly obvious he's been manipulated - and set-up - almost from the
get-go, by both the police and those close to him. But since
circumstances are well beyond his control, he's slowly becoming the revolutionary the government are trying to paint him as. Sam Neill
is convincing as Smith, desperately clinging to the simpler life he
forged for himself and growing increasingly resentful over being
thrust into a conflict he wants no part of, yet is compelled to fight anyway. In his first feature film, Roger Donaldson does an commendable
job balancing character conflict and intense action, particularly
during the second half, when the Smith and Bullen are on the run with
the police closing in. Their mostly-antagonistic relationship later
becomes the film's emotional high-point.
 |
| Reversible cover includes original artwork. |
Atypical
of most Arrow releases, this Blu-Ray is fairly light on bonus
features and none of it is new, though the hour-long retrospective documentary from 2004 is
a must-see. It combines new and vintage footage, as well as
interviews with dozens of people from both sides of the camera.
Especially engaging is the footage where Donaldson, Neill, Mune and
FX artist Geoff Murphy (later a successful director himself) revisit
many of the film's locations nearly 30 years later. Even if one
doesn't necessarily like Sleeping Dogs, the effort it took to get it made
during that time will surely make one at-least appreciate it.
EXTRA
KIBBLES
"THE
MAKING OF SLEEPING DOGS" (1977)
"THE
MAKING OF SLEEPING DOGS" (2004) - Of
the two, this is longer and more entertaining.
AUDIO
COMMENTARY - By Roger
Donaldson, Sam Neill and Ian Munes (who also co-wrote the film).
REVERSIBLE COVER ART - Featuring new and vintage artwork (see above)
KITTY CONSENSUS:
PURR-R-R...LIKE A GOOD SCRATCH BEHIND THE EARS
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