Eating The Insatiable Moon

It was the Chinese Moon Festival last week, my first time to celebrate it here in the Kiwiland. Although it was most unusual to see dragon dance for this occasion – not sure if it’s a Chinese or Kiwi tradition now, I certainly enjoyed the festivity and of course, the moon cakes!

The Kiwis seem to like the moon too. I suppose not only the lunatics find the moon inspiring. I recently watched a Kiwi movie called “The Insatiable Moon.” Set in Ponsonby, the hippie-turned-yuppie little town in Auckland and based on a true story, the movie successfully captured the town’s struggle during the transformation and led us into a colorful world of a mentally disturbed Maori man, Arthur, who believed himself to be the second son of God.

Last night I went to a speech by Mike Riddell, the author of the book and the screenwriter/cameraman of the movie. He talked about how he started as a minister at a church in Ponsonby many years ago after his postgraduate study in Switzerland, and devoted his life to helping the local homeless. Later he became a lecturer teaching Baptism in a university and moved away. But then he lost his job when he published his first fiction, “The Insatiable Moon”, because of a steamy sex scene in the book.

He read us a beautifully written passage in the book which brought us right back to the old streets of Ponsonby (no, to our disappointment, not the sex scene.) And he talked about how he and his wife (Rosemary Riddell, the director) managed to shoot the movie with the meager budget of USD 350,000 or so– all the money they could scrape and raise, although you would never guess that when you watch the movie. He also shared some behind-the-scene stories of the movie.

Last night in the basement of a small library in Ponsonby, it’s clear to everyone in the audience that Mike has a passion about what he does and he truly believes in it. But I suspect that he has realized how good he is at what he does, even though the movie has won several international awards and Rawiri Parantence, the actor who plays Arthur, also won the well-deserved best actor in 2011 NZ Film Awards.

Mike confessed that the movie hasn’t made him any richer. But I am not surprised at all. As a rule, those who don’t believe in money don’t become millionaires. In a world built on materialism, it’s exceptionally rare to find someone with an insatiable appetite to inspire hope and save souls, instead of making more and more money. It’s a dying species, but they still exist. Thank God!