The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey

(Vincent Ward, Australia/New Zealand 1988, 90 min., 35mm)

First Contact. Guided by the visions of a young boy, a group of men escaping the Black Plague in the 14th century dig a tunnel with the goal of coming out on the other side of the earth and planting a cross on the highest spire to honor God and ask for his protection. When they emerge in modern-day New Zealand, the new world appears both wondrous and demonic, forcing the men to cope with unexpected challenges as they seek to fulfill their mission. Using both black-and-white and color film, Ward underscores the bright sleekness of modern civilization through the eyes of innocents seemingly from another world.