Dannevirke Regent Cinema bringing classic Kiwi movie Goodbye Pork Pie back to the big screen

Alex Rowe is a Mini enthusiast. Photo / Leanne Warr

Two men, police chases and a 1600km journey — it might sound like a disaster waiting to happen, but it was a winning formula for a hit movie in its day.

And it’s coming to Dannevirke’s Regent cinema for two special showings.

Goodbye Pork Pie, directed by Geoff Murphy, was first released in 1980.

It had it all. Both characters, each with his own reasons for doing so, take off in a yellow Mini for a trip down the country, with the police hot on their tails looking for the “Blondini Gang”.

Alex enjoys the Kiwi humour of the movie. Photo / Leanne Warr

According to some sources, it was New Zealand’s first big local hit movie, described by one writer as “Easy Rider meets Keystone Cops”.

“It’s Kiwi humour [and] it’s an exciting movie,” said Alex Rowe, a cinema volunteer and Mini enthusiast.

“I think it relates to everyone really.”

What also appealed to him was that it was two strangers who met in Auckland and formed a friendship through their journey.

Rowe has a collection of Minis and decided to bring in one of them to help promote the movie.

The Mini was brought in to help promote the screening. Photo / Supplied

“[It’s] just been sitting in my shed,” he said.

The yellow Mini now sits near the candy bar.

Rowe has been putting hints on social media, using snippets of images from the car.

It was something of a mission to actually get the car in, and if he hadn’t been able to pull it off, he had planned to leave it outside, hoping it would attract attention.

“We were determined to get it in.”

Rowe, like many of the volunteers who ran the cinema, was there “for the passion”.

“We love movies. A lot of us that volunteer here, we grew up around this place. We have the memories of coming here as kids.”

The group was also determined to help keep a part of Dannevirke’s history alive and was hoping to eventually raise enough money to upgrade the facilities.

Rowe said a lot of people who came to see a movie were those who used to come in as teenagers.

He said they were trying to get some of the classic movies for their older patrons, but with some, like the Star Wars series, they would need a DCP projector to be able to screen them.

The committee was also working on getting in newer movies to attract younger audiences.

For now, their main priority was fundraising for heating throughout the auditorium.

Goodbye Pork Pie will be screening on Saturday at 7pm and Sunday at 2pm. The film is being screened courtesy of Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga New Zealand Film Commission.