Sleeping Dogs
Directed by Roger Donaldson
Written by Ian Mune and Arthur Baysting from a novel by Christian K. Stead
1977/New Zealand
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
Col. Willoughby: [to Smith] I got my eye on you, boy. I got my eye on you really good.
This is a decent action flick set in a dystopian alternative reality New Zealand.
The setting is a New Zealand that has seen political and labor unrest due to an oil boycott. A fascist government has taken over and the situation has now descended to a war between the government and the resistance. Apolitical Smith (Sam Neill) has just split up with his wife and has made arrangements to live on an idyllic Maori island with a dog he has just acquired. Things go swimmingly for awhile.
Then Smith is falsely accused of a bombing a nearby town. He is now on the run from government forces. Soon enough the resistance comes by to enlist him in confronting them.
This is an OK movie. I don’t know that I needed to see it before I died though.
