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Quake memories relived Outrageous Fortune actor Robyn Malcolm and her mother Anne Malcolm attended the premiere of Canterbury earthquake movie When a City Falls on Wednesday evening. Anne Malcolm, 71, a counsellor, was on the fifth and highest floor of the CTV building when it collapsed on February 22 and was pulled to safety.
Miracle survivors: Xavier and Christian Trousslot-Rhodes. Photos: Gilbert Wealleans
Staff reporters
SEVENTEEN-year-old Xavier Trousselot-Rhodes, who survived the September 4 earthquake unscathed apart from a few cuts and scratches, was still grappling with mixed emotions as he watched When a City Falls. The premiere screening of the documentary at The Palms Reading cinema complex on Wednesday evening brought back many memories of September’s earthquake for Xavier, who was blown out of his second-storey bedroom as his family’s historic Hororata homestead collapsed – scenes that were captured on film. The homestead was just 10 kilometres from the epicentre of the earthquake. “One minute I was in bed and the next I was sliding down the wall. I thought I was looking out the window but I was actually outside on the ground. “It’s been over a year now but a lot of memories came back after I saw the movie. It was really good to see it though because
it’s important to recognise the people who died.” Christian, Xavier’s younger brother, 16, also had a lucky escape. He wasn’t in the bedroom where he usually slept, so avoided being crushed by bricks that rained on to his bed from one of the homestead’s six chimneys. Xavier’s father Allan Rhodes believed the documentary was a must-see for all New Zealanders and provided important lessons for everyone about the fragility of human life. Mr Rhodes heard a huge roar and explosion after September’s earthquake and rushed outside to pull bricks from a collapsed wall off Xavier. “The film showed me that in life it doesn’t pay to take things for granted. It really makes you appreciate life and that something like this can happen at any time. “I’ve lived in Canterbury all my life and I never thought that we’d have an earthquake. I think the best way to cope is to have a positive attitude and the film shows how resilient we are.”
Architect Sir Miles Warren, who was also at the premiere, said he had been invited because he had “a bit part” in it but would have gone to see it at some point anyway. He thought it was “brilliant, especially the shots of the second earthquake”. “We relived every moment of it.” Sir Miles was on the seventh floor of a block of flats in Oxford Terrace with his sister when the February earthquake struck. “We felt a jolt but we didn’t realise what had happened until we went down to Cashel Mall.” Sir Miles said When a City Falls was a movie that every New Zealander should see – especially councillors so they would see what could happen in such an event. Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority CEO Roger Sutton was among the hundreds of people at the premiere. The film was the first to be shown at the cinema complex since it was closed after the February earthquake. See also page 7
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