This weekend's third "Cinema Sunday" offering at the Reichhold Center for the Arts is a heavy slice-of-life film out of New Zealand called "Once Were Warriors." That's the correct name, by the way; there's no "We" or "They" in the title.
Like "Central Station," the Brazilian picture that opened the new film series three weeks ago, this one is about survival up against the system in a contemporary urban ambience. Where "Central Station" tugged at your heart, however, "Once Were Warriors" wrenches at your viscera.
It's the story of a family torn by domestic violence, gang violence, street violence, alcohol abuse, and the recognitions of reality that sometimes — but not always — destroy dreams of a better life.
More than that, however, "Once Were Warriors" is a commentary on the modern-day plight of the Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. There are 3 million Maori in that nation today, making up about 12 percent of the total population, and despite guaranteed rights under a treaty signed a century ago with the European-descended majority, they constitute a large proportion of the society's underclass.
Comparisons to the African-American community in the United States are inevitable.
Reviewer Cuda Brown offers this one: "While this story is set in New Zealand, it could easily be set in any black neighborhood in this country. The fact is, it could be set anywhere people are not taking individual responsibility and are satisfied with blaming ‘others' for their predicament." The film's lesson, Brown says, is that "we should take control of ourselves. It is clearly a useful lesson for the Maori. It is equally compelling for African-Americans, for other minorities, for women. The message is not to go back to the good old days, but to bring the values that allowed us to survive slavery and oppression, to bring that struggle forward for use in our current-day lives."
"Once Were Warriors" goes beyond issues of minority oppression, though. It is equally about contemporary encroachment on traditional cultural values and ways of life, and the despair that inevitably enshrouds those whose spirits are slowly being destroyed.
The film is based on a controversial novel by Maori author Alan Duff, had a Maori director, Lee Tamahori, and features a cast that is for the most part Maori and in some cases inexperienced in acting. Made in 1994, it collected eight New Zealand Film & Television Awards, for best film, director, screenplay, actor, supporting actor, film score, editing and juvenile performance.
It was also named best film at festivals in Montreal, Rotterdam and Durban, South Africa. It won a best first film award at the Venice festival and special jury awards at Montreal, Rotterdam and Hawaii fests.
Tamahori in an interview explains that the Maori, unlike, say, native Americans, "were never forcibly removed to other areas" by the Europeans who colonized New Zealand in the 19thCentury. There has been extensive intermarriage, and "if there are racist tendencies, they tend to be hidden."
However, he continues, while it's a very homogeneous society, "that's a bit of an illusion, because the gap between rich and poor is widening and that has tended to make the Maori much more of an underclass."
Like most indigenous peoples, Tamahori notes, the Maori "are very closely connected with the land, very spiritual. . . very tied to intangible things, unlike Europeans." Industrialization and urbanization have clashed with these values, he points out, the result being "a growing number of disenfranchised Maori who are losing touch with their own culture and society in general."
Duff drew "a lot of flack" within the Maori community with his focus on the "downside" of his people, Tamahori said, and there was much hostility toward the making of the picture based on the novel. But the director says the film offers "a lot more hope, heart and positive things. . . without destroying the infrastructure or very violent core."
The upshot, he said, is that "once people who were very opposed to our film saw what we did, there was a large measure of unspoken forgiveness on their part because they could see that it wasn't the ‘beat up' they thought it would be."
The story is about Beth and Jake Heke and three of their numerous children, a Maori family living in urban squalor in Auckland. Jake, who is unemployed, is abusive when he drinks, and he drinks a lot. Beth loves him and doesn't see herself leaving him, but is losing the respect of her teenage children by putting up with his violence. The elder boy, Nig, is about to join a Maori gang; the younger, Boogie, is in trouble with the law and may be taken away and placed in foster care; and the daughter, Grace, dreams of becoming a writer, while reality reminds her that the future more likely holds a fate much like her mother's.
Reviewer Lucy Mohl says "Once Were Warriors" is "so much more than a movie built on messages, and while the audience may flinch at certain scenes, the characters can't. Life is stark, and so are their choices."
The series organizers booked the film at this time because October is observed nationally as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Half of the proceeds from the showing will be donated to Family Resource Center (formerly Women's Resource Center), which provides counseling, emergency shelter and court advocacy services to victims of domestic abuse.
"Cinema Sunday" films are projected from a 35 mm movie camera onto a screen that's the width of the Reichhold stage. Admission is $5 for all ages (this one's not for kids), and it's first come, first seated. The gates open at 6:30 p.m. and the movie begins at 7. Popcorn, candy and soft drinks are sold and you can take them to your seat. For more information, call 693-1559.
