Travel Inspirations from Books Films and Music

[Little Star]

There are some movies, books and music that make you feel like you are really immersed in another country, culture and lifestyle.

I am going to New Zealand soon and was wondering what people might suggest to stimulate my imagination and get me even more excited for the trip!
I can think of Whalerider, Lord of the Rings and Once We Were Warriors in terms of movies...then I get stuck!

If you're heading somewhere else, feel free to throw in other places too!

 

[lottie342]

King Kong was filmed in New Zealand, and some of The Chronicles of Narnia - I would love to go to New Zealand, I'm so jealous

I'm going to Paris in the summer - I don't think I would be pushed to name movies that have been filmed there!

 

[Little Star]

Thanks Lottie!

There really is no shortage of movies set in Paris! You should listen to the Amelie soundtrack though...so atmospheric!!

 

[SDNY]

Big travel and adventure junkie here Nothing related with new zealand, but here it goes:

Lawrence Osborne – Paris Dreambook: an unconventional guide to the splendor and squalor of the city. Different, and very refreshing essays about Paris.

Paul Theroux – the great railway bazaar (across asia, russia, japan, etc.)
and
Paul Theroux - old patagonian express (across south america). Both are considered classics and one of the best when it comes to travel writing.

Henry Miller – Air Conditioned nightmare. Millers travels throughout America. Amazing, and different from other millers work.

Patrick Leigh Fermor – between the woods and the water. Young guy walks across romania, lives both with gypsies and aristocrats. Sometimes gets a little too historian, but otherwise it was fascinating.

Simone De Beauvoir - America Day by Day. Written by a french intellectual, while traveling through parts of America. Similar to millers in some ways, but as good, maybe even better.

Roald Dahl – My Uncle Oswald. Very funny, outrages and unbelievable adventures. Not really a travel book, but fun for a change.

There are some more, but I can't really recall them.

 

[Diamond Star]

On the Road by Jack Kerouac. Of course America (and travelling through America) is vastly different now to how it was in the 40's but I found this a really inspiring book, made me want to just pack up and go

 

[SDNY]

On the Road by Jack Kerouac. Of course America (and travelling through America) is vastly different now to how it was in the 40's but I found this a really inspiring book, made me want to just pack up and go

You would be surprised how many things stayed the same. Not the physical aspects, but the mindset of people,the social rules and norms, and prejudices stayed nearly the same. More disguised, maybe. Especially if you go outside the big cities.

Also, you should pack up and go

 

[Little Star]

Yay, thanks SDNY! I really didn't think anyone would take an interest in this thread! The Fermor book sounds interesting. I'm adding that to my list of books to read!

On The Road is something I've always wanted to read ever since I heard this quote:
'The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!”
He sounds like an amazing writer!

 

[Marvystone]

There are some movies, books and music that make you feel like you are really immersed in another country, culture and lifestyle.

I am going to New Zealand soon and was wondering what people might suggest to stimulate my imagination and get me even more excited for the trip!
I can think of Whalerider, Lord of the Rings and Once We Were Warriors in terms of movies...then I get stuck!

If you're heading somewhere else, feel free to throw in other places too!

Goodbye Pork Pie - two guys go on a road trip round NZ in a yellow mini, its quite funny

 

[Little Star]

Thanks Marvystone! Sounds like an enjoyable movie...humour is always a bonus!

Just thought I'd share in case anyone else was interested...NZ-inspired books:

The Bone People : A Novel - Keri Hulme
This is quite a first novel. The ending is revealed at its mysterious beginning; exotic line breaks and poetic punctuation put off at first but gradually become the best way to tell the tale; the Maori vocabulary is interwoven with contemporary British, Australian, and American idioms; and the New Zealand sea - and landscape vibrate under fresh perception. Hulme shifts narrative points of view to build a gripping account of violence, love, death, magic, and redemption. A silverhaired, mute, abused orphan, a laborer heavy with sustained loss, and a brilliant intro spective recluse discover, after enormous struggle through injury and illness, what it means to lose and then regain a family. No wonder The Bone People won the Pegasus Prize. Highly recommended.

The Whale Rider - Witi Ihimaera
A poetic blend of reality and myth provides a riveting tale of adventure and passion. An ancient whale ridden by a mystical man rises from the sea, the rider throwing spears that blossom like seeds into gifts of nature. One last spear "-flew across a thousand years. When it hit the earth, it did not change but waited for another hundred and fifty years to pass until it was needed." It sprouts when Kahu, a girl child, is born to the eldest grandson of the chief of the Maori in Whangara, New Zealand. Koro Apirana is disgusted; he needs a male child to continue the line of descent in the tribe. The years that follow further harden his heart toward his great-granddaughter in spite of the bottomless love and respect she showers upon him. The child's great-grandmother, the irreverent Nanny Flowers, proves to be the strength of this family; she nurtures the girl whom she knows holds the key to the future. The complex mixture of archetypal characters and cultural troubles make this novel appropriate for mature readers. Overt and sometimes violent racism is encountered and the tragic and bloody death of hundreds of beached whales may disturb younger readers. This story, originally published in New Zealand in 1987, is the basis of the recently released film by the same name. It's a tale rich in intense drama and sociological and cultural information. A Maori glossary is appended.

http://www.fourcorners.co.nz/new-zealand/shopping/index.cfm?subID=3

 

[cestmagique]

*bump!*

 

[YoninahAliza]

deffently watch Whale Rider if you are going to NZ, it is such a good film and shows about the culture.