‘The really clever people do television’
She’s won a Palme d’Or and an Oscar, but Dame Jane Campion is chucking in the movies for telly.
The Kiwi-born film-maker, who this weekend will introduce New Zealand International Film Festival screenings of her new TV series Top of the Lake: China Girl, has told Britain’s The Guardian newspaper why the small screen is her new favourite home.
‘‘The really clever people used to do film,’’ she said. ‘‘Now, the really clever people do television. I’d been feeling, in the film world, that if you come up with ideas, and you share them, the first concern is: how is the audience going to react?’’
The 63-year-old believed cinema in Australasia had become much more mainstream.
‘‘It’s broad entertainment ... As a goal, to make money out of entertaining doesn’t inspire me. But in television, there is no concern about politeness or pleasing the audience. It feels like creative freedom.’’
She cited the reception of her 2003 erotic thriller In the Cut as being the catalyst for her disillusionment with the movie industry. ‘‘That was a pretty big disaster in terms of the way it was reviewed,’’ she told The Guardian.
‘‘What was really hard about that was that it was mostly reviewed by males, and they hated the female point of view and the way the women were talking about them as objects. Actually, I do think it is a good movie. There are certain women who tell me it’s one of their favourite films.’’
After that Meg Ryan, Mark Ruffalo-starring movie failed at the box office, Campion took six years off, which turned out to be a positive experience.
‘‘I was going to take a break anyway, but I found it really easy, because when you have a failure, nobody rings you up or wants you to do anything,’’ she said. ‘‘I ... spent four years being more of a mother.’’
After its screenings at the film festival this weekend, Top of the Lake: China Girl will screen on Sky TV’s UKTV from August 22.