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Once Were Warriors (1994)

Drama | 99 minutes
3,73 794 votes

Genre: Drama

Duration: 99 minuten

Country: New Zealand

Directed by: Lee Tamahori

Stars: Temuera Morrison, Rena Owen and Mamaengaroa Kerr-Bell

IMDb score: 7,9 (37.554)

Releasedate: 2 September 1994

Once Were Warriors plot

"A family in crisis, a life in chaos... Nothing is more powerful than a mother's love."

Once Were Warriors is the story of an underprivileged family on the dirtiest outskirts of town. It is that part of the city where the work of a social worker is the last straw, where unemployment is rampant, people have lost sight of improvement and seek refuge in alcohol and drugs. Anyone who cannot survive in such an environment is a victim. The harsh laws in this urban jungle also apply to Beth and Jake's family. Beth is the proud Maori-blooded woman who finds herself thrown back even further with every attempt to wrest her family out of this situation, while Jake has resigned himself to misery and wreaks havoc with his drunkenness and aggression.

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Reviews & comments


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avatar van klara

klara

  • 814 messages
  • 20367 votes

Very intense and raw film that left a deep impression on me when I saw the film for the

saw first. That was a long time ago, on television, I think via the VPRO that then every week

broadcast a 'deviant' film, four pieces spread over a month. Including Les Amants

du Pont-Neuf and C'est Arrive pres de Chez Vous. All impressive films for me.

Unfortunately I was never able to find out the fourth title, which I also appreciated very much.

Neither did Once Were Warriors for a long time, by the way. Purely by chance I came across this film later, and

was pleasantly surprised and once again impressed. Explosive drama that will not leave you unmoved.

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original

avatar van BBarbie

BBarbie

  • 12893 messages
  • 7675 votes

Review, because there are those films that you will never forget and that you definitely want to see again at least one more time. This is one of them.

Unvarnished family drama on the fringe of society about a Maori family ravaged by the catastrophic convergence of macho behavior and alcoholism. (NB no Maori prerogative). It produces a veritable litany of astonishing scenes, which are not always easy to see. Raw. Shocking. Cheeky.

The acting performances are formidable. Also a memorable directorial debut from Lee Tamahori.

What Cidade de Deus (2002) is to Brazil, this is to the native population of New Zealand.

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original

avatar van Fisico

Fisico (moderator films)

  • 9355 messages
  • 5109 votes

Strong raw print in which violence, alcoholism and poverty are central in a suburb of a New Zealand metropolis. Here we mainly see a Maori community on the fringes of society, denying their own identity, striving for a better life.

For eighteen years, Beth has tolerated the whims and especially the loose hands of Jake. At the same time, she finds herself keeping this system going by partying and drinking herself, knowing that her children are sleeping upstairs, or at least trying to. She repeatedly indicates that she will leave, but each time she returns.

The film contains some brutally heavy scenes that have its impact on the viewer. Images that you also find in other films or cultures, whether or not combined with drugs. Poverty and hopelessness is often the common thread. Not that one has to be an excuse for the other, but sometimes it's just the reality.

In addition, and I thought that was an extra for the film, there is also attention for identity and group status. Jake has that with his beer club, but the sons also try to find their own way. The placed son comes closest to the values and cultural norms that his parents and ancestors propagated. Good thing, too.

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original