Make time for the magnificent Rārangi
What do you think the most critically acclaimed and internationally prize-winning New Zealand-made or inspired TV show of the past few years might be?
Is it What We Do In The Shadows, The Brokenwood Mysteries – which sells like hot cakes around the world – Amazon’s billion-dollar The Rings of Power, or maybe dear old Shortland Street, which still enjoys cult status in an astonishing array of countries?
Nope, it’s Rā rangi – currently sitting at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and an International Emmy Award-winner last year. All of which is absolutely amazing for a tiny show, originally broadcast as five, web-only episodes, with a cast of mostly first-timers.
Rā rangi is set in a fictional town, not too far from Tā maki Makaurau. Young Caz has come back from Auckland after years away. Caz has transitioned and is home as a man, for the first time. And not everyone in this rural settlement is as delighted for Caz’s new life as you might have hoped.
Put like that, Rā rangi could have been a worthy slog of a show.
The temptation to preach and point-score in every episode must have been strong. But the genius of Rā rangi is that it never takes the easy way out, treats everybody in the script as a human being, and plays all of its dilemmas with nuance and insight. Rā rangi is a gem.
The first series – which ran for around 100 minutes across five episodes – was edited into a standalone feature film for international release. It wowed audiences around the world and picked up glowing reviews from some pretty hard-nosed critics.
So, people, it makes me happy as hell to be able to tell you that Rā rangi is back, in a fresh series of five, 22-minute episodes. Most of season one’s cast have returned, with a few new faces and voices coming to town in the couple of years since the events of season one.
Old tensions are still simmering, with the town beginning to get behind the idea of a ban on chemical fertilisers – yes, Rā rangi has a so-blunt-it-hurts environmental sub-plot – and some of the town’s various phobics and sceptics still making their views known.
Meanwhile, among the town’s many outwardly fabulous denizens – of all and many genders – there are still conflicts and confusions to be resolved.
And, just to show us where the money went, series two also introduces a supernatural element that promises a few, err, ‘‘Stranger Things’’ might be going on in Rā rangi than in 2020. Rā rangi is a gem.
This wee show has put New Zealand on the international map in places that Hobbits could never reach.
It is well-written, beautifully well-acted, often laugh-out-loud funny and always knows exactly who it is talking to. The show still belies its tiny budget and rushed schedule, but that only lends a rawness and occasionally improvised feel to a few scenes that I reckon just makes it better. Money can buy you slick and frictionless television all day long. But Rā rangi has heart, soul and honesty. And that stuff is still priceless.
Make time for this undersung, international champion. You can thank me later.
Rā rangi: Rising Lights debuts at 9.30pm on Prime tonight. It will also be available to stream on Neon and SkyGo from tomorrow.