Smash Palace
Smash Palace is a New Zealand feature film, released in 1981. The film chronicles a former race car driver played by Bruno Lawrence who inadvertently helps ruin his own marriage, then kidnaps his daughter Greer Robson. Lawrences character runs a carwrecking yard in an isolated area of New Zealands North Island. Smash Palace was the second feature directed by Roger Donaldson. Critical acclaim in the United States won him interest from Hollywood, and the chance to direct the first of a number of films financed outside of New Zealand, The Bounty.
The film centers on the Smash Palace car wrecking yard known on the North Island Volcanic Plateau, where former racing driver Al Shaw Lawrence lives with his unhappy French wife Jacqui Jemison and daughter Georgie Robson. Jacqui begins a relationship with Als best friend, local police officer Ray Foley Aberdein. After a violent argument she leaves Al, taking Georgie with her. Al takes Georgie and takes her into hiding, but shortly afterwards Georgie falls ill and the police catch up with Al when he tries to rob a pharmacy at gunpoint. Al ends up cornered in Smash Palace, and agrees to hand Georgie over to Jacqui, and exchange a female hostage over in return for Ray.The film was funded by the New Zealand Film Commission. When Donaldson first begun applied for funding he was turned down. On a second attempt he was once again denied funding, until veteran film maker John OShea pointed out that Donaldsons earlier work Sleeping Dogs had been the reason the commission was founded. ........
Source: Wikipedia
