By Tova O'Brien
The Peter Jackson-directed film The Lovely Bones has had its hometown premiere in Wellington.
Once again, thanks to Jackson, the capital rolled out its best red carpet today, transforming itself into its glamorous alter-ego Wellywood.
"The politics and the film industry being what it is, we have to do London and we have to do this and that, but you know the film, the heart of the film is here, it's where we live and work and so this does feel like coming home."
It is three weeks after the world premiere in London, and since then the adaptation of the Alice Sebold bestselling novel has had a hit-and-miss response from critics.
Many say Jackson should not have glossed over the violent scenes in the book.
But home not only where the heart is, but also the praise. Wellington's Embassy Theatre crowd is slightly less nerve-wracking than London's royal premiere, where the jetlagged director found himself sitting next to Camilla and Prince Charles.
"The thing that scared me the most was the concept of falling asleep," says Jackson, "because I was so exhausted and we'd just come from New Zealand and I just has this terrible image of nodding off and ending up on her shoulder, kind of dribbling."
The Lovely Bones is based on the best-selling Alice Sebold novel. It's the story of Susie Salmon, a 14-year-old girl who watches over her family from the afterlife after she's raped and brutally murdered.
It is the leaving out of that rape and murder from the movie that hasn't impressed some critics and fans, a stance those behind the film can't fathom.
"I've got no interest whatsoever in filming a rape and a murder of a 14-year-old girl," says Jackson. "I don't want to film it, I don't want to see it and the movie ultimately represents a movie that I'd want to go watch."
"Pete made a good point that if we put the rape in, it would have just overwhelmed the whole story because it's not about that," says star Saoirse Ronan. "It's about everything that comes after."
Nearly 800 people packed into the Embassy for tonight's screening, but it's not long to go - just 12 days until its Boxing Day release.
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