Once Were Warriors DVD

Advantages: see review
Disadvantages: see review

...when the credits begin rolling. Once Were Warriors is one of the few movies which has literally blown me away and continues to do so no matter how many times I see it. It tackles a variety of issues head on with a cold uncompromising attitude and offers no solutions, no easy way out and nothing but a bleak, harsh reality. This is no saccharin coated Hollywood feature, but a movie which has its feet far more firmly planted upon the ground and finds ...
...it. Once Were Warriors derives its name from the people it portrays - the Maori. It looks at a culture which were once proud warriors, rich in cultural history and a force in their own region. Now it finds those same people struggling in the ghettos, clinging onto their past glories and fading fast in the face of modern life. In particular it focuses upon one particular family headed by Jake and Beth Heke. Beth comes from a family steeped in proud ... Read review

Advantages: Superbly acted... extremely engaging... totally gripping...
Disadvantages: Disturbing.... not for the faint-hearted...

Lee Tamahori’s Once Were Warriors is a powerful and moving portrait of social problems and domestic violence in New Zealand’s Maori community. The manner in which the director presents this disturbing, and, at times, shocking story makes it all the more effective, as it is essentially an exercise in realism. Before we get into the analysis, let's look at the plot briefly. Our main protagonists are the Heke family who live in the poor ...
...beginning. This is echoed in Once Were Warriors. After situating us in the city with noises of traffic and shots of Beth walking home, the camera weaves its way around a crowded market place, eventually picking out the protagonist, Jake. Both Jake and Ricci therefore, are picked out of a crowd, as if it could have been a story about anybody. As in The Bicycle Thief, there are several scenes where Jake is part of a crowd – whether it is in the ... Read review

Advantages: Gritty, disturbing drama
Disadvantages: Lack of Hollywood gloss may put some people off

“Once Were Warriors” tells the story of a struggling Maori family in 1990s New Zealand. Beth was forced to leave her family and her home colony behind when she fell in love with her husband Jake, who was deemed by her family not to be good enough for her. 18 years on, she still loves him and finds him irresistible – despite the fact that her family’s judgement of Jake turned out to be right. Jake is a lazy, violent man, who likes nothing better ...
...them back for drunken parties in the family home – which invariably end with violence towards Beth. This lifestyle has already started to take its toll on the couple’s children, with the eldest son leaving home to become part of a violent, tattooed gang, and another son charged with burglary and taken away to a home after his welfare officer visits and sees his mother with a bruised swollen face after one of Jake’s attacks. Holding the family together ... Read review

Advantages: REALISE TO APPRECIATE WHAT YOU HAVE
Disadvantages: IMAGING TO LIVE THIER LIFE

This is the story of a Maori family living in the run down, forgotten suburbs of Auckland, New Zealand. Beth used to be the Marae’s ‘special one’, but fell in love with Jake, who came from a long line of slaves. Her elders weren’t happy with the unity when Beth said yes to Jakes marriage proposal 18 years before. She made a promise to herself that she would never return to the Marae as she was too much in love with Jake to ...
...Years later, they live a poverty stricken life with five children. Jake has just lost his job and heads to the local pub to drink, and drink.. and drink, and when the pub closes, invites them to go back to his for an after hours get together.. which happens on most nights. While the kids are in bed and they hear the joyous song of their mum and dad, they know at any minute, Jake will turn into a fist welding beast and attack anyone that stands up ... Read review

This emotional and gripping drama is set in New Zealand and focuses on the Heke family who struggle with day to day issues such as money worries and troubled teenagers. When Jake Heke's temper takes hold of him this has untold results for his family. The underlying shame of his heritage as a slave is an issue for him as it is evident in his domaneering relationship with his wife Beth. The film follows the fall out of the family with tragic results as their lifestyle takes its toll on the most innocent subjects. A gritty and realistic story.