| The Quiet Earth | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Geoff Murphy |
| Produced by | Sam Pillsbury Don Reynolds |
| Written by | Craig Harrison (novel) Bill Baer Bruno Lawrence Sam Pillsbury |
| Starring | Bruno Lawrence Alison Routledge Pete Smith |
| Music by | John Charles |
| Cinematography | James Bartle |
| Editing by | Michael J. Horton |
| Release date(s) | October 18, 1985 (US) |
| Running time | 91 min. |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,000,000 |
The Quiet Earth is a 1985 New Zealand science fiction post-apocalyptic film directed by Geoff Murphy and starring Bruno Lawrence, Alison Routledge and Pete Smith as three survivors of a cataclysmic disaster. It is loosely based on the 1981 science fiction novel of the same name by Craig Harrison.[1][2] Its other sources of inspiration have been listed as the 1954 novel I Am Legend, Dawn of the Dead, and especially the 1959 film The World, the Flesh and the Devil,[3] of which it has been called an unofficial remake.[4][5][6][7][8]
Contents |
July 5 begins as a normal winter morning near Auckland, New Zealand. At 6:12 a.m., the Sun momentarily darkens and a red light surrounded by darkness is briefly seen.
Zac Hobson (Bruno Lawrence) is a scientist working for Delenco, part of an international consortium working on "Project Flashlight", an experiment to create a global energy grid. He awakens abruptly; when he turns on his radio, he is unable to receive any transmissions. Zac gets dressed and drives into the deserted city. Investigating a fire, he discovers the wreckage of a passenger jet, but there are no bodies, only empty seats.
He enters his underground laboratory; a monitor displays the message "Project Flashlight Complete". The mass disappearance seems to coincide with the moment Flashlight was activated. He notes on his tape recorder:
From this point onward, Zac refers to the crucial moment and its result as "The Effect".
After several days, his mental state begins to deteriorate. He puts on a woman's slip and alternates between exhilaration and despair. Eventually he breaks down altogether. He assembles cardboard cutouts of famous people (including Adolf Hitler, Elizabeth II, and Pope John Paul II) and addresses them from a balcony. He declares himself "President of this Quiet Earth", then goes on a rampage. He later bursts into a church, shoots the crucifix and announces that he is God. After accidentally crushing an empty pram, he puts the barrel of a shotgun in his mouth, but changes his mind when he witnesses an explosion resulting from his destruction.
He settles into a more normal routine. One morning, a young woman named Joanne (Alison Routledge) appears. Zac is attracted to her, but she does not appear to reciprocate. While scouring the countryside for other survivors, they try to determine why they survived.
They find a third survivor, a large Māori man named Api (Pete Smith). The three determine why they survived: at the instant of The Effect, they were all at the moment of death—Api was being drowned in a fight, Joanne was electrocuted by a faulty hairdryer, and Zac had overdosed on pills in a suicide attempt. He had realized there were serious dangers with the experiment and was guilt-ridden for not speaking out.
A love triangle develops, but Zac is more concerned about his observations: several universal physical constants are changing, causing the Sun's output to fluctuate. Zac fears that The Effect will occur again and decides to destroy the Delenco facility in an attempt to stop it.
The three put aside their personal conflicts and drive a truckload of explosives to the installation, only to be stopped at the perimeter when Zac detects high levels of ionising radiation that could detonate the explosives prematurely. He goes back to town to retrieve a remote control for the truck.
While Zac is gone, Joanne and Api have sex. Afterward, Api tells Joanne that he will sacrifice himself by driving the truck; he doubts that Zac's device will be capable of controlling the vehicle. They then see that Zac has reached the same conclusion. He drives the truck onto the weakened roof of the laboratory, which collapses. Just as The Effect reaches a maximum, he triggers the explosives.
Once again a red light is seen surrounded by the dark tunnel. Zac finds himself lying face down on a beach. There are strange cloud formations, resembling waterspouts, rising out of the ocean. As he walks to the water's edge, an enormous ringed planet slowly appears over the horizon. Zac stares in disbelief, then realises he's still holding his tape recorder. He lifts it up as if to speak, then lowers it, completely bewildered.
The precise meaning of the final scene is left to the audience. In the DVD commentary, the director suggests a recurrence of The Effect because of Zac's second death. But he also allows a lapsed-Catholic colleague's idea of a second term in Purgatory. In any case, he says that "a little obscurity" is a good thing.
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