Friday, March 27, 2009

Kevin Smith - Desperate Remedies 1993

NZ On Screen have a great tribute to Kevin Smith who died far to young in 2002.


His first feature film in 1993 was Desperate Remedies. This was a very New Zealand film and very camp - and so totally different from the Piano released in the same year.

From the NZ on Screen Website:
High-camp melodrama from directors Stewart Main and Peter Wells, set in an imaginary 19th-century town called Hope. ‘Draper of distinction' Dorothea Brooks is desperate to save her sister Rose from the clutches of opium, sex and the dastardly Fraser. She begs hunky migrant Lawrence Hayes to marry Rose. Lawrence has his eyes on Dorothea however, and he has competition from malevolent politician Poyser (who has made her an attractive offer), as well as Brooks' sultry lover, Anne Cooper. Sumptuous and ripe, The Piano this definitely ain't!
I remember seeing this in Auckland and the sense of dirt, mud and grime contrasting with amazing outfits of "red" which just flowed accross the screen were amazing.. and of course the full frontal male nudity didn't go amiss.

Sadly Desperate Remedies isn't available except from the odd second hand place. Hopefully sometime soon this movie will be released to join other New Zealand films released on DVD.

However you can catch a sense - a good 10 to 20 minutes -  of the film thanks to NZ on Screen. 

Update there is two places in NZ to buy from see the NZ On Screen where to buy link.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this - NZ On Screen also have 'One of Them' on their site. Adapted from a Peter Wells short story. Worth checking out. http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/one-of-them-1997