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Salient. Official Newspaper of Victoria University of Wellington Students Association. Vol 40 No. 14. June 13 1977

Wild Man — Dagg Day Afternoon

Wild Man

Dagg Day Afternoon

The Arts Council grant may have topped the $2 million mark but it's still $100,000 short or the absolute minimum requested. Chops will come in the performing arts, probably no new undertakings will be govt, financed: film stays right on the bottom.

You will probably agree that something in the multi-venturous career of Blerta et al holds promise. And whether you think Fred Dagg is an archetype or an outrageous stereotype, you must concede he is a New Zealand type.

That's what NZ films are all about. Some of us looking at some more of us, setting us face to face with our own creative strength. You might hate it or you might love it, but it's worth the hating, worth the loving. Worth the argument.

Undoubtedly John Clarke's wit has suffered gross commercial exploitation. The frantic four and a half days in which "Dagg Day Afternoon" was shot, the relative freedom of independent film-making, the combined talents of the others working with him, may have provided the dose of imaginative medicine he has long needed.

Blerta, in conjunction with The Acme Sausage Company (themselves, mostly) have opted for the historical approach. "Wild Man" is loosely based on a true story about this bloke in a circus act who was exhibited around the South Island, biting the heads off live chickens, etc. "The rugged beauty of the West Coast Scenery", says the Press Release, "contrasts dramatically with the atmosphere of the wild days of the Rush".

Photo of a man about to fight

Geoff Murphy, already ensconsed in our film history with "Tank busters", directed both these films. The combined budget was $150,000, which is almost up to the shoe-string mark. Films like these must succeed or there will never be enough money around to continue. They point the way to what can be done, and need our support.

Fred Dagg in search of the Bionic Ram; Bruno Lawrence grovelling in a pit..... don't miss them.

Simon Wilson