Smash Palace : Bruno Lawrence, Roger Donaldson

Premiering at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival, Smash Palace was Roger Donaldson's second feature following the success of Sleeping Dogs, a film which had heralded the arrival of the New Zealand New Wave.Smash Palace concerns itself with the marriage of former racing driver Al (Bruno Lawrence, The Quiet Earth) and French-born Jacqui (Anna Jemison, Nomads).

The pair had met when she nursed him back to health following a career-ending injury.

They married, returned to Al's native New Zealand to take over his late father's wrecking yard business – the Smash Palace of the title – and had a child.

But over time stagnation has set in, Jacqui's resentment of Al has grown, and things are threatening to spill over…Playing out as a darker, more haunting New Zealand variation on such US separation movies as Kramer vs.

Kramer or Shoot the Moon, Smash Palace offers a brilliant, vivid messy portrait of masculinity in crisis, driven by Lawrence's immense central performance – once again confirming his status as one of New Zealand's finest actors.