Sandy's Whare

Full Version: Once Were Warriors.
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This film came out about 30 years ago, it was given some negative ratings by some folk, mainly maori because of the violence and such in it, but at the time it told a true story of what happened, and is still happening in some maori families, a sort of loss of identity if you like, some maori lost the past so couldn't live in the present.. The following link may help explain the film, the film should be online and could be downloaded as a torrent..


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The film starred Tenuera Morrison and Rena Owen who are both Maori, Temuera played the part of Jake Heki in the film, Rea was playing his wife.. The difference between the two was that Rena new her past and where she came from while Jake the muss was a kind of lost sole who knew nothing of his past or heritage so he spent his time drinking with his mates in the pub and fighting, he was also a wife beater and didn't care about his kids..

If you find the film and watch it, you'll have to pay attention and see past the violence to see what's going on and why it's happening.. I don't want to say to much about the film or I'll spoil it for you if you do download and watch it, which I hope you do..

If you have any questions after watching the film, feel free to ask, hopefully I can answer your questions, I'm not the best at wording things when I say them, I tend to go off on tangents too which doesn't help, but I'll do my best to answer any questions you may have..
I meant to add that there's a sequel to this film called What Becomes of the Broken Hearted, it revolves around the character of Jake Heke after his wife got up the courage to get the kids and leave him.. In my opinion it was a reasonably well done film as it showed how he coped from just after she left with the kids right through all his excessive drinking and violence to his finally getting his life in order..

In the first film we see how he was annoyed that is wife knew her past and where she came from and the history of her family and Iwi while he didn't know anything of his past, in the second film he decides to learn about his heritage and past which helped him live in the here and now..

I think the second film is well worth watching, that is as long as you've seen the first film, if you haven't seen the first film the second may not make as much sense, mainly because the second picks up from just after the first film ended, a need to know what happened beforehand situation..

If you're able to, find a good torrent site, get utorrent and download both films and watch them, a warning though, there is violence in the first film and some at the beginning of the second, but it was necessary to tell the story properly, from memory both films were rated as at least R 13 because of the violence and some course language.. Both films will no doubt help explain the loss of identity for some Maori in NZ and how some of those Maori have got back their identity by learning about their past and their culture..
One thing you'll see if you watch Once Were Warriors is a glimpse into the tangi or Maori funeral, the storyline in the film sees one of the kids commit suicide, I won't go into reasons as it may spoil the film, but the daughter was buried on her mums marae, or in their urupa, (cemetary) so they show a bit of the funeral process..

It was quite a sad film really, because Jake was the way he was, one son had joined a gang while another went into welfare care, the other kids weren't cared about by him, but their mum did what she could for the kids even if it meant risking another beating from Jake, I think it drives home what happens if a parent, or parents don't have a sense of identity, in the Maoris case their identity and where they came from is an important thing, if they lose it or don't have it they're like lost souls..