Cinema
The history of New Zealand film doesn't really begin until the late 1970s when generous tax breaks were introduced to encourage local production. From some early stumbling attempts, notable feature films have survived the test of time and launched the careers of New Zealand directors and actors.
Sleeping Dogs (1977) is an accomplished psychological drama that was at the forefront of the new film industry, and which launched the careers of actor Sam Neill and director Roger Donaldson.
New Zealand films moved into art-house cinemas with Vincent Ward's Vigil (1984), a blooding film about a girl's coming of age in the rain-drenched back blocks of New Zealand. It proved too ponderously artistic for many Kiwi film-goers but wowed them at Cannes. Ward's follow-up The Navigator (1988) is a strange modern medieval hunt for the Holy Grail.
New Zealand's best known director, though Australian based and trained, is Jane Campion. Her greatest films explore New Zealand themes. An Angel at My Table (1990), based on Kiwi writer Janet Frame's autobiography, shows all the fine character development typical of her films Campion's masterpiece, The Piano (1993), about the trials of a mute woman in New Zealand's pioneer days, received Cannes and Academy A ward success. Suddenly the world noticed New Zealand's already accomplished movie Indus try. Once Were Warriors (1994), a brutal tale of modern. Urban Maori life, stunned movie-goers around the world. Heavenly Creatures, directed by Peter Jackson, also achieved critical acclaim. It is based on a famous case of matricide in the 1950s committed by two schoolgirls.
Summary
New Zealand stretches 1600 km from north to south it consists of two large islands around which are scattered a number of smaller islands, plus a few far-flung islands hundreds of km away. The North Island (115,000 sq km) and the South Island (151,000 sq km) are the two major land masses. A notable feature of New Zealand's geography is the country's great number of rivers. The Waikato River in the North Island is New Zealand's longest river, measuring in at 425 km. New Zealand also has a number of beautiful lakes; Lake Taupo is the largest and lakes Waikaremoana and Wanaka are two of the most beautiful. As is the case for most Pacific islands, New Zealand's native flora & fauna are, for the most part, not found anywhere else in the world. And, like other Pacific islands, NZ's native ecosystem has been dramatically affected and changed by plants and animals brought by settlers, mostly in the last 200 years.
Much of New Zealand's unique flora & fauna has survived, but today over 150 native plants -10% of the total number of native species - and many native birds are threatened with extinction.
The governmental structure of New Zealand is modeled on the British parliamentary system, elections being based on universal adult suffrage. The minimum voting age is 18 and candidates are elected by secret ballot.
The New Zealand and Australian flags are very much alike. With the British flag in the top left-hand corner, the New Zealanders show the stars of the Southern Cross in red on a blue field. New Zealand's population of around 3,5 million people .
The most common religion in New Zealand is Christianity. New Zealanders place a high value on education, and virtually the entire population is literate. New Zealand has seven universities, a number of teachers' colleges and polytechnics and one agricultural college. New Zealand has two official languages: English and Maori.
New Zealand has a multi-faceted arts scene with both Maori and Pakeha engaged in all kinds of traditional and modern arts. Maori arts are dramatic in many ways, and they include various arts that people of European backgrounds might not be familiar with.
New Zealand has an active literary scene, with a number of modem authors and a few old classics. Probably the most internationally known New Zealand writer is still Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923).
The history of New Zealand film doesn't really begin until the late 1970s when generous tax breaks were introduced to encourage local production. From some early stumbling attempts, notable feature films have survived the test of time and launched the careers of New Zealand directors and actors.
Glossary
Articles статьи
Bay залив
Blackberries ежевика
Careers карьера
Channels каналы
Christianity христианство
Climate климат
Coastline береговая линия
Concentration концентрация
Conditions условия
Ecosystem экосистема
Elections выборы
Exodus массовое бегство
Fauna фауна
Film industry кинопроизводство
Film-goers кинолюбители
Flora флора
Geology геология
Gorse утесник обыкновенный
Harbor гавань
Immigrant's иммигранты
Islander's островитяне
Isolation изоляция
Land masses континентальный массив
Literate грамотный
Mammal's млекопитающие
Martial arts военные искусства
Masterpiece шедевр
Muslims мусульмане
Navigable судоходная
Noncommercial некоммерческий
Non-fiction научная литература
Novels романы
Paper бумага
Poetry поэзия
Polytechnics политехникум
Population население
Possum опоссум
Production производство
Referendum референдум
Reputation репутация
Rural сельский
Settler поселенец
Subsidized субсидирования
Suffrage избирательное право
Tale рассказ
Tax breaks налоговые льготы
Territorial территория
Voting age возрастной ценз
Wallaby's кенгуру-валаби
Список литературы
1. Spotlight on English-speaking countries N.Timanovskaya , изд. .Автограф, 1998.
2. Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture Pearson Educated Limited, 1998.