Vigil
In Competition Cannes Film Festival
- Year:
- 1984
"It reminds us of cinema's great power to excite, surprise and conjure up unique imagined worlds .. A work of astonishing, original force."
THE GUARDIAN
Her father is dead.
Isolated and alone in the broken hills,
a young girl watches
an intruder enter her world.
He moves in with her mother.
On the brink of puberty
she feels a growing tension,
knowing she must defend her valley.
She must remove him.
Images
Cast and crew
- Director:
- Vincent Ward
- Producer :
- John Maynard
- Associate Producer :
- Piers Davies
- Executive producer:
- Gary Hannam
- Featuring:
- Fiona Kay, Penelope Stewart, Frank Whitten, Bill Kerr and Gordon Shields
- Story :
- Vincent Ward
- Screenwriters :
- Vincent Ward and Graeme Tetley
- Cinematographer:
- Alun Bollinger
- Editor:
- Simon Reece
- Music :
- Jack Body
- Casting:
- Diana Rowan
- Production Design :
- Kai Hawkins
Filmmaking at its finest and most satisfying... young Fiona Kay is the essential touchtone of the piece... her Toss is imbued with restless inner intensity that is always compelling.
Variety — 1984
Vigil immerses viewers in pure cinematic magic.
Daily Herald, Deborah J Kunk — 1986
Powerful, parochial, poetic, Simon Cunliffe soaks up the splendour of Vigil and meets its director
City Limits, Simon Cunliffe — 1985
The Guardian interviews Vincent Ward and reviews his debut feature Vigil whilst looking at the future for filmmaking in New Zealand.
The Guardian, Brent Lewis — 1985
Ward has created a film of elemental beauty and growing tension.
Los Angeles Times, Kevin Thomas — 1984
Unique, brooding and unforgettable
KABC TV, Los Angeles, Gary Franklin — 1984
Ward's obvious devotion to each shot reflects his faith in the power of the image... what unites him with Bresson or Dryer is his desire to express psychological and spiritual states that can only be evoked, that can't really be shown and certainly cannot be spoken. Vigil deserves admiration for its visual brilliance, its uncompromising strangeness and its desire to find mysteries hiding within, behind and between images.
LA Weekly, John Powers — 1984
Ward's deft switching between points of view of terse matter of fact adults and an innocent dreamy girl has the effect of anchoring his turbulent romantic images in the grit of truculent everyday exchanges.
Los Angeles Times, Kevin Thomas — 1986
Hauntingly unexpected.... every frame seems to carry a double load of meaning...
The Washington Post, Hal Hinson — 1988
Grand Prix
Prades Film Festival — 1984
Grand Prix
Madrid Film Festival — 1984
Best Cinematography, Best Production and Best Screenplay
New Zealand Film Awards — 1984
Best Film
Imag Fic Festival Spain — 1985