The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey is a 1988 feature film, an official Australian-New Zealand co-production, directed by Vincent Ward. It won numerous New Zealand and Australian awards, including the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Film, and several awards at European fantasy film festivals. Plot During the Black Death of mid-14th century England, people in a remote Cumbrian mountain village listen with fear to tales of the gruesome plague that has engulfed the world. In an attempt to stave off the infection, they rely upon the visions of a boy, named Griffin, who has a reputation for having a kind of "second sight". With the backing of the village's most famous adventurer, a man named Connor, whom Griffin idolizes, a group of the townsfolk travel to a nearby cavern. Bringing good copper ore to be melted and cast into shape, they dig down into the earth, all the while racing against time and the coming of the next full moon, in an effort to place a holy cross on the steeple of "the biggest Church in all of Christendom" as an offering for God's protection. As the full moon is rising, the villagers break through into a smooth-lined tunnel, and then, finding a ladder, climb up and into late 20th century New Zealand. Up until this point, the film has been shown in black and white. Now the adventure continues in colour film. The villagers marvel at the various technologies, never questioning what year it might be, believing that such things are only natural in great cities. But Griffin is haunted by a dark vision as the villagers come closer to fulfilling their quest. Cast Bruce Lyons as Connor Chris Haywood as Arno Hamish McFarlane as Griffin Marshall Napier as Searle Noel Appleby as Ulf Paul Livingston as Martin Sarah Peirse as Linnet Mark Wheatley as Tog 1 Tony Herbert as Tog 2 Jessica Cardiff-Smith as Esme Roy Wesney as Grandpa Kathleen-Elizabeth Kelly as Grandma Jay Saussey as Griffin's girlfriend Charles Walker as Old Chrissie Desmond Kelly as Smithy Bill Le Marquand as Tom Jay Laga'aia as Jay Norman Fairley as Submarine captain Alistair Babbage as Grigor Barron Christian as American Submarine Captain Development and production The idea for the film originated when Ward attempted to cross a German autobahn and became stranded in the middle. This inspired Ward (while trapped on the motorway) to imagine what it would be