LIMITED EDITIONS
Geoff Murphy is best known for the stunning impact his New Zealand feature films Goodbye Pork Pie and Utu made on the New Zealand public in the 1980s. He not only directed these films, he wrote them. They were satiric, funny and deeply serious. The enduring popularity of the films show he had an understanding of the New Zealand psyche which resonated with the public. He also wrote the music and lyrics of several popular songs for Blerta, the 1970s rock and theatre group. And during his film-making years in Hollywood, he wrote the book of essays, A Decent Fair-Mindeded Sort of Bloke.
The essays give his point of view of how New Zealand culture developed over the last 200 years and the central part the Māori played in that development. Above all, he examines events by using inescapable rational logic. For instance, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed when New Zealand had a population of at least half a million warrior Māori. According to conventional Pākehā wisdom, the Māori surrendered their sovereignty to about 2,000 Pākehā comprised mostly of a small group of missionaries and boatloads of drunken sailors.
The final four essays look at contemporary politics and economics, and his views on the New Zealand film and television industries.
Hardcover limited edition of 20 copies, 187 pages, 9¾"×6-3/8", 8 colour and 4 black and white illustrations, with a foreword by the editor, Roy Murphy. Privately published by Phoenix Story Publications llc and printed on recycled wheat straw paper. The books were designed, printed and handbound with cloth covers, and presented in a cloth-bound handmade slipcase, by Roy Murphy.
The essays give his point of view of how New Zealand culture developed over the last 200 years and the central part the Māori played in that development. Above all, he examines events by using inescapable rational logic. For instance, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed when New Zealand had a population of at least half a million warrior Māori. According to conventional Pākehā wisdom, the Māori surrendered their sovereignty to about 2,000 Pākehā comprised mostly of a small group of missionaries and boatloads of drunken sailors.
The final four essays look at contemporary politics and economics, and his views on the New Zealand film and television industries.
Hardcover limited edition of 20 copies, 187 pages, 9¾"×6-3/8", 8 colour and 4 black and white illustrations, with a foreword by the editor, Roy Murphy. Privately published by Phoenix Story Publications llc and printed on recycled wheat straw paper. The books were designed, printed and handbound with cloth covers, and presented in a cloth-bound handmade slipcase, by Roy Murphy.
