Once Were Warriors
by Lee Tamahori
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Julian Arahanga, Mamaengaroa Kerr-Bell, Rena Owen, Taungaroa Emile, Temuera MorrisonDirector: Lee Tamahori
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); Maori (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Running Time: 102 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-09-02
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: New Line Home Video
Movie Reviews of Once Were Warriors
Movie Review: If the man wants some eggs, you cook him some F*****G EGGS!
Summary: 5 Stars
"Once Were Warriors" is a powerful tale of what it is like, to be treated as a stranger on your own land. It gives an intimate look of a people who have not quite shaken off their warrior roots, living in a society that rewards civility.
SPOILER ALERT! X X X X X X X X X X X X
Temuera Morrison and Rena Owen play Jake and Beth Heke, Parents of five, trying to make a go, if Jake were a little more responsible toward his familial duties. He also has a "hair-trigger" temper, along with a sizable alcohol problem, and as we all know, they don't go well together.
This is a family in deep crisis. The eldest son Nig, has joined a gang (a sort of throwback to their warrior roots). Their middle son "Boogie", seems unable to stay clear of trouble either, being picked-up by Police in the company of real delinquents. Their eldest daughter Grace, is a shy, quiet, introverted girl, thoughtful and kind to her siblings. For some reason, we don't see much of their two youngest, and only one of them has a couple of lines in the film.
Jake has an unhealthy penchant for partying and drinking (one wonders how he can afford this, as he is on the Dole), inviting his drinking buddies over to his house, with no concern towards his children. Beth is really no better, as she allows this sort of thing, and you get the sense that it has been going on for quite some time. We are witness to Jake giving Beth a "beatdown", for not cooking for one of his buddies, and the aftermath, which shows how little regret Jake has for his actions. It seems that Jake's routine is no more than sleeping, drinking, fighting, partying, beating on his wife, and bullying his children.
When Boogie is remanded to State Custody, Beth wants to visit him, and because of a gambling windfall, Jake comes up with the money to make it possible, but on the appointed day, Jake would rather get drunk, than see his own son. During one of Jake's parties, Grace is raped by one of Jakes "mates", "Uncle Bully" (Clifford Curtis). Finding no solace within her family or friends, she commits suicide.
The cauldron boils over, as Beth is determined to take Grace's body back to her tribal land, to be buried with her people. Jake resents this, but Beth will not be swayed. After the burial, Beth discovers that Grace was raped, after reading Grace's journal/diary, by Uncle Bully. Beth goes to Jake's favorite Bar, and confronts them. It is here, that Jake shows SOME concern, and beats down Bully in a scene that makes one wonder how Clifford Curtis wasn't injured in the filming of it.
X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
"Once Were Warriors" became a hands-down favorite in New Zealand, out doing other "Blockbuster" films, upon it's initial release. There's no wonder as to why. It is an intimate look at a people at war with themselves, trying to make sense of a world they had no hand in creating.
Very well done film!
Summary of Once Were Warriors
An urban Maori family deals with great difficulties in adjusting to normalcy in urban New Zealand.Running Time: 103 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 794043637025New Zealand filmmaker Lee Tamahori (The Edge) directed this brutal but powerful story drawn from the culture of poverty and alienation enveloping contemporary Maori life. Rena Owen plays the beleaguered mother of two boys--one of whom is already in prison while the other contemplates membership in a gang--and a daughter whose potential is being smothered at home. Temuera Morrison gives an outstanding and sometimes shocking performance as the violent head of the household, more adept at keeping up his social stature within his community of friends than holding down a job. The film pulls no punches, literally and figuratively, but despite the rough going, Tamahori gives us a rare and important insight into a disenfranchised people digging down deep to find their pride. --Tom Keogh
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