Ruby and Rata

1990 New Zealand film

Ruby and Rata

Directed by| Gaylene Preston
Written by| Graeme Tetley
Produced by| Gaylene Preston
Robin Laing
Starring| Yvonne Lawley
Vanessa Rare
Lee Metekingi
Simon Barnett
Cinematography| Leon Narbey
Edited by| Paul Sutorius
Music by| Jonathan Crayford

Release date

* 4 October 1990 (1990-10-04) (New Zealand)

Running time

| 109 minutes
Country| New Zealand
Language| English
Budget| NZD $2 million
Box office| NZD $355,000 (New Zealand)[1]

Ruby and Rata is a 1990 New Zealand comedy-drama film, directed and produced by Gaylene Preston.[2]

## Plot summary

[edit]

Ruby (Yvonne Lawley) is an 83-year-old woman who has just failed her driving test and is worried about her ability to cope with day-to-day life at her age. She asks her nephew Buckle (Simon Barnett), posing as a real estate agent, to arrange to lease part of the house she owns to a potential housemate to assist her with various chores. The new tenant is Rata (Vanessa Rare)—a well-dressed, smooth-talking young woman of Māori descent who works for a large finance company. Once she has moved in, it becomes apparent that Rata is actually a cleaner at the firm, has a young son named Willie (Lee Metekingi), and is in trouble with social services over welfare payments. Rata is also hoping to make it big as a singer in a punk band, The Apocalypse, which is reliant on her accessing the supposed "fortune" of her new housemate/landlady to pay for sound equipment. An unusual relationship develops between Ruby, Rata and Willie, with each of them manipulating the others in some way, but forming a bond and dependence on each other.[2][3]

## Cast

[edit]

* Yvonne Lawley – Ruby
* Vanessa Rare – Rata
* Lee Metekingi – Willie
* Simon Barnett – Buckle

## Production

[edit]

Ruby and Rata was filmed in and around the Auckland suburb of Mount Albert.[4]

It was the second film made by Preston-Laing Productions (Gaylene Preston and Robin Laing), the first being the 1986 horror film Mr Wrong.[5]

## Awards

[edit]

Ruby and Rata won four awards at the 1990 NZ Film Awards: Best Editing, Best Soundtrack, Best Film Score and Best Performance (Male).[3]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Top Fourteeen New Zealand Movies Released in New Zealand". (issuu pp. 61,64). No. 97–98\. Cinema Papers New Zealand supplement. April 1994. pp. 15, 18. Retrieved 7 August 2022.97–98&rft.pages=15,+18&rft.date=1994-04&rft_id=https://issuu.com/libuow/docs/cinemapaper1994aprno097-098&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Ruby+and+Rata" class="Z3988">
2. ^ a b "Ruby and Rata". British Film Institute. 1990. Archived from the original on 27 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
3. ^ a b "Ruby and Rata". NZ On Screen. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
4. ^ Edwards, Helen; Martin, Sam (1997). New Zealand film : 1912–1996 (1. publ. ed.). Auckland [u.a.]: Oxford Univ. Press. ISBN 0195583361.
5. ^ Vieth, Albert; Moran, Errol (2009). The A to Z of Australian and New Zealand cinema. Lanham: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0810863477.

## External links

[edit]

* Ruby and Rata at IMDb
* Ruby and Rata at NZ On Screen

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Gaylene Preston

Features|

* All The Way Up There (1979)
* Making Utu (1982)
* Mr Wrong (1985)
* Kai Pūrākau - The Storyteller (1987)
* Ruby and Rata (1990)
* Married (1992)
* Bread and Roses (1993)
* War Stories Our Mothers Never Told Us (1995)
* Hone Tūwhare (1996)
* Getting to Our Place (1999)
* Titless Wonders (2001)
* Perfect Strangers (2003)
* Earthquake! (2006)
* The Time of Our Lives (2007)
* Lovely Rita (2007)
* Home by Christmas (2010)
* Hope and Wire (Full Series) (2014)
* My Year with Helen (2017)

Shorts|

* Hold Up (1981)
* The Only One You Need - The Neighbours Compilation (1982)
* Nuclear Horror Show Parade (1983)
* Saving the Earth (1984)
* Mindout (1984)
* Last Days at McVay Street (1988)
* Survivor Stories (1998)
* Wahine Requiem (2001)
* The Making of Perfect Strangers (2004)
* Strongman - The Tragedy (2012)
* The Waterside (2014)
* Hot Words and Bold Retorts (2018)

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