As Good as it Gets

With the release of her latest film The Vintner’s Luck, Niki Caro talks to Her Magazine about the connection she has with her films and how she deals with the good and the bad media.

I’d love to see inside the mind of Niki Caro.

Everyday events would be played out with a shroud of mystery, people would get around on wings and whales and the most commonplace of characters would do the most extraordinary things.

Thankfully, movies step in where telepathy cannot.

Arguably New Zealand’s most influential female film director, Niki Caro has done it again with her latest box office hit, The Vintner’s Luck (in cinemas this month).

The soft spoken, mother of one takes a very heads-down, tails-up type approach to her work. When you speak to her, you get a sense that every word is carefully chosen – articulated in a way that, like her films, has a deeper meaning than what first appears.

You get the feeling this woman’s mind is running wild with story plots, unexpected twists and charming characters; however, her appearance is poised; giving no hint to the exploring imagination within.

Niki graduated with a BFA from the Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland in 1988, and a MFA from Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne.

“I came back to New Zealand and ended up waitressing for about ten years in Auckland at night and during the day I tried to get any experience that I could – television dramas, commercials, music videos - anyone that would hire me really.”

Her first film, Memory and Desire (1997), an ill-fated love story based on the short story by Peter Wells could be pinpointed as Niki’s breakthrough into the world of motion pictures but she says technically Whale Rider was her big break because of the fact that it did so phenomenally well.

The Vintner’s Luck, based on the book of the same name by fellow New Zealander Elizabeth Knox, re-units Niki with protégée Keisha Castle-Hughes, who famously earned an Academy Award for Best Actress nomination for her work in Whale Rider. The Vintner’s Luck’s recent premier at the 2009 Toronto Film Festival in September celebrated seven years to the day that Niki and Keisha first introduced the now hugely successful film to the world.

“The Toronto audience are fantastic – I love them,” Niki says.

“There was such a lot of interest in the film and warmth for Keisha and me.”



This was Niki’s third premier in Toronto, with North Country, a story of a woman in a remote mining town who stands up to sexual harassment in the workplace played by Oscar nominated actress, Charlize Theron also showing in 2005.

Niki simply believes it is the quality of her work that sets it apart from the hundreds of other films shown at the festival. This year, over 360 films featured throughout the 10-day event, competing for esteem against the world’s best in new cinema from established masters and new talent.

Set in 19th century France, The Vintner’s Luck is a heart-warming story of one man’s quest to cultivate the perfect vintage. The protagonist Sabron must overcome the expected trials a peasant winemaker might face as well as overcome a battle within, when he meets Xas, a fallen angel whom he believes is the key to making the model brew.

“The projects I’ve committed myself to are ones that I’ve felt a real connection to,” says Niki.

“Without that connection you don’t have the stamina to go through the years that it takes to develop something then make it, post produce it then get it out to the world. Plus there’s the feedback from the public that you have to deal with.”

‘Niki Caro delivers her least impressive vintage with this drearily literal-minded adaptation of The Vintner's Luck’ was the review from Variety, a trusted source of entertainment news. Niki says this unflattering response was shadowed in comparison to a praiseworthy review from former New York Times film critic Elvis Mitchell.

Niki says you have to experience both sides of the media to truly appreciate the positive things that are said about you.

“In a way, that is what the film is about - that you don’t always get all the good stuff all the time,” she relates. “It’s just part of being a human.”

With the support of husband Andrew Lister, daughter Tui and just over 4 million New Zealanders, Niki can take her work to the world knowing she’ll always have a pat on the back waiting back home.

Being a Kiwi is a huge part of who Niki is and is not simply a card that is played on; although it does give her a point of difference in such a competitive industry.

“Being a New Zealander working in the world is quite interesting because you have, pretty much always, an outsider’s perspective and a fresh way of looking at things. I really appreciate this and others do too.”

At the end of the day, being a filmmaker representing this country is what makes Niki truly happy.

“I’ve never had to fight to be a feminist or a filmmaker in New Zealand,” she says.

“I’ve had every advantage. My gender has never got in the way of me being able to work; in fact, in New Zealand, it is almost an advantage.

“I’m very proud to be from here and if I can contribute work in the world that makes New Zealanders proud also then that’s about as good as it gets.”

By Nakita Wairepo