The Navigator: a Medieval Odyssey
In Competition at Cannes Film Festival
Headline quote
Wondrous…a bold, provocative piece of cinema. Rich with primitive images of earth, fire and water, drawing us into a medieval world so that we enter our own century with fresh eyes.
SUNDAY TIMES, LONDON
- Year:
- 1988
Griffin, nine years old, is haunted by fragments of a dream.
He envisages a journey. A celestial city, a great cathedral, and a figure roped to a steeple, about to fall….
It is Cumbria 1348, the year of the Black Death. A medieval mining village lives in fear of the advancing plague. Griffin’s older brother Connor returns from the outside world in a state of despair, until Griffin tells of his dream and reveals their only source of survival: Make tribute to God. Place a spire on a distant cathedral. Do so before dawn or the village will be lost.
Griffin embarks on an extraordinary journey with Connor, Searle the pragmatist, Searle’s naive brother Ulf, Martin the philosopher and Arno the one-handed ferryman. In his vision together they tunnel through the paper thin earth to a new world, a fabled land of hellish extremes, unfamiliar as distant future of the the antipodes, 1988.
But Griffin has a chilling new premonition… one of them will fall from the spire.
Images
Cast and crew
- Director:
- Vincent Ward
- Writers:
- Vincent Ward, Kely Lyons and Geoff Chapple
- Story by:
- Vincent Ward
- Producer:
- John Maynard
- Co-producer:
- Gary Hannam
- Cinematographer:
- Geoff Simpson
- Costume Designer :
- Glenys Jackson
- Makeup Designer:
- Marjory Hamlin
- Editors:
- John Scott
- Music by :
- Davood Tabrizi
- Featuring :
- Bruce Lyons, Chris Haywood, Hamish McFarlane, Marshall Napier, Paul Livingston, Sarah Peirse and Noel Appleby
With "The Navigator", Ward has fashioned a beguiling fable, surprising and original, the kind of film that is fully realised visually,
Los Angeles Times, Kevin Thomas — 1989
...this story works, not only as an adventure, but as the love story of two brothers, and a parable on faith and religion. As the medievals joust with the paraphernalia of a night-bound modern city, in their striving to reach the cathedral at its hearts, Ward conjures a series of striking images. The best affirm, invariably with humour, the timeless ascendency of the individual human spirit against the forces that would dehumanize...
Variety — 1988
Co-writing an imaginative script, and fusing the unique blend of extraordinary production design, stunning cinematography, and precise editing, Ward has created an astounding masterwork
Hollywood Reporter, Dwight Brown — 1988
_The Navigator,_ gradually draws you in and holds you in thrall. It's a spell-binder.
Rollingstone — 1989
Vincent Ward, the driector and co-writer of The Navigator takes every artistic risk his bizarre premise allows. He assumes a 14th Century point of view, moves from black-and-white photography for the medieval scenes to colour for the present, and weaves evocative imagery into a suspense tale. The result is dark thrilling fantasy that places Mr Ward amongst the most innovative and authoritative young film makers.
The New York Times, Caryn James — 1989
Throughout every scene Ward creates undercurrents of both ancient and modern mythology. It is difficult to imagine how he managed to shoot the scene with the white horse in a boat, riding the swell of a submarine which emerges from the bottom of a black lake, but it is unforgettable. A sort of Moby Dick meets Spielberg in the darkest corner of painting by Bosch.
The Eastern Herald, Ruth Hessey — 1988
Vincent Ward started out in his native New Zealand wanting to be a painter and a sculptor and you can see that in the way he makes movies. Every shot in The Navigator, his medieval odyssey, is painstakingly constructed and they're almost all striking with an elemental beauty and harshness.
Sydney Morning Herald — 1988
....a complex dazzling film, ambitiously conceived and confidently executed. A film which takes a cumbersome outrageous storyline and produces engrossing entertainment filled with fine performances, outstanding cinematography, pathos, perception, and yes, even humour.
The Sun-Herald, Rob Lowing — 1988
In Competition
Cannes Film Festival — 1988
Winner, Grand Prix
Fanta Film Festival — 1988
Winner, Grand Prix
Munich International Festival of Fantasy Films — 1988
Winner, Grand Prix
Sitges Fantasy Festival — 1988
Winner, Grand Prix
Oporto International Film Festival — 1988
Winner 6 Awards, including Best Film and Best Director
Australian Film Institute Awards — 1989
Winner 11 Awards, including Best Film and Best Director
New Zealand Film and TV Awards — 1989