Longing for New Zealand (2009)

Trough notary Nolan Davies, the late James Abbott left his New Zealand estate to puzzled New York niche publisher Paige Duvall. She delays a $1,000,000 deal with Douglas Lancaster to ... See full summary »

Director:

Michael Keusch

Writers:

Frank Buchs (creator), Michael Keusch (screenplay)

Stars:

Suzan Anbeh, Christoph Kottenkamp, Brandon Cook

Cast

Cast overview:
Suzan Anbeh	...	Paige Duvall
Christoph Kottenkamp	...	Adam Leary
Brandon Cook	...	Jake Leary
Vicky Haughton	...	Nanna
Melanie Marschke	...	Sheila Leary
Dietrich Mattausch	...	Nolan Davies
Max Gertsch	...	Steven Armstrong
Te Kohe Tuhaka	...	Haki Tamahori
Jochen Horst	...	Douglas Lancaster
Dennis Williams	...	Henry
Adam Gardiner	...	Pilot
Rachael Blampied	...	Sekretärin (as Rachel Blampied)

Storyline

Trough notary Nolan Davies, the late James Abbott left his New Zealand estate to puzzled New York niche publisher Paige Duvall. She delays a $1,000,000 deal with Douglas Lancaster to collect the inheritance and agrees in principle to sell to regional tycoon Steven Armstrong, who wants to build a hotel there. Visiting the estate, she gets seduced by both pristine landscape and local sheep farmer Adam Leary, who lives there with lovely son Jake and Maori Nanna. Respecting he native heritage also gets a new dimension when a family secret is unearthed, but she's reluctant to contest the sale, although Maoru attorney Haki Tamahori.

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Plot Keywords:

new york | young woman | publisher | inheritance | light airplane | 

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Genres:

Romance

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User Reviews

Pretty average romantic drama

Not really much to say, it's almost a Crocodile Dundee genre movie, Big city overseas girl meets small town country boy, falls in love and outfoxes the baddies.

There's nothing bad about the movie, but there's nothing really gripping about it either, the acting is smooth and the story flows, but the scenery has as much or more influence on the watcher as the story and characters. More passion from the characters would benefit the movie, but while the actors play their parts, nothing really catches the emotions.

While I can understand this is a Movie, as a NZer, seeing scenes from as far flung as Nguruahoe in the southern central North Island, Rotorua region, the Far North, Te Aroha in the north Waikato plains, and the West Coast blacksands beaches all purporting to be in close proximity is somewhat disjointing.

Not a problem for the original German market, and I have no problems watching a Hollywood movie portraying Death Valley, California, and the wooded hills of Connecticut, as being a few minutes drive apart, or the Berlin train station and Frankfurt public gardens as being in the same city, but seeing it happen to ones own country is unsettling.

The conjunctions of scenery from distant places is something a New Zealand resident would wince at, as I did, but as a background to the story, it provides a real display of vibrant wilderness that explains why the villain of the movie, tries what he does.

Overall, a wonderful selection of scenery, a bland and forgettable story, and seamless acting makes far more of a NZ Tourism board advertisement than a worthwhile movie in it's own right.

You won't regret seeing the movie, but you probably won't remember anything more than the scenery after a few weeks.

Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

3 May 2009 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Emilie Richards - Sehnsucht nach Neuseeland

Filming Locations:

New Zealand

Company Credits

Production Co:

General Film, Polyphon Film-und Fernsehgesellschaft

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Color:

Color