Ruby and Rata
Ruby and Rata | |
---|---|
Directed by | Gaylene Preston |
Written by | Graeme Tetley |
Produced by | Gaylene Preston Robin Laing |
Starring | Yvonne Lawley Vanessa Rare Lee Metekingi Simon Barnett |
Cinematography | Leon Narbey |
Edited by | Paul Sutorius |
Music by | Jonathan Crayford |
Release date |
|
Running time | 109 minutes |
Country | New Zealand |
Language | English |
Budget | NZD $2 million |
Ruby and Rata is a 1990 New Zealand comedy-drama film, directed and produced by Gaylene Preston.
Plot summary[]
Ruby (Yvonne Lawley) is an 83-year-old woman who has just failed her driving test and is worried about her ability to cope with day-to-day life at her age. She asks her nephew Buckle (Simon Barnett), posing as a real estate agent, to arrange to lease part of the house she owns to a potential housemate to assist her with various chores. The new tenant is Rata (Vanessa Rare)—a well-dressed, smooth-talking young woman of Māori descent who works for a large finance company. Once she has moved in, it becomes apparent that Rata is actually a cleaner at the firm, has a young son named Willie (), and is in trouble with social services over welfare payments. Rata is also hoping to make it big as a singer in a punk band, The Apocalypse, which is reliant on her accessing the supposed "fortune" of her new housemate/landlady to pay for sound equipment. An unusual relationship develops between Ruby, Rata and Willie, with each of them manipulating the others in some way, but forming a bond and dependence on each other.
Cast[]
- Yvonne Lawley – Ruby
- Vanessa Rare – Rata
- – Willie
- Simon Barnett – Buckle
Production[]
Ruby and Rata was filmed in and around the Auckland suburb of Mount Albert.[1]
It was the second film made by Preston-Laing Productions (Gaylene Preston and Robin Laing), the first being the 1986 horror film Mr. Wrong.[2]
Awards[]
Ruby and Rata won four awards at the : Best Editing, Best Soundtrack, Best Film Score and Best Performance (Male).[3]
References[]
- ^ Edwards, Helen Martin ; Sam (1997). New Zealand film : 1912–1996 (1. publ. ed.). Auckland [u.a.]: Oxford Univ. Press. ISBN 0195583361.
- ^ Vieth, Albert Moran, Errol (2009). The A to Z of Australian and New Zealand cinema. Lanham: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0810863477.
- ^ "Ruby and Rata". NZ On Screen. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
External links[]
- Ruby and Rata at IMDb
- Ruby and Rata at NZ On Screen
- 1990 films
- English-language films
- Films set in New Zealand
- Films shot in New Zealand
- New Zealand films
- New Zealand film stubs