Colonial army occupies beach

Patea Beach residents could be forgiven for thinking they were under invasion this week as the River Queen army hit town, complete with cannon, colonial soldiers, bullock teams, horses, tents and flying flags.

Cast and crew were on site at Patea Beach, South Taranaki, to film scenes with stars Cliff Curtis and Samantha Morton.

Filming was carried out against a backdrop of a colonial army going about its business.

The $13 million-plus production is trying to recover from a bad run of problems, including the dumping of original director Vincent Ward and talk of tension between Morton and other cast and crew members.

The film tells an intimate story set in an epic context. Young Irish woman Sarah (Morton) and her family find themselves on both sides of the lines during the turbulent wars between Europeans and Maori in 1860s New Zealand.

An army camp of white tents and fluttering Union Jacks was set up at Patea Beach, where crew members worked on props that included a cannon and clinker-built boats for the two days of filming.

Producer Don Reynolds said the set represented the main garrison for colonial forces arriving to fight in the film's Taranaki war.

Patea Beach was chosen for its 1880s breakwater, which fitted with the period portrayed in the film.

"The site actually had a camp here. There are pictures in the [South Taranaki District] museum here of tents pitched like this on the headland," he said.

After finishing at Patea, the crew and cast will have a final week of filming before post-production.

The film was about a year away from its premiere, Mr Reynolds said.

Gisborne bullocky (bullock driver) Doug Katae was on hand for filming on Monday with offsider Kapa Mete, of Wairoa.

Gisborne truck-driver Allen Hope had transported the three pairs of bullocks to Patea and all three men were dressed in colonial army costume to perform as extras in River Queen.

Mr Katae said bullocks were appropriate for the film's period as the animals were often used in developing countries because they could go where horses could not.

"The bullocks have a cloven hoof, which can go through a bog, whereas horses' hooves create suction and get stuck."

- NZPA