Geoff Murphy | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Murphy in 2013 | |
| Born | Geoffrey Peter Murphy (1938-10-12)12 October 1938 Wellington, New Zealand |
| Died | 3 December 2018(2018-12-03) (aged 80) Wellington, New Zealand |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, film producer, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1977–2018 |
| Spouse | Merata Mita |
Geoffrey Peter MurphyONZM (12 October 1938 – 3 December 2018)[1] was a New Zealand filmmaker, producer, director, and screenwriter best known for his work during the renaissance ofNew Zealand cinema that began in the second half of the 1970s. His second featureGoodbye Pork Pie (1981) was the first New Zealand film to win major commercial success on its soil.[citation needed] Murphy directed several Hollywood features during the 1990s, before returning to New Zealand as second-unit director onThe Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Murphy was also a scriptwriter, special effects technician, schoolteacher and trumpet player at different times. He was married toMerata Mita, a film director, actress, writer.
Murphy grew up in theWellington suburb of Highbury, and attended St. Vincent de Paul School inKelburn andSt. Patrick's College, Wellington, before training and working as a schoolteacher.[2]
Murphy was a founding member of the hippy musical and theatrical co-operativeBlerta, which toured New Zealand and Australia performing multi-media shows in the early 1970s.[3] Blerta were later allowed to make their television series, spawning what is arguably Murphy's first feature film, the 75-minute-longWild Man. Several Blerta members would work on Murphy's films, including drummer and Blerta founderBruno Lawrence, who had starring roles inUtu andThe Quiet Earth.
Murphy made his name with road movieGoodbye Pork Pie (1981), the first New Zealand film to attract large-scale audiences in its home country. Made on a low budget, the film followed three people travelling from the top of the North Island to the bottom of the South Island, to growing infamy along the way. Murphy directed the film and co-produced it withNigel Hutchinson.[4] Murphy next directed theMāori WesternUtu (1983) and the last-man-on-Earth pieceThe Quiet Earth (1985).[5]
By the 1990s Murphy had begun a decade working outside of New Zealand, mostly in the United States. In this period he directed films such asYoung Guns II,Freejack, which featuredEmilio Estevez andMick Jagger, andSteven Seagal sequelUnder Siege 2: Dark Territory. The latter proved his most successful film at the international box-office, grossing more than US$100 million worldwide.[6]
Murphy returned to New Zealand and assistedPeter Jackson onThe Lord of the Rings films; made a documentary film chronicling theBlerta phenomenon; and directed the thrillerSpooked, featuringCliff Curtis.[5] In the later 2000s, he directed the New Zealand television comedy seriesWelcome to Paradise,[7] worked on the remastered DVD release ofGoodbye Pork Pie, and was 2nd-unit director onXXX: State of the Union.[5]
In 2013 Murphy was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the2013 Rialto Channel New Zealand Film Awards.[8] The same year saw the release of a restored and re-edited version of possibly his most ambitious film,Utu, under the titleUtu Redux.
Murphy was appointed anOfficer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to film, in the2014 New Year Honours.[9][10] In the same year, he was awarded anhonorary doctorate in literature byMassey University.[11]
Murphy died on 3 December 2018.[12][13]
