Synopsis
A drama about a Maori family living in Auckland, New Zealand. Lee Tamahori tells the story of Beth Heke’s strong will to keep her family together during times of unemployment and abuse from her violent and alcoholic husband.
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Cast
- Rena OwenBeth Heke
- Temuera MorrisonJake Heke
- Mamaengaroa Kerr-BellGrace Heke
- Julian ArahangaNig Heke
- Taungaroa EmileMark 'Boogie' Heke
- Rachael Morris Jr.Polly Heke
- Joseph KairauHuata Heke
- Cliff CurtisBully
- Pete SmithDooley
- George HenareBennett
Recommendations
- 88
Chicago Sun-Times
The director's key achievement is creating a convincing sense of daily life in the household and neighborhood. This is not a narrow drama that focuses on a few themes; it paints a whole style of life, the good times with the bad. - 88
ReelViews
Once Were Warriors works, to some degree, on three levels: the visceral, the emotional, and the intellectual, and it is the amalgamation of these that makes this a memorable film. - 88
New York Daily News
Once Were Warriors has more to say than the traditional TV-movie about spousal abuse. But some viewers will have to pay a price: This is a movie that requires strength and fortitude to sit through. - 83
Entertainment Weekly
You can feel director Lee Tamahori doing his best to get a rise out of you. Yet his work has fire and substance, too. - 80
Chicago Reader
At once upsetting and highly involving, it packs an undeniable punch. - 75
Baltimore Sun
It's a fine, fierce and nearly unforgettable movie. - 75
Chicago Tribune
You may not want to accept what you see here; you may be unable to accept it. But it's doubtful you'll leave this film unmoved. - 75
Washington Post
An uncompromising, emotionally draining drama that presents the urbanization of New Zealand's Maori as a cultural disaster, one that is mirrored in the shards of a shattering marriage. This explosive first film by director Lee Tamahori focuses on the transformation of a battered wife, but its story is fueled by the machismo of the disenfranchised Maori male.
