Underplayed Gems

Once Were Warriors (1994)

Once Were Warriors poster
Directed by
Lee Tamahori
Genre
drama film
Country
New Zealand
Runtime
1h 39m
Rated
R
Rating
7.4 of 10 from 500 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

A Maori family struggles with poverty addiction and domestic abuse in urban New Zealand. The story centers on the brutal patriarch Jake Heke and the toll his violence takes on his wife and children.

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What happens

Once Were Warriors is a 1994 New Zealand tragedy film based on New Zealand author Alan Duff's bestselling 1990 first novel. The film tells the story of the Heke family, an urban Māori whānau living in South Auckland, and their problems with poverty, tobacco, gambling, drugs, alcoholism, and domestic violence, mostly brought on by the patriarch, Jake. It explores the detrimental effects of the colonisation of New Zealand suffered by Māori, and the survival of Māori culture against all odds. The film was directed by Lee Tamahori, written by Riwia Brown, and stars Rena Owen, Temuera Morrison and Cliff Curtis. It became the highest-grossing film of all time in New Zealand, and has won numerous awards. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

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