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Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
The solace of strangers
Relationships and healing were central for the director and star of a new film, they tell Weekend Mix film reviewer Amasio Jutel. New Zealand-Australian director Samuel Van Grinsven transforms the familiar nursery rhyme Jack and Jill into a haunting ghost story in his New Zealand International Film Festival entry Went Up the Hill . Starring Stranger Things ' Dacre Montgomery and Phantom Thread 's Vicky Krieps in the Australian heartthrob's most personal role to date, this slow-burning, genre-bending tale explores the aftermath of loss and the eerie ways grief can possess us. Set against the glowing winter scenery of Canterbury, Van Grinsven's Gothic quasi-adaptation unfolds as a tonally sombre, narratively fantastical chamber piece between two strangers who share a ghost. Jack (Montgomery), an estranged son, and Jill (Krieps), a grieving widow, meet for the first time at the funeral of Elizabeth, the woman they both thought they knew. But as they inhabit the cold, creaky house Elizabeth left behind, secrets unravel and something else begins to inhabit them both. The two powerhouse performances at the film's centre compellingly anchor Van Grinsven's vision. Compositionally, he has a masterful grasp of tone, powerfully announcing his entry into the canon of New Zealand's cinema of unease. This dream-turned-nightmare supernatural tale is more Bergman than Blumhouse - less a conventional horror and more a psychological supernatural drama infused with the gothic sensibilities of nursery rhymes. For Van Grinsven, there is something haunting about nursery rhymes. "There's something about nursery rhymes that are both caring and cautionary. They're connected to the maternal, passed down from generation to generation and reinterpreted. That felt very connected to the idea of generational trauma, and how that is passed down, willingly or not, from parent to child. That, in itself, felt haunting," he says. If Jack broke his crown, perhaps it wasn't a fall that did it. Maybe Jill did come tumbling down, just not in the way we were taught. The film was shot on location at Canterbury's Flock Hill estate, nestled beside Lake Pearson; there couldn't be a more fitting environment in which to set this ethereal tale. The snow-blanketed Southern Alps loom over the estranged pair, isolated by their grief. Stretching into silence, the wintered highlands dampen any connection to the outside world - a cold and indifferent land, up the hill. Van Grinsven shoots the mountains, the snow and the shadows with precision, capturing the eerie locale as it lives in his mind. "I wanted to capture New Zealand as I remembered it," Van Grinsven says, "as a child driving up and down with a sense of wide-eyed wonderment and being dwarfed by the landscape." The painterly, desaturated aesthetic - whites, greys, browns, and blacks - pushes the visual language towards the Gothic. Van Grinsven and director of photography Tyson Perkins use light, shadow, reflection, and bisecting lines to mirror the characters' fractured identities and emotional states. Claustrophobic framing ensnares the viewer in Van Grinsven's trap, a compositional control he holds with a firm grip. "The antagonist of the film is not on screen in a way that audiences are used to," Van Grinsven explains. "I had to bring her to life with every other tool in my toolkit, whether that's the control of the camera or an extremely severe control over colour palette." Composer Hanan Townshend wrote the score before filming even began, helping shape the film's emotional tone. Lullaby-like, wordless vocalisations amplify the childlike longing Van Grinsven saw in the nursery rhyme. "That lulling effect that a nursery rhyme has on you in real life is what I wanted to capture," he explains. "That you almost feel hypnotised by it." The resulting tone is sombre and dreamlike, finely tuned, precise, and eerie. The tonal unease - somewhere between horror, fantasy, and drama - was achieved by layering genres. Van Grinsven drew inspiration from Persona -era Ingmar Bergman. He describes it as "the strange tension point when you put two genres together that aren't meant to go together, or don't conventionally go together". The cold and creaky house at the centre of his film, perched like a secret among the hills, was in the world of the film designed by the recently deceased Elizabeth. Young star Montgomery calls it "the third character". "Every single element and layer of the onion that is this beautiful film is influenced by Flock Hill estate. We were living on one side of the house and performing on the other side. It was intrinsically in our bones and our DNA by the end of the film. You couldn't escape it. It's everything," Montgomery says. "It's the archetype of the haunted house, but in a purely naturalistic way, connected to the landscape in New Zealand. She built in this location for a reason," Van Grinsven adds. It shapes the film's oppressive mood and echoes the characters' emotional imprisonment, eloquently portrayed by Montgomery and Krieps. "We were all Shelly Duvall in The Shining at one point," Montgomery jokes. Jack is fragile, consumed by a longing for maternal connection; Jill's identity, like Jack's, is deeply entangled with Elizabeth. He is searching for a mother he never had; she is mourning a partner she never truly knew. Together, they engage in this poetic "psychic ballet" - to coin Van Grinsven - creating Elizabeth in each other's bodies: Jack as Jill's wife, Jill as Jack's mother. In doing so, they search for what they believe is closure, but it's what ultimately keeps them trapped in grief. "There's always this unearned intimacy between the two of them; this unease where they are for a portion of the film, using each other as a means to an end, but gradually grow to care about each other," Van Grinsven says. "There was something quite beautiful about the way Vicky and Dacre kept up the energy - that palpable kind of tension that only comes from two strangers." Taking a leaf out of Phantom Thread co-star Daniel Day-Lewis' book, Krieps never socialised with Montgomery off-set. "We have the most intense chemistry of anyone I've ever worked with, but we never spoke to each other," Montgomery says. "I feel like I had this weird old soul bond with Vicky that we didn't need to get into." As much as this ghost story wasn't a horror film, it was certainly an exorcism for Montgomery, who describes his time on the film as a deeply personal journey of self-reckoning. "From the year of rehearsal we did and the further year and a-half it took me to let go of the character before we premiered at Toronto, I didn't do anything except live Went Up the Hill for two and a-half years of my life." The role demanded more than just performance. Montgomery stripped away his own defences to inhabit not just Jack's grief, but his own. "Using art to try to heal oneself is incredibly revealing. You become very self-conscious of your performance, your being, how your body looks, and how you feel. That was a challenge I overcame in this film: letting go of that and allowing myself to be a child and to be vulnerable as Dacre. I felt I was able to overcome that in some parts, and in others, it was truly a wall I couldn't break through. "Jack may be the only character I ever play that is truly almost, in so many ways, me." Went Up the Hill casts complex queer characters in a story archetype that traditionally invites conventional narrative expectations, a fact that informs the subtle power dynamics and emotional distance between its leads. "I was excited by the core relationship in the film being a queer woman and a queer man," Van Grinsven says. "If they were both to be heterosexual, the baggage that an audience brings to a film about possession and ghostliness would be that they're going to form a romantic connection. By queering that expectation, it opens audiences up to a more honest and raw exploration of what the film's dealing with." The film also continues themes Van Grinsven explored in his debut, Sequin in a Blue Room . "It was exciting for me, being able to grapple with things that I see in real relationships around me, real queer relationships around me, and bring that to the screen in a way they're not often represented. "I think queer cinema is changing so much. I think for the first time, we're seeing queer cinema being approached as commercially viable. There's a real appetite coming from audiences, which is fantastic." • Went Up the Hill screens as part of Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival at Rialto, Thursday, August 21, 6pm.
Otago Daily Times
09-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Just the ticket: 5 fixes for a fabulous festival
Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival is back with another almost overwhelming lineup. But worry not, Weekend Mix film reviewer Amasio Jutel has five ways to make the most of it, using the festival's popular five-film multipass. 1. GOOD VALUE: If you're concerned about a quality-assured return on investment, here are the best value films to play it safe on. IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT Director: Jafar Panahi Iran/France/Luxembourg Winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for The Circle (2000), and later winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival for Taxi (2015), Jafar Panahi completes a European film festival treble with Cannes' Palme d'Or winner It Was Just an Accident. This Iranian political thriller is the NZIFF's opening night film selection for a reason. Driving at night, an accident damages Eghbal's car, whose night goes from bad to worse when the garage he pulls into is that of a former political prisoner, who believes Eghbal to be the intelligence officer who tortured him. Strongly recommended The Regent Fri Aug 15, 7pm The Regent Wed Aug 20, 3.45pm THE TEXASCHAIN SAW MASSACRE + CHAIN REACTIONS Director: Tobe Hooper Director: Alexandre O. Philippe USA I'm cheating a little bit on the five-film pass with this double feature, but these two deserve to be paired together. It's difficult to call as divisive a genre as horror "good value", but a 4K restoration of one of the genre's most important documents, paired with an exploration of its legacy by one of cinema's most studious documentarians, Alexandre Philippe, is not to be missed at this year's festival. Chain Reactions looks at the cultural legacy of the Texas road trip that turned bloody. Strongly recommended The Regent Sat Aug 16, 9pm The Regent Sun Aug 17, 10am (Q+A) EDDINGTON Director: Ari Aster USA Eddington is one of the few films on this list that could easily have been cast under any ticket. This conspiracy Western is set amid the Covid-19 pandemic, in New Mexico. With three significant movies already under his belt, Aster might be the most recognisable name at the festival this year. Expect Beau is Afraid, not Midsommar, in this polarising satire about TikTok, misinformation, and libertarianism. Strongly recommended The Regent Sun Aug 17, 5.15pm WENT UP THE HILL Director: Samuel Van Grinsven New Zealand/Australia Aotearoa's glowing winter scenery serves as the backdrop for this tonally sombre and narratively fantastical reimagining of the classic nursery rhyme, Jack and Jill. Dacre Montgomery and Vicky Krieps are transcendent (literally) as estranged son and grieving widow to Elizabeth, layering agony and endurance into each frame. As the pacing settles in, so too does the tonal horror, and new truths about their relationships come to light. Strongly recommended Rialto Thurs Aug 21, 6pm WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES Directors: Bela Tarr, Agnes Hranitzky Hungary/France/Germany/Italy Bela Tarr and Agnes Hranitzky's art-horror funeral march on lingering fascism in Eastern Europe is desolate, desperate, and formally distinct. Werckmeister Harmonies is one of the most important texts in cinematic history, and a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see it projected on the big screen should not be passed up. Strongly recommended Rialto Sat Aug 30, 12.45pm 2. WORLD CINEMA: Here's a globetrotting adventure in world cinema for a fraction of the cost of plane tickets, spotlighting five unique cultures and countries that figure prominently as characters in this mixed bag. THE PRESIDENT'S CAKE Hasan Hadi Iraq/USA/Qatar The first of several Cannes award-winning films under this ticket, The President's Cake is the directorial debut of Iraqi writer/director Hasan Hadi. Nine-year-old Lamia is chosen to bake a birthday cake for President Saddam Hussein. Amid the Gulf War's crippling food shortages, Lamia faces an Odyssean task of gathering ingredients to avoid imprisonment. The Regent Tue Aug 19, 1.30pm The Regent Sat Aug 23, 10am THE SECRET AGENT Kleber Mendonca Filho Brazil/France/Netherlands/ Germany The Secret Agent is a high-stakes political thriller out of Brazil. Starring Wagner Moura and set during the period of Brazilian military dictatorship, the film won best director at Cannes and can be expected to feature prominently with other award bodies until the Oscars, in March, next year. Filho's last award-winning film, Bacurau, was an electronically-scored Spaghetti Western-feeling political thriller about a small town resisting colonial genocide. Strongly recommended The Regent Sat Aug 23, 2.45pm THE NEW YEAR THAT NEVER CAME Bogdan Muresanu Romania/Serbia This slow-burning historical "tragicomedy" explores six convergent lives during the 1989 Romanian revolution, which saw 42 years of Marxist-Leninist communist government come to an end. The ensemble piece is a snapshot of this moment, teleporting viewers back in time, into the streets of Bucharest. Rialto Sat Aug 23, 3pm SOUND OF FALLING Mascha Schilinski Germany This gothic German anthology film follows four women over the course of a century, exploring their intersecting lives, which slowly twist together and emotionally unravel as secrets are spilled, and their intergenerational trauma haunts the narrative. Rialto Sun Aug 24, 12.45pm HAPPYEND Neo Sora Japan/USA A near-future Orwellian exploration of Japan's social environment, Happyend is a lo-fi science fiction film that tackles adolescence and the surveillance state. Faced with the threat of a catastrophic earthquake, two troublemakers turn their district dystopian after a prank on their principal backfires. Neo Sora also directed the documentary, Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus, which featured at the NZIFF last year. Rialto Thurs Aug 28, 6pm 3. GENRE: The cinema is for the cinematic, and these five films are sure to reward on the big screen. Here are five striking genre movies you shouldn't miss. RESURRECTION Bi Gan China/France Artfully composed high-concept science fiction. In a future where no-one can dream, a woman discovers the one creature that can. Its inventive dream logic extends from the narrative to the very composition of the film itself — a vibrant and unknowable trance-like state to lure the viewer in. Formally operatic and narratively Kafkaesque, director Bi Gan cites seminal German expressionist films The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and Nosferatu as key influences on Resurrection. The Regent Sun Aug 17, 8pm THE SHROUDS David Cronenberg Canada/France Last year, we celebrated a kind of "Cronenbergian horror" at The Substance; this year, we have the real deal. Re-animation and body horror are the subjects of legacy horror film-maker David Cronenberg. In The Shrouds, he explores post-death, blurring reality and illusion, human flesh and technology, in a post-modern, grotesque, semi-autobiographical, horror/sci-fi. The Regent Mon Aug 18, 8.15pm SPLITSVILLE Michael Angelo Covino USA Perhaps the most straightforward comedy on this list, Splitsville will have you splitting at the seams with its uncomfortable absurdity. A potential four-way open marriage complicates emotional boundaries in this Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona-starring indie dramedy. The Regent Fri Aug 22, 6pm BRING THEM DOWN Christopher Andrews Ireland/UK/Belgium Christopher Abbot and Barry Keoghan are rival farmers in this violent revenge thriller about Irish shepherding families. Rialto Wed Aug 27, 8pm HARD BOILED John Woo Hong Kong What if The Departed were a Hong Kong action movie? Hard Boiled is "pedal to the metal" action hysteria — a delirium of guns, guts, and glory. Leung's pained performance carries the emotional weight of the film, doing the Herculean task of showing up Chow Yun-fat in a Hong Kong action film. Hard Boiled is a two-hour-long action scene complete with thrilling standoffs, horrific throat slits and hilarious baby antics. Strongly recommended Rialto Sun Aug 31, 7.30pm 4. CINEPHILE: After seeing Eddington, here are five more films for the Letterboxd users. BLUE MOON Richard Linklater USA/Ireland On March 31, 1943, acclaimed Broadway duet Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were opening Oklahoma!, their first musical written together. The movie focuses on Rodgers' former creative partner, Lorenz Hart (portrayed by Ethan Hawke), who was struggling with alcohol and depression. The film largely takes place at a bar, with Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale and Andrew Scott in supporting roles. The Regent Tue Aug 19, 6pm The Regent Fri Aug 22, 1.30pm SIRAT Oliver Laxe Spain/France Hardtek raves in the Southern Moroccan desert don't cater to dads searching for lost daughters. Watch Sergi Lopez navigate psychological purgatory in this Jury Prize-winning sandy neo-hippie thrash. The Regent Wed Aug 20, 8.15pm THE MASTERMIND Kelly Reichardt USA/UK I'm hooked on the bouncy, rhythmic score that underlies hazy shots of Josh O'Connor lifting works of art from public museums. The Mastermind follows Reichardt's oeuvre of working-class individuals, this one living a double life as an art thief in 1970s Massachusetts. The Regent Thurs Aug 21, 6pm SORRY, BABY Eva Victor USA Tackling dark subject matter with an honest and authentic approach to comedy, Sorry, Baby is written by, directed by and stars Eva Victor. Victor's "traumedy" spans five years in the healing and aftermath of sexual assault by her former professor. Her balance of dry wit and heartfelt emotion compassionately considers the survivor experience. The film also stars Naomi Ackie and Lucas Hedges. Strongly recommended The Regent Thurs Aug 21, 8.15pm SENTIMENTAL VALUE Joachim Trier Norway/France/Denmark/ Germany Joachim Trier reunites with Renate Reinsve after their modest 2021 sensation, The Worst Person in the World. Trier's authentic and slightly naive sensibility speaks directly to high-strung young creatives. His films navigate an ocean of feelings — joy, melancholy, anger, loneliness — centring characters traversing the messy reality of life. Stellan Skarsgard co-stars as a film director and estranged father to Reinsve. Strongly recommended The Regent Sun Aug 24, 6.45pm 5. THE STUDENT TICKET: This ticket spans low-budget DIY projects, illicit substances, social media parasocialism and Dunedin on screen. LIFE IN ONE CHORD Margaret Gordon New Zealand/Australia Exploring the life and work of Shayne Carter, Life in One Chord lives in the heart of Dunedin's music scene. Traversing Dunedin's suburbs, this punkish rockumentary premieres globally at the Regent Theatre. The Regent Sat Aug 16, 6.15pm (Q+A) The Regent Tue Aug 19, 3.45pm WORKMATES Curtis Vowell New Zealand Unacknowledged love between Kiwi creatives comes to the fore in contemporary Shortland Street director Curtis Vowell's workplace comedy, Workmates. In a desperate plea to save the antique theatre they both love, best friends Lucy and Tom explore the awkward arena of workplace crushes. With rave reviews out of Auckland, be sure to add this one to your watchlist. The Regent Mon Aug 18, 6pm LURKER Alex Russell USA Part-Nightcrawler, part-The Talented Mr. Ripley, with stars from Saltburn and Bottoms, this modern music industry psychological thriller looks at pop stars, parasocial fans and social media stalkers. The Regent Tue Aug 19, 8.15pm THE WEED EATERS Callum Devlin New Zealand The Weed Eaters is the festival's spiritual heir to a '90s Peter Jackson horror-comedy or a Taika Waititi 48-hour film festival entry. Take the title literally and beware the intensity of your munchies. Think of this in the same ilk as Texas Chain Saw, cannibalism, carnage and all. Rialto Fri Aug 22, 8.15pm LESBIAN SPACE PRINCESS Emma Hough Hobbs, Leela Varghese Australia In the Gay-laxy, in the queer utopian kingdom of Clitopolis, an anxious and introverted Princess Saira misses her ex, and must summon her feminist battle axe to save her situationship from incel aliens. From real-life couple Emma Hough Hobbs and Leela Varghese, this Cartoon Network-inspired intergalactic romp is designedly unrestrained and wickedly funny with delightful musical numbers. Strongly recommended The Regent Sat Aug 23, 8.15pm
Otago Daily Times
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Letters to the Editor: Milburn, Fyfe and Mungo
Today's Letters to the Editor from readers cover topics including supporting the inland port at Milburn, a wonderful tribute to Jim Fyfe, and memories of "Mungo's Cottage". Milburn common sense inland port proposition Thank you Cr Jim O'Malley for applying common sense and supporting the inland port at Milburn rather than at Mosgiel. The Mayor, who obviously supports heavy trucks rolling through Mosgiel, must live in Dunedin city. As a Mosgiel resident, I know we already have enough heavy trucks travelling along our roads, especially our main street. This street is heavily used by locals and visitors, motorists and pedestrians, including many students, elderly and disabled people. The Milburn quadrant will enable trucks to travel straight off SH1 on to the privately funded site rather than on to city council and Land Transport Agency funded roads through our township. Even with the so-called "Mosgiel by-pass", which the agency will not fund, the Mosgiel site makes no sense. Geography lesson I don't have a view on the location of the inland port but, as a Dunedin lad now residing in Lower Hutt, I think Cr O'Malley needs to look at a map. Comparing travel from Dunedin to Milburn with Wellington to Lower Hutt is stretching things by a large margin. Lower Hutt's CBD is only 15km from Wellington's, the same distance as Dunedin to Mosgiel. Milburn is 49km from the city centre. That distance from Wellington would take you to the foot of the Remutaka Hill at the head of the Hutt Valley, and some 14km beyond Upper Hutt's urban boundary. Admittedly, peak travel times by road can be higher up north, but on the rare occasions that I go to Wellington at those times, it's a pleasant 20-minute train ride beside the harbour. Random thoughts Re the inland port. History says there is no solid ground on the Taieri: Milburn is an area of solid ground. No matter how much time one allows to drive to Dunedin, there is always lorries, some with trailers carting heavy goods, and the odd very slow cars as well. Patience is always required. This inevitably will worsen as now in the South so many pine forests have been planted. Congratulations to Calder Stewart for their common sense actions. Bypass needed Has any thought at all gone into how transport is going to get to and from the proposed transport hub in Mosgiel? Obviously now is the time to get a traffic bypass operating to relieve pressure on using SH87 through Mosgiel. We do not want this heavy traffic through our main shopping area. Pillocks and manure Bravo to Dr Robert Hamlin on his recent letter, ( ODT 15.5.25) about Sir Ian Taylor's use of the word pillock. The only time I use Kate Shepherd $10 note is to pay for bags of horse manure at our local horse stables. No disrespect meant. Fyfe praised What a wonderful tribute to Jim Fyfe in today's Weekend Mix (17.5.25). It is truly outstanding. One has to ask, though, why he is retiring at the age of 59 when his work in advocacy for the wildlife of the Otago coast is so important both to the region and to the survival of endangered species? I wish him all the very best in his future endeavours. It was wonderful to see such good local reporting with the recent article on "Mungo's Cottage" ( ODT 17.5.25). I recall standing in that lounge, looking out the window, cold, wet, and rescued. Without that sweeping view of the harbour, the Lewis family may not have noticed a scrappy blonde 11-year-old with one oar and no lifejacket drifting down the harbour in a small dinghy one evening. Down or out, whichever the correct nautical term, it was towards the ocean. The outgoing tide was fast. "No lifejacket" you say. Were you around in the '70s? We did have some heavy orange things on the small family yacht, moored at Carey's Bay. I think they were made of sand. Even the rats did not eat them. The relevant point was only one oar. A mistake that. A beautiful freckled teenage boy was sent out to rescue me while his grandad sat and watched. Could have been a great romance, had I not been an obviously wilful and stupid child, exceedingly young for such adventures and rather humiliated waiting for Dad to come and collect me. Never found the oar. But thank you Lewis family, and bless you for making sure the cottage will continue to live on to do more good works. Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@
Otago Daily Times
27-04-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Letters to the Editor: Anzac Day, road kill and kiore
Today's Letters to the Editor from readers cover topics including Anzac Day activities in Otago, the counting of road kill possums, and are Polynesian rats (kiore) really pests? Remembered on south coast Thank you for great coverage for Anzac Day activities in Otago in Saturday's edition Here on the south coast the Taieri Beach community service was well covered with a photo and story. Elsewhere locally, Brighton had over 250 attendees (the largest in recent years); the parade was led by Brighton Pony Club as a mark of respect for the Otago Mounted Riflemen. The service was addressed by Flt Lt Kevin Weir. At Green Island a well-supported service was held at the Memorial Rose Gardens, taken by Rev Rolly Scott. At Green Park Cemetery a service with a cenotaph guard provided by the City of Dunedin Army Cadet unit was well attended by over 200 in fine, sunny conditions Great community support on the south coast continues. Road kill The ODT article (21.45.25) re possum road kill, with the Department of Conservation's disparaging comments, showed that the department is at cross purposes with itself. Some years ago, and for decades afterwards, Doc bandied around a figure of 70 million possums in New Zealand. This was done by two scientists who drove from north Auckland to Wellington, counting road kill possums. From that they calculated 70 million, a figure that was ludicrous to those who knew the outdoors. Indeed a Landcare Research scientist told Doc in 1994 it was a "back of a cigarette packet calculation". So when it suits its political narrative, Doc is only too happy to count road kill possums. However I would totally disagree with Doc's Wayne Costello when he said highway observations were not a representation of possum and predator control efforts and success in South Westland. Perhaps they're not an accurate count — but they are an indicator. Having been a regular visitor to the area from Lake Hawea through to Jackson's Bay and up to Fox Glacier for many years, I always take notice of possum road kill. When aerial 1080 was first used in those areas road kill was virtually nil; in recent years road kills have been increasing and just a few weeks ago I counted 37 dead possums in very few kilometres and gave up counting. That poses the question: is 1080 failing because possums and predators are becoming 1080 resistant and/or bait shy? I was told years ago that poisons should be changed every five years to avoid poison resistance. When was the last time bait changes have been made when targeting possums? Kiore more likely not to be unwanted stowaways Re Charles Higham's article ( Weekend Mix 26.4.25), I find it difficult to believe that kiore were "stowaways" on early Polynesian voyages. Rats certainly stowed away on European ships (which had plenty of nooks and crannies) but waka had no inaccessible holds. It took weeks to sail between island groups. Preparing for a 2-3 week voyage would have required careful control over everything brought aboard. If kiore had snuck on, and were eating limited provisions, someone would have noticed during the voyage and dispatched them. For a breeding population to survive on board would have been highly unlikely. Perhaps kiore were brought on purpose. But, why bring "pests'' to a pest-free land? That is a question with a strong European bias. There is nothing to indicate that Polynesians considered kiore to be pests. After all, Pacific rats had been inhabitants of most islands in the Pacific for millennia, and Polynesians would have certainly considered them native. Unwanted stowaways? Probably not. Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@
