Genre: social drama
With: Rena Owen, Temuera Morrison, Mamaengaroa Kerr-Bell
Director: Lee Tamahori
Release: 1994
Studio: New Zealand Film Commission, Communicado Productions − Fine Line Features
Rating: R
MBiS score: 8.2/10
QuickView
Story-line: for Beth, a daughter of New Zealand’s Maori aristocracy, life with unemployed husband Jake ‘the Muss’ Heke and five children is proving much rougher than she had expected.
Pluses: fine acting, strong direction and a screenplay raising painful but important topics.
Minuses: be forewarned that the domestic violence depicted in ONCE WERE WARRIORS, while in keeping with the plot, reaches an intensity seldom seen in the movies.
Comments: a startling and necessary film about alcoholism, poverty and tradition in one aboriginal family. ONCE WERE WARRIORS is a worthy and thought-provoking picture for sure.
MBiS
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