I have no idea how I came to see this movie, but what a delightful surprise! I'm at the stage of life (68, and counting) that the first punch thrown, or the first car that explodes, results in my finger depressing the STOP button on the remote. But something made me stick with this great movie. The film is about the Maori people of New Zealand. They cannot or will not join the twentieth century. Like the native Americans, and many African Americans,they face discrimination and find themselves at the bottom of the social and economic ladder. The Heke family's struggle to stay afloat, is basically the plot of the film. The father, Temuera Morrison, is a sometime employed baroom brawler, who I think, can take on the entire Green Bay Packers, and if not desrtroy the entire team, at least hold his own. Even when not engaged in bashing someone's head in, he smolders with rage. and yet you can also see that he loves his wife and kids, and part of his rage is his inability to be a good provider. Beth Hecke, played by the truly beautiful Rena Owens, is so captivating, that I actually traced her down, wrote to her, and received a delightful reply. She is the real earth mother, nurturing the kids and Jake, screaming at them,and being driven to distraction by them, with a charm that I found irresistable. Do not deny yourself the pleasure of seeing this great movie.
Review of Once Were Warriors
