It's the Kiwi comedy that's different from all the rest - it's funny. RUSSELL BAILLIE talks to Scarfies' creators, brothers Robert and Duncan Sarkies.
They're a funny pair, those Sarkies boys. Might be the Dunedin upbringing, we figure.Could be the four-year age gap. They're, y'know, different. Always have been.
Robert (the older
one) was forever playing with cameras when he was a boy. That's when he wasn't torturing wee Duncan (the younger one), who was always scribbling away, writing stories.
Anyway, Robert grew up to be a director, made loads of commercials and some good short films. His last, Signing Off, showed he's got a thing for inventive entertainment-with-a-twist rather than the big art statement.
Duncan? Well, he became a playwright of fairly oblique sensibility, and won prizes for his scribbles. He even got one, Saving Grace, turned into a movie, though it headed where unloved New Zealand feature films go.
Meanwhile, Robert got an idea for his own proper movie. Something to do with students at Otago University. Something to do with what might happen if some of them came up against what might pass for the underworld down Dunedin way.
He even had a title: Scarfies.
He mentioned it to his writer brother. Why not write it together, they thought? So they did.
It was just a matter then of getting all the things a film needs. Like money - one and a half million bucks, not that it's much for a film, really - and a cast.
And they got all the things a Dunedin film needs, like a grotty mansion for the flat (a former Victorian brothel turned classic Dunedin student hovel) where most of the action takes place, a Flying Nun soundtrack, overcast weather to reinforce that Edinburgh of the South look, and a costume department full of winter woollies and blue and gold scarves.
Oh, and quite a few lookalike pot plants because the story involves marijuana. Lots of marijuana.
They shot the film last spring. It was a big deal in the southern centre. No one had ever made a proper movie there.
Now it's still a week away from starting at the flicks but already Scarfies has quite a buzz about it. Probably because it's really very funny, it's got a ripping story and convincing performances by actors. The characters are like folks we know or used to be.
It went down a treat at its hometown premiere last week in Dunedin's film festival.
The Sarkies were there with their proud Mum and Dad.
Says a hung-over Duncan the day after: "Just the relief that the audience had in the opening 10 seconds, just to be finally seeing Dunedin on film ... it was like 30 years of pent-up energy."
Assuming the Sarkies have succeeded where so many have failed in recent years - to make a New Zealand movie that's funny, audience-friendly and engaging, plot-wise - we might as well ask them: what went right? And how did being brothers help?
Robert: "I think the weakness in most New Zealand films is in their scripts and I decided to not write my own film because I knew by working with someone they could write a much better film for me - we could write a much better film together.
"I could use Duncan's strengths, which are character and dialogue, and combine them with mine, which are structure and story, and we could really have something."
Duncan: "There was definitely this unspoken understanding between us. We definitely knew where each other was coming from and that is not to say we are so similar. But we both knew what each other likes. I like Robert's aesthetic, even though it's different to mine and vice versa.
"Liking Robert's aesthetic, I was able to write for him and write with enthusiasm. I got to add my aesthetic to Robert's one while being very conscious that it was a 'Robert Sarkies film'.
Robert: "We started Scarfies with nothing. We decided we wanted to write a film ... so basically Duncan and I got together and started writing it. And that is something that you ordinarily wouldn't be able to do with a well-respected writer. When that well-respected writer happens to be your brother, you can wangle a few deals."
Their brothers' old, cold hometown becomes something of a supporting character in Scarfies. So does a certain local rugby team.
Robert: "I wanted to make a film about the Dunedin that I remembered and, of course, you only remember the extremes. The irony is, of course, is that Dunedin has changed quite a lot and this is a Dunedin of Flying Nun music and a Dunedin before it had trendy cafes and students driving around in nice cars."
Still, the shoot took Robert back to his own scarfie days at Otago Uni in other ways.
"We had the most amazing parties. People say, 'Why did you want to make Scarfies?' I say, 'How else could I have a free concert by the Clean for me and a bunch of friends?'
"That's a pretty cool reason to make a film. Fortunately, it wasn't the only reason.
And as for the two siblings - they laugh off the Coen brothers comparisons - well, they've stated on working on ideas for another script but they're not intending on becoming an exclusive team.
Duncan, who has his first book of short stories on the way as well another play going into production, is bemused by what Scarfies has done to their peculiar, creative brand of sibling rivalry.
"It's quite nice, actually. The first 22 years of my life my name was 'Robert's brother.' For a period of about five years up until now, Robert was 'Duncan's brother.'
"Now I'm Robert's brother again. I'm going to have to get used to that again. It is kind of nice - life has got its cycles."
Who: Robert and Duncan Sarkies
What: Scarfies
Where: Cinemas nationwide
When: Thursday, August 5
It's the Kiwi comedy that's different from all the rest - it's funny. RUSSELL BAILLIE talks to Scarfies' creators, brothers Robert and Duncan Sarkies.
They're a funny pair, those Sarkies boys. Might be the Dunedin upbringing, we figure.Could be the four-year age gap. They're, y'know, different. Always have been.
Robert (the older
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