Billy T: Te Movie
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Documentary celebrating the life of legendary New Zealand comedian, Billy T James. Directed by Ian Mune (Came A Hot Friday).
The film explores Billy’s extraordinary talent as musician, singer, comedian, actor, writer and artist (and even attempts to uncover the source of his trademark giggle). The film tells of Billy’s meteoric rise to national fame and his tragic downfall into ill-health and financial collapse.
Featuring digitally re-mastered footage of Billy’s performances and never-seen-before archival images, Billy T’s story is set alongside interviews with his family, friends and colleagues.
Starring
Billy T. James, Peter Rowley, Laurie Dee
Directed by
Ian Mune ('What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?', 'Came A Hot Friday')
Written by
Ian Mune, Phil Gifford
(PG) contains drug references | Comedy, Documentary | New Zealand
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NZ Herald (Peter Calder)
Certainly it covers the ground, starting with the early years in Leamington, near Cambridge (where Maori were not exactly thick on the ground in 1949), and ending with a sensitive treatment of the conflict over his body - a matter sickeningly sensationalised by news media at the time. It also usefully reminds us of his astonishing musicianship.
Click to read full review.Stuff.co.nz (Louise Risk)
No aspect of Billy's life was glossed over and despite his wife Lynn not being interviewed, I think this documentary was well-rounded and definitely worth a watch.
Click to read full review.Flicks.co.nz "Billy T: Te Movie" Movie Review
Flicks.co.nz rating
Rebecca Barry Hill, Flicks.co.nz
Ian Mune’s tribute to Billy T James is well-rounded, sensitive and funny. There’s plenty of warm-fuzzies nostalgia, from the source of that famous giggle to the comedian’s stints on Te News and Mune’s Came A Hot Friday; it’s just as amusing looking back at New Zealand in the pre-PC 1980s. Nor does the film shy away from the problems in the star’s life, including the conflict that arose following his death and burial on Mount Taupiri.
Te Movie paints a picture many won’t have seen of James: a shy man who found his confidence on stage with the Maori Volcanics showband, a man so passionate about comedy it led him to his peril. Remastered footage brings his dual personalities back to life, from his over-the-top satire to his well-spoken everyday nature. But the film is let down by a confusing sequence explaining his family history, with daughter Cherie appearing in much of the archival footage yet no mention of why she’s not interviewed for this. Perhaps she felt she’d said her piece in 1997 when she made the TV doco Billy T: A Daughter’s Story. Much of the editing too is disjointed and distracting, flicking between points of view.
Viewers are left with a respect for two things: the legacy of the incredible Billy T James, and the difficulties of telling a story about a man no longer with us.
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