Sleeping Dogs

Sleeping Dogs is a 1977 New Zealand action thriller film directed by Roger Donaldson, who also produced with Larry Parr. The film is based on the book Smith's Dream by C.K. Stead. The film stars Sam Neill, Clyde Scott, and Warren Oates, it is notable for being the first feature-length 35 mm film produced entirely in New Zealand. The film was a major success critically and commercially, and launched the career of Sam Neill. A political thriller with action film elements, it follows the lead man alone character "Smith" (Neill) as New Zealand plunges into a police state as a fascist government institutes martial law after industrial disputes flare into violence. Smith gets caught between the special police and a growing resistance movement, and reluctantly becomes involved. Often named one of the best New Zealand films of all time, it is considered a classic and a landmark in the new wave of New Zealand cinema that flourished in the 1970s and 80s. Plot Following the break-up of his marriage caused by his wife's affair with another man named Bullen, Smith arranges to live on the Coromandel Peninsula on an island owned by a Maori tribe. Meanwhile, political tension escalates as an oil embargo leaves the country in an energy crisis. Tension boils over into a civil war and guerrilla activity. However, Smith and his dog enjoy peaceful island life, having little interaction with the rest of society. Smith's idyllic life is shattered when a bomb exploded in a nearby town, and police arrive on his island to arrest him and search for illegal weapons. After they find a cache of explosives that Smith had been unaware of, he is taken to a police station, where he is imprisoned, interrogated, and tortured. The dog is last seen swimming after the boat in which Smith is being taken away. Smith recognizes one policeman as a former schoolmate, Jesperson, who then takes over the interrogation. Jesperson reveals that the government regard Smith as a key leader of the guerillas and offers expulsion from New Zealand in return for a confession, or alternatively trial by a military tribunal with a likely death sentence.