Under The Mountain (2009 film)
Encyclopedia
Under The Mountain is a 2009 film based on the 1979 novel by New Zealand
author Maurice Gee
.
Staying with their Aunt Kay and Uncle Cliff on Lake Pupuke, the twins are fascinated by the volcanic lake and the smell that seems to come from creepy old Wilberforce house around the shore. They visit Mt Eden, where Theo sees Mr Jones, a strange old man from whose hands fire seems to glow. When it seems the twins are being watched – and that the Wilberforces can smell them – Theo resolves to investigate the Wilberforce house. Inside, he and Rachel find what can only be an alien environment.
They overhear Mr Wilberforce talking about something stirring beneath the ground. He says he will kill the twins if they find “the fire-raiser”. Rachel is alarmed and reaches out to Theo but, terrified of getting close to anyone since his mother’s death, pushes her away and sets out alone to find the fireraiser – the man he saw on the mountain top...
Kirsty Wilkinson, who originally portrayed Rachel in the 1981 television adaptation
of "Under the Mountain", made a cameo appearance as Mrs. Wilkinson. Bill Johnson who played "Mr Wilberforce" in the original TV series has a brief cameo appearance as an unnamed gardener who mutters "bloody foreigners" after one of the alien Wilberforces says "lovely day" to him.
set the release for the 10 August 2010 in the United States
.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
author Maurice Gee
Maurice Gee
Maurice Gee is a New Zealand novelist.-Awards and honors:Gee was awarded the 1978 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel Plumb...
.
Plot
Teenage twins Rachel and Theo travel to Auckland to stay with relatives following the sudden death of their mother. Where there was once a psychic bond between them, now there is a rift as Theo, particularly, refuses to confront his grief. Rachel reaches out to him, but is rebuffed.Staying with their Aunt Kay and Uncle Cliff on Lake Pupuke, the twins are fascinated by the volcanic lake and the smell that seems to come from creepy old Wilberforce house around the shore. They visit Mt Eden, where Theo sees Mr Jones, a strange old man from whose hands fire seems to glow. When it seems the twins are being watched – and that the Wilberforces can smell them – Theo resolves to investigate the Wilberforce house. Inside, he and Rachel find what can only be an alien environment.
They overhear Mr Wilberforce talking about something stirring beneath the ground. He says he will kill the twins if they find “the fire-raiser”. Rachel is alarmed and reaches out to Theo but, terrified of getting close to anyone since his mother’s death, pushes her away and sets out alone to find the fireraiser – the man he saw on the mountain top...
Characters
Based on the original novel by Maurice Gee:- Rachel and Theo Matheson: Two seemingly ordinary fraternal twins who lived in a rural New Zealand town. One day when they were three years old, they had wandered away from their home. While a search party tried to find them, they were met by the enigmatic Mr. Jones who telekinetically kept them warm through the cold evening until they were found. Over the years to follow, they had found that they shared a telepathic link and could read each other's thoughts. Upon meeting Mr. Jones again, eight years later, he reveals the reason for his interest in the twins and their important role in his plan for saving the world from the Wilberforces.
- Mr. Jones: The last surviving member of a benevolent alien race. His true form is essentially a living flame: warm, brilliant, and without a definite shape. On Earth, however, he takes the form of a kindly old man. As he explains to Rachel and Theo, his race was known as "The People Who Understand" and had developed technology based on their powerful telepathic abilities. Mr. Jones has the ability to teleport, communicate telepathically and project powerful beams of light from his physical self. He had journeyed to Earth with his twin with the intention of finding and stopping the Wilberforces. His twin didn't survive the journey to Earth. Mr. Jones has since searched for twins whose minds are telepathically linked in order to complete the work which he and his older counterpart had started.
- The Wilberforces: A race of symbioticSymbiosisSymbiosis is close and often long-term interaction between different biological species. In 1877 Bennett used the word symbiosis to describe the mutualistic relationship in lichens...
organisms consisting of a slug-like brain (roughly twice the mass of an adult) and a large worm like body. According to the account given to the twins by Mr. Jones, the Wilberforces originated millions of years ago on a world consisting of seas of mud which nourished the worm organisms. Threatened with extinction, the Wilberforces resolved themselves to conquering other worlds, using their technology to reform other planet's surfaces into mud in order to thrive and breed. When they had finished using a planet's resources, no life remained on that world. By the time Mr. Jones' world had been visited by them several thousand years ago, the Wilberforces had overtaken one complete spiral arm of the galaxy. Mr. Jones' race succeeded in permanently incapacitating every Wilberforce on every planet they could be found on, including Earth. However, the Wilberforces on Earth had learned to slowly counteract the telepathic weapons of The People Who Understand before being rendered dormant. By the time Rachel and Theo are discovered by Mr. Jones, the Wilberforces have nearly completely awakened.
Kirsty Wilkinson, who originally portrayed Rachel in the 1981 television adaptation
Under the Mountain
Under the Mountain was an eight-part television series based on the novel of the same name written by Maurice Gee and produced by Television New Zealand and first transmitted in 1981...
of "Under the Mountain", made a cameo appearance as Mrs. Wilkinson. Bill Johnson who played "Mr Wilberforce" in the original TV series has a brief cameo appearance as an unnamed gardener who mutters "bloody foreigners" after one of the alien Wilberforces says "lovely day" to him.
Cast
- Sam NeillSam NeillNigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill, DCNZM, OBE is a New Zealand actor. He is well known for his starring role as paleontologist Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III....
- Mr Jones - Oliver DriverOliver DriverOliver Driver is a New Zealand actor, director, broadcaster and television presenter.-Television:Driver was the host of Let's Be Frank, and the Creative Director of New Zealand's only alternative music television station, ALT TV, The channel is now no longer on air...
- Mr Wilberforce - Tom Cameron - Theo Matheson
- Sophie McBride - Rachel Matheson
- Jon Cummings - Wilberforce Drone # 3
- Matthew ChamberlainMatthew ChamberlainMatthew Chamberlain is a New Zealand actor, who starred in the New Zealand film Black Sheep as Oliver Oldfield. Chamberlain previously co-starred in children's TV program Johnson and Friends as Diesel. Chamberlain is currently starring in the high profile role of Murray Cooper in the TVNZ Soap...
- Uncle Cliff - Matt Gillanders - Wilberforce Drone # 6
- Wayne Gordon - Wilberforce Drone # 4
- Bruce Hopkins - Richard Matheson
- Toi Iti - Country Policeman
- Bill JohnsonBill Johnson (actor)Bill Johnson is an American actor, perhaps best known for his role as Leatherface in the 1986 horror film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.-Personal life:...
- Mr Carpenter - Miriama KamoMiriama KamoMiriama Kamo is a New Zealand television presenter, host and producer. She previously hosted the current affairs programme, 20/20 on TVNZ.- Early life :Kamo was born in Christchurch in 1973. She attended Aranui High School...
- News Reader - Reuben King - Johan / Lenart Double
- Nathaniel LeesNathaniel LeesNathaniel Lees is a New Zealand born actor and theatre director of Samoan descent. He is known for his role as Captain Mifune in The Matrix trilogy and his role as "Uglúk" in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. He has also had roles on the TV series Young Hercules, Hercules: The Legendary...
- Detective Gray - Chelsea McEwan Millar - Clementine
- Nathan Meister - Johan / Lenart
- Colin Moy - Constable Green
- Gareth Reeves - Wilberforce Drone # 2
- Micheala Rooney - Aunty Kay
- Madeleine SamiMadeleine SamiMadeleine Jane Sami is a New Zealand actress, comedian and musician.Madeleine was raised in the Onehunga suburb of Auckland, New Zealand; and attended Onehunga High School. She is of Irish and Fiji Indian heritage. Madeleine starred in the long running New Zealand soap Shortland Street from...
- Constable Wood - Allan Smith - Wilberforce Drone # 5
- Matt Sunderland - Wilberforce Drone # 1
- Leon Wadham - Ricky
- David Weatherly - Desk Sergeant
- Kirsty Wilkinson - Mrs Wilkinson (cameo)
Release
Lionsgate Home EntertainmentLionsgate Home Entertainment
Lionsgate Home Entertainment is the home video and DVD distribution arm of Lions Gate Entertainment and most former Artisan Entertainment releases. Its library of more than 8000 films owes some of its size to output deals with other studios...
set the release for the 10 August 2010 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
See also
- Under the MountainUnder the MountainUnder the Mountain was an eight-part television series based on the novel of the same name written by Maurice Gee and produced by Television New Zealand and first transmitted in 1981...
, a 1981 Television New ZealandTelevision New ZealandTelevision New Zealand, more commonly referred to, and stylized as TVNZ, is a government-owned corporation television network broadcasting in New Zealand and parts of the Pacific. It operates TV1, TV2, TVNZ7, TVNZ Heartland, TVNZ U and new media services....
series also based on Gee's novel.