Everything we learned from the Jacinda Ardern movie trailer
There will be tears, there will be imposter syndrome, there will be a Clarke Gayford cinematographer credit.
In January, reviews began pouring out of the festival circuit for Prime Minister, the feature length documentary following Jacinda Ardern over a period of seven years. Co-directed by New Zealand-based Michelle Walshe and American filmmaker Lindsey Utz, the documentary is said to encompass everything from her rise to power, to becoming the second women to ever give birth while in office, to leading the country through numerous disasters and eventually stepping down.
Not to be confused with the other NZFC funded Jacinda Ardern documentary that is yet to surface, Prime Minister was made with the blessing of Ardern herself. This means unprecedented access and even some personal home video that sees Clarke Gayford secure a director of photography credit. 'World leaders have rarely been captured with as much intimacy,' wrote Variety, who also noted that 'the film's lack of political complexity proves detrimental.'
You can read more of the early reviews here, including a B rating from IndieWire who said it 'acts as an intimate study of what it means to serve others when it seems like the world is falling apart.' There's still no indication of when Prime Minister will be released in Aotearoa, or when Clarke Gayford is launching his own cinematography masterclass, so here's everything we've gleaned from the newly-released trailer in the meantime.
There will be many landscape drone shots
First of all, it is simply not a documentary about Aotearoa if it isn't stuffed to the gills with drone shots of our pristine beaches, our lush green bush and picturesque little cities. 'Every time I got on a plane, I would look out the window and think 'from that mountain to that river, that is my responsibility',' Ardern muses at one point.
There will be mic drops
'Do you think you can credibly lead a government?' one reporter asks in a media scrum shortly after Ardern steps into the role as Labour leader. 'Would you like to tell me why you don't think I can?' she retorts. If the punters at Sundance like that burn, wait till they hear about ' arrogant prick ' or the finger point that stopped the nation.
There will be tears
In her final address to parliament, Ardern famously said that you can be a leader and you can also be ' a nerd, a crier, a hugger. ' Silencing any allegations of crocodile tears in Prime Minister, she can be seen crying at multiple points during the trailer, and even admitted to crying throughout the premiere of the film. 'I cried through most of it, and I'm not sure if that's equivalent to laughing at your own jokes,' she said during the Sundance film festival. Cryception!
There will be meta moments
With a seven year shooting period comes plenty of time for reflection, and it appears Ardern will rewatch or listen to some of her earlier documentary interviews within the documentary. 'In the back of my mind I thought, 'how are we going to do this with a baby',' she muses, before you realise she is actually listening to herself say that many years later. 'I just feel sorry for myself listening to that,' she says in the present day. 'Because I had no idea what was coming.'
There will be baby stuff
One of the more memorable shots in the trailer is a heavily pregnant Ardern balancing a cup of tea on her big old belly on the couch at home. Presumably the work of legendary internationally-renowned cinematographer Clarké Gayførd, we also get very cute snippets of Neve celebrating with birthday cake, and scuttling away from a small robotic dog.
There will be imposter syndrome
'I was 14 years old when someone first used the term imposter syndrome, and it was like something just clicked,' says Ardern over a shot of her Sun-inned teenage self. 'I just had a bit of a fear that I shouldn't be there.' You know who doesn't have imposter syndrome? Neve's small robotic dog, pictured here plotting world domination.
There will be 'dumpster fire'
We all remember the phenomenon of Lady Gaga's phenomenal ' there can be 100 people in a room ' run during the promo for A Star Is Born, and now Ardern might be testing our patience with a catchphrase of her own: dumpster fire. Just today she told Yale students that the world has turned from ' tumultuous to an all-out dumpster fire ', and in the trailer says this: 'it's hard to switch on the news some days and just think the world is a dumpster fire.' A fair few mentions to go before she can compete with Gaga, but something to keep tabs on for sure.
There will be… everything?
From Winston's dramatic kingmaker decision to Ardern giving birth while in office and taking Neve to the UN, to catastrophic national events like the March 15 attacks and the eruption on Whakaari, to the pandemic and the parliament protests, the trailer also serves as a good reminder of just how much pivotal history we have experienced in Aotearoa in the very recent past. No wonder we all need a cup of tea, a lie-down, and a robot dog to do our bidding.
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