Once Were Warriors Domestic problems lead to great plot and story lines in movies. One family member in a film can really screw thing up for the whole lot. In the film Once Were Warriors we're presented with a family where each member has a dysfunction. Each character's problem is presented in very cinematic techniques. You can almost see the halo over the head of the two small children and the oldest daughter. We are fooled by the mother's beauty and mistake if for love. She is given the look of innocence at first, but once the alcohol and the verbal abuse kick in, we see otherwise. The two older brothers are delinquents who dress the part along with their outcast lads. The father is a wolf in sheep's clothing. At first, he seems like a great guy. He comes across as gentle and nice but the volcano soon erupts. His anger is unlike the others in the family, as it seethes to a boiling point early in the film. The film brings out his anger by close ups of him and he grunts, spits and grinds his teeth like a bear gearing for the big attack. But other times he is calm and collected, and appears to have a split personality. Several scenes in a bar and parties at the families' house show help build the tension, from the frustrated housewife to the kids who can't get any sleep because the parent's friends are partying all night long. Each member has their own way of venting the frustration, everything from writing in a book, joining a gang, kung fu and beating up the helpless wife. The film has such an affect on the viewer that sometimes you forget you are watching a movie and at points comes across as a documentary of domestic violence. There is one point in the film where the family visits a river bank, and everything seems so at peace you wonder what they really have to fight about. But the serenity is only momentary. I kept waiting for more peaceful moments, but the movie sticks to the problem at hand, which only makes if a finer piece of work. You start to realize there is no escape, and this becomes a hard fact when the oldest sister hangs herself in the backyard tree. A hard escape from a hard life. The father, played here by Temuera Morrison, deserves some sort of an award for his performance. I seriously don't remember a character in a film venting as much anger as he does. Your own teeth grit by the vibes he gives off. He's got enough energy and frustration to bring out a strong emotion in the spectator. There were times when I swore I heard a grunt of an animal, like a dog, instead of an actual man when he really gets pissed off. Once Were Warriors is a hard film to watch, and is not easily forgotten. Lee Tamahori, the director of the film, is quoted as saying, "Sex should not be in the movies and should be in the home, and violence should be in the movies and not in the home." |
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