This is a classic NZ film! AND DEFINITELY ONE OF THE BEST NZ FILMS!
I would love to see it get the attention and credit it deserves.
What other NZ film comes near the quality of realism, mis en scene, performance and intelligent unique storytelling on display here... um um um...
I am assuming that the low fi and confrontational aesthetic of Christmas is something unfortunately that some people just can't get past to be able to appreciate its undeniable brilliance.
It will be interesting to see in time whether this film does indeed gets its just deserts and recognition or remain a relatively unknown cult.
In borders recently I flipped through a glossy hardback book titled 100 essential NZ films and noted that it didn't even make the top 100, let alone the top ten where it should stand.
Gregory King's films in general deserve to be critically appraised and explored, I think it is very telling they are not.
A friend from the Czech republic who has been living here for several years now recently wrote about NZ saying - 'A little isolated country in denial, with its head up its arse and in love with itself...'
Who am I to disagree!
