''Eternity'' is a 2013

sci-fi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...

murder mystery Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

set in the near future. It was directed by Alex Galvin and filmed in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

and

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

. The film cost about $NZ100,000 to make but has the production values of a large-budget feature.Nikki Macdonald, "Eternity Worth the Wait", ''Dominion Post'', 23 March 2013, YW, p. 12.
/ref>

Plot

Detective Richard Manning is investigating the most difficult case of his career – the apparently impossible locked room murder of a rich property owner. The case is set to be released in the near future. The more Richard looks into the matter, the more complicated the situation seems to get. He immediately understands that his own future and safety are dependent on his ability to resolve everything – and swiftly.

Influences and cinematography

The film is influenced by Galvin's interest in classic murder mysteries and also many sci-fi films, such as ''

Soylent Green ''Soylent Green'' is a 1973 American Environmental film, ecological dystopian thriller film directed by Richard Fleischer, and starring Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young, and Edward G. Robinson in his final film role. It is loosely based on t ...

'' and ''

The Matrix ''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in ''The Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantolia ...

''. In the film, the Wellington scenes utilize local buildings and interiors such as the

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

, Parliamentary Library and the

art deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

Dominion Museum The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

(now the Wellington campus of Massey University) along with Napier and

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

art deco buildings.

Cast and crew

The film was directed by Alex Galvin (b. 1975 in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, New Zealand). This is his second feature film. His first was "When Night Falls" in 2007. He received his secondary education at

St Patrick's College, Wellington St Patrick's College is a Roman Catholic boys' secondary school in New Zealand. History Founded by Archbishop Francis Redwood SM, St Patrick's opened on 1 June 1885 with nine day-boys and twelve boarders. The College represents one of the e ...

and attended

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

. He graduated Bachelor of Arts in linguistics and music history. He trained as an opera singer and has been a member of the Chapman Tripp Opera Chorus since 1998. After working as a public servant, Galvin commenced study at the New Zealand Film School in 2003. Apart from Elliot Travers, the film's actors also include Amy Tsang, and Dean Knowsley.

Critical reception

The film has screened at several

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon ...

s and won several awards. It had its world premiere at the

St Tropez Film Festival The Antipodean Film Festival (french: Rencontres internationales du cinéma des Antipodes), variously referred to as Festival des Antipodes, Antipodes International Film Festival, Antipodes Film Festival Saint Tropez, Saint Tropez Film Festival ...

in October 2012 and its New Zealand premiere at the Hastings Opera House in November 2012. In 2013, ''Eternity'' won the Special Jury Prize at the California Film Awards. The film was selected for screening at Cinema des Antipodes at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2013."Kiwi film makes cut at Cannes", Scoop news, 14 October 2012
(Retrieved 29 March 2012) and was the only New Zealand Film to screen at the

Shanghai International Film Festival The Shanghai International Film Festival (, French: ''Festival international du film de Shanghai''), abbreviated SIFF, is one of the largest film festivals in East Asia. "China's biggest film festival" according to the Hollywood Reporter. Nex ...

in June 2013. In July 2013, it was nominated for four awards at the 2013

Madrid International Film Festival Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

and won two prizes: Best Editing of a Feature Film and Best Supporting Actor for Ralph Johnson.

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 1823684, Eternity 2013 films New Zealand science fiction films 2010s English-language films