"In 1994, the New Zealand film-maker Lee Tamahori made one of the biggest debuts of the decade, firing on all six cylinders with his gut-wrenching social-realist melodrama Once Were Warriors. The Mekes are a working-class Maori family in South Auckland: Temuera Morrison is the boozing, brawling, bragging alpha-male welfare claimant Jake, who comes home from drinking in the pub with his pathetic sycophant mates to terrorise and assault his wife Beth, played by Rena Owen, and their five children."
"He is entirely indifferent to the fate of his two elder sons who have drifted into gangland culture and crime, as well as his sensitive daughter Grace, who has talent as a writer. One son gets gang tattoos; the other is taken to a juvenile reformatory where he is at least tutored in the ways of Maori culture the haka and the taiaha warrior spear and learns dignity and self-respect."
"But back at Jake's chaotic house, Grace is raped by Jake's grotesque friend Uncle Bully; disaster follows, and Beth passionately confronts the wretched Jake: Our people once were warriors, but unlike you, Jake, they were people with mana, pride; people with spirit Tamahori let rip with all this emotional violence, and landed sledgehammer punches with the pub scenes, the home scenes and the gang ritual initiation scenes, handling them with confidence and verve."
Once Were Warriors portrays the Mekes, a working-class Maori family in South Auckland, dominated by Jake, an abusive, alcoholic father. The film follows the drift of two elder sons into gangland and crime while the daughter Grace displays literary talent but suffers a brutal rape by Uncle Bully. Beth confronts Jake, invoking Maori mana and spirit. Tamahori directed with intense emotional violence and forceful scenes in pubs, homes and gang rituals, creating a gutsy, heartfelt film. The movie was a hit with audiences and critics and propelled Tamahori into Hollywood, where he made Mulholland Falls and The Bear.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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