Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2321 in DVD
• Released on: 1999-08-16
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Full Screen, PAL
• Original language: English, Maori
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 98 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
New Zealand filmmaker Lee Tamahori (The Edge) directed this brutal but powerful story drawn from the culture of poverty and alienation enveloping contemporary Maori life. Rena Owen plays the beleaguered mother of two boys--one of whom is already in prison while the other contemplates membership in a gang--and a daughter whose potential is being smothered at home. Temuera Morrison gives an outstanding and sometimes shocking performance as the violent head of the household, more adept at keeping up his social stature within his community of friends than holding down a job. Once Were Warriors pulls no punches, literally and figuratively, but despite the rough going, Tamahori gives us a rare and important insight into a people digging down deep to find their pride. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

DVD Description
DVD Special Features:

Pan and Scan Ratio 4:3
Dolby Pro Logic

Synopsis
ONCE WERE WARRIORS is a powerful film that focuses on a New Zealand family descended from Maori tribesmen. For Jake (Temuera Morrison) and Beth Heke (Rena Owen), life in their suburban ghetto is going from bad to worse. Jake's just lost his job, their delinquent teenage son Boogie has to appear in court, and they can't make ends meet with five growing kids. Late that night, they host another one of Jake's raunchy drinking parties while the children lie awake in their bedroom. When their oldest son asks for money, which Beth discovers Jake has gambled away, it ignites a vicious argument that Jake solves by giving Beth one of his brutal beatings. The tide of violence continues to ebb and flow in the Heke household until a terrible tragedy makes them confront the dysfunctional state of their family.

Customer Reviews

The Maori urban life that New Zealand tourists never see.
In a film so hard-hitting that the viewer actually feels battered by the time it reaches its conclusion, a Maori family with five children must deal with urban violence, poverty, drugs, alcoholism, unemployment, gang warfare, rape, physical and mental abuse, suicide, and a host of other horrific family problems, all shown graphically. Beth and Jake Heke and their five children, along with numerous other Maori families, live in an urban ghetto of government-supported housing, isolated from the rest of society and isolated, too, from their old rural culture, which once gave pride and a sense of identity to Maori families. Here in the city the prevailing "culture" centers around bars, rather than the ancient meeting houses.

Beth Heke (Rena Owen), the mother, loves her violent husband Jake (Temuera Morrison), despite his abuse of her when he is drunk, and she cares deeply about her children, but she is powerless to protect them or herself from Jake's rages. The oldest son (Julian Arahanga) is part of a street gang which covers their faces in traditional tattoos and uses their own violence for protection against others. Their sensitive second son Boogie (Taungaroa Emile) has been arrested for associating with car thieves. Most touching, however, is Gracie (unforgettably played by Mamaengaroa Kerr-Bell), a thirteen-year-old beauty who is trying to lead a good life without any good examples to follow. Pathetically, she and the two youngest children are forced to "grow up early," accepting the horrors of their lives as "normal," while they try to survive any way they can.

The bold, raw language of Alan Duff's novel of the same name becomes part of Riwia Brown's script, and Lee Tamahori's direction brings this powerful, absorbing, and overwhelming story of human misery to life. Tamahori uses contrasts throughout to emphasize the themes and the differences between contemporary Maori urban life and traditional Maori culture. He uses haunting Maori music to begin the film, then switches to scenes of rap and rock, he alternates quiet visions of a Maori village with loud bar activity, he shows the sweetness of Gracie against the grim living conditions of her best friend Toot (Shannon Williams), and depicts Jake's violence in contrast to the family's need for calmer, more focused lives. The cinematography, too, emphasizes the contrasts, though most viewers will be too focused on the overwhelming emotionalism of the scenes to notice. Though I loved the book, I found the film even better--the characters as acted here are much more heart-wrenching than I ever could have imagined. Mary Whipple

Powerful, Moving, Stunning - A Modern Classic
Once Were Warriors is a film that will never leave you after viewing. It is the archetypal slice of life we can be educated from that only cinema can deliver so concisely. Is is often lorded as the most prolific examination of the Maori people and their confliction between traditional beliefs, traditions and behaviour and the reality of the modern world and family, but it is much more than that. It is hands down one of the most harrowing tales of domestic violence, and elicits a power which challenges and provokes.
The story is told on its own footing, with New Zealand production, direction and acting, and you really feel this sense of authenticity. It has a passion and intimacy with its subject matter than other films crave but cannot recreate.
The raw subject matter is complemented with straightforward, unflashy direction. The plot tackles many issues of family, growth, loyalty, responsibility and dissects them with a strong soul. The acting is one of the most amazing accomplishments of antipodean cinema. Temeura Morrision gaves one of the most incredible performances of modern cinema as Jake the Muss. His primeaval power on screen lights up the entire picture, while the subtlety, gutsy performances of Owen and Kerr-Bell add all the more pain and challenge upon its truely sad conclusion.
Its a must see picture, enjoyable on all levels is has both conscience and intelligence with its ferocity.

One of the best movies I've seen.
Once were Warriors is a movies that, although it is specifically about the plight of the Maori people and particularly the Family of " Jake the muss " tells the story of many families in many different countries.It could quite easily be set in America, Ireland or England etc. The main thing that stands out for me in this film is its cultural aspect and the fact that through all the violence and desperation it is the Maori culture that gives hope. Each character finds his or her way back to their culture, except for Jake who through his denial of his culture and therefore denial of himself, remains lost and desperate.A BRILLIANT FILM.*****