A messy and ultimately failed
attempt to portray a culture
through a low-key
family drama.
Once Were Warriors is an often acclaimed New Zealand drama, focused on the troubles of a family descended from Maori culture. Since I believe in being forthcoming in my reviews, I must admit that I was very disappointed by this film and I do not understand why this film is regarded as a classic of world cinema. However, my opinion of this film was quite different at the halfway point, I actually mostly liked. It was the second half which plummeted in quality so drastically.
The most glaring flaw of the film is it's acting. There is this detracting sense that everybody on screen is trying to act rather than actually acting, and I was painfully aware the entire time that I was watching actors rather than characters. That is not to say that every performance was bad, Rena Owen for example played her part fairly well, she conveyed a lot of emotion and was generally competent. However pretty much every single other performance ranged from mixed and highly uneven in quality, to hysterically bad. I can forgive a lot in a film, however such low quality and painfully unimpressive acting is not one of them. The characters portrayed by the actors are also starved for development and become needlessly one-note by the films conclusion. Temuera Morrison is wasted on a character who loses all complexity towards the end, which is a shame because otherwise the performance was shaping up very well.
The performances are not helped by the script, which honestly started promisingly. The characters were well etched out, the dilemmas established well, and there seemed to be an abundance of things for the film to explore. However as the film continued it lost all it's focus and continued on to juggle half-baked plot threads rather than fleshing them out. I feel that the film would have benefited from a longer running time, allowing these threads to reach some form of conclusion rather than limply stopping. There is a sub-plot involving one of the sons joining a gang...and that's it. No development is given, it adds towards nothing and is not even particularly thematic. A longer running time would have allowed something to be done with this element, however I would have more likely cut it entirely as the core ideas of the film don't relate to it in the slightest. It feels like copious amounts of effort was thrown into portraying modern Maori culture for what it is, however it all falls flat. Nothing is given context or explanation, and what the elements which are given context are entirely superfluous, such as a scene wherein a social care worker talks about a warrior's inner armor, and it adds to nothing. Honestly the entire film is filled with similar moments or ideas which go nowhere, and these pointless ideas detract from the main narrative and leave it woefully underdeveloped.
The screenplay's horrendous dialogue exacerbates all of it's issues. Every line reeks of melodrama, there is zero subtly or naturalism to anything and the entire thing feels like a first draft. The film in many ways feels like a tv miniseries due to the copious melodrama and lack of focus. If I was told that this was a tv show condensed into a film, then I would likely believe it.
The film covers some very heavy subjects such as rape, suicide, domestic violence and alcoholism. This is one area where the film succeeds however, due to the directors unflinching rawness mixed with a cautious understanding. The misogynistic overtones of Maori culture are shown without restriction, and I must give the film credit for that. I must also credit the film for some nice camera work, particularly the great first shot.
In conclusion, I was greatly disappointing by this film. The film's early issues overwhelmed it by the end and it never came together into anything meaningful. Watch it for yourself if you want, or comment if you are one of the many fans of this film, because I want to understand why it is so beloved.
By Jack D. Phillips
A Zoom Film Review
The most glaring flaw of the film is it's acting. There is this detracting sense that everybody on screen is trying to act rather than actually acting, and I was painfully aware the entire time that I was watching actors rather than characters. That is not to say that every performance was bad, Rena Owen for example played her part fairly well, she conveyed a lot of emotion and was generally competent. However pretty much every single other performance ranged from mixed and highly uneven in quality, to hysterically bad. I can forgive a lot in a film, however such low quality and painfully unimpressive acting is not one of them. The characters portrayed by the actors are also starved for development and become needlessly one-note by the films conclusion. Temuera Morrison is wasted on a character who loses all complexity towards the end, which is a shame because otherwise the performance was shaping up very well.
The performances are not helped by the script, which honestly started promisingly. The characters were well etched out, the dilemmas established well, and there seemed to be an abundance of things for the film to explore. However as the film continued it lost all it's focus and continued on to juggle half-baked plot threads rather than fleshing them out. I feel that the film would have benefited from a longer running time, allowing these threads to reach some form of conclusion rather than limply stopping. There is a sub-plot involving one of the sons joining a gang...and that's it. No development is given, it adds towards nothing and is not even particularly thematic. A longer running time would have allowed something to be done with this element, however I would have more likely cut it entirely as the core ideas of the film don't relate to it in the slightest. It feels like copious amounts of effort was thrown into portraying modern Maori culture for what it is, however it all falls flat. Nothing is given context or explanation, and what the elements which are given context are entirely superfluous, such as a scene wherein a social care worker talks about a warrior's inner armor, and it adds to nothing. Honestly the entire film is filled with similar moments or ideas which go nowhere, and these pointless ideas detract from the main narrative and leave it woefully underdeveloped.
The screenplay's horrendous dialogue exacerbates all of it's issues. Every line reeks of melodrama, there is zero subtly or naturalism to anything and the entire thing feels like a first draft. The film in many ways feels like a tv miniseries due to the copious melodrama and lack of focus. If I was told that this was a tv show condensed into a film, then I would likely believe it.
The film covers some very heavy subjects such as rape, suicide, domestic violence and alcoholism. This is one area where the film succeeds however, due to the directors unflinching rawness mixed with a cautious understanding. The misogynistic overtones of Maori culture are shown without restriction, and I must give the film credit for that. I must also credit the film for some nice camera work, particularly the great first shot.
In conclusion, I was greatly disappointing by this film. The film's early issues overwhelmed it by the end and it never came together into anything meaningful. Watch it for yourself if you want, or comment if you are one of the many fans of this film, because I want to understand why it is so beloved.
By Jack D. Phillips
A Zoom Film Review
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