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Out of the Blue
Directed by	Robert Sarkies
Produced by	Steven O'Meagher Tim White
Written by	Graeme Tetley Robert Sarkies
Starring	Karl Urban Matthew Sunderland Paul Glover Simon Ferry Tandi Wright
Distributed by	The Weinstein Company (DVD)
Country	New Zealand
Language	English
Budget	NZ$6,000,000

Out of the Blue is a 2006 New Zealand film directed by Robert Sarkies and starring Karl Urban. The film premiered at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival in Canada and was released in New Zealand on October 12th 2006 to minor controversy. The film has since grossed well over $1,000,000 at the New Zealand box-office taking it into the top ten highest grossing films.^[1]

The film is based on the Aramoana Massacre that occurred over a period of two days on 13 November and 14 November 1990. Resident David Gray, an unemployed gun collector, went on a rampage in which he shot 13 people dead, before Gray himself was shot by police.

The production faced some opposition from the town, and as a result, little filming was being done in Aramoana itself, though the community did allow some scenes to be shot in the settlement. Some members of the community were against the movie being filmed, but they agreed when it was settled that they would see the movie first, and it would not be called 'Aramoana.' Most of the filming was shot in Long Beach, a settlement six kilometres from Aramoana.

The Office of Film and Literature Classification has classified the film Out of the Blue as R15 with the descriptive note ‘violence and content that may disturb’. The film was restricted because the murders it depicts are likely to cause younger viewers distress and threaten their sense of personal safety. “Out of the Blue deals with recent events involving real people. For that reason we consulted with the families of victims and the Aramoana community. We were impressed by the articulate and heartfelt comments they made at our meetings” said Chief Censor Bill Hastings.

The film deals with violence in a realistic but restrained way. The effect the film has on its audience is likely to depend on the circumstances of the viewer. Mr Hastings said “for some of those closely involved in the events it portrays the film may be upsetting and traumatic. Other people may view it as a sensitive portrayal of the responses of ordinary people to horrific events.” ^[2]

1. ^ http://www.nzherald.co.nz/search/story.cfm?storyid=0009CD2B-8BEB-157E-853E83027AF1010F
2. ^ http://www.censorship.govt.nz/news_2006_06_out%20of%20the%20blue.html

• Out of the Blue at the Internet Movie Database
• Out of the Blue at Rotten Tomatoes
• Out of the Blue: The Aramoana Tragedy An interview with Robert Sarkies
• NZFC profile

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