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Actors: Rena Owen, Temuera Morrison, Mamaengaroa Kerr-Bell, Julian Arahanga, Tuangaroa Emile
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Once Were Warriors |
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Jake and Beth Heke (Morrison and Owen) are a poor, working class couple of Maori background in contemporary, urban Auckland, New Zealand. Jake obviously loves his family, but is subject to murderous rages when he gets drunk, when he beats his wife and abuses the kids. Oldest son Nig has joined a street gang, daughter Grace retreats into her poetry journal and hangs out with a drug-addled boy who lives in an abandoned car, and younger son Boogie has gotten in trouble with the law and is in juvenile detention. But the center of the story is Beth -- who has a temper herself, but must learn to stop blaming herself for the horrific domestic violence and do something about it. This 1994 movie, made in New Zealand with a local cast and crew, is powerful and chilling -- difficult to take, but well done.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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Rena Owen stars in a powerful drama about a woman in an abusive relationship. She struggles to find herself and a way out of her relationship with her husband.
--Lara M., Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Once Were Warriors |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1980's-1999
Kids growing up/acting up?
Yes
Kids:
- fighting with parents
Family, struggling with
Yes
Struggle with:
- Father
Age group
- trouble in high school
Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Profession/status:
- homemaker/wife
- unemployed
Age:
- 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn curly
Body type
- (woman) ample bosom & buttocks
Unclothed?
- Chest and Buttocks
Events of movie makes character more...
- aggressive
- tougher
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
- hard edged
Sense of humor?
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
- Female
Hair color
- red
- brunette (Brown)
Hair style
- (man) short/standard straight
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn wavey
Body type
- (man) very skinny
- (man) muscular
Unclothed?
- chest
How much in movie?
- 60%
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
- Female
Age:
- a teen
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- student
- blue collar
Eccentric:
Yes
- wild
- eccentric
- emotionally unstable
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 60%
Hair color
- red
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn wavey
Body type
- (man) muscular
- (woman) skinny
unclothed?
- chest
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
- mean, arrogant
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- bulging muscles
- average physique
Setting
Asia/Pacific/Middle East
Yes
Asian country:
- Pacific Islands
- Australia
City?
Yes
City:
- dirty, grimy (like New York)
- dangerous
Misc setting
- fort/military installation
- bar
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Movie makes you feel...
- depressed/sad
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- kissing
- touching of personal anatomy
- licking
- seeing nude female butt
- sex under blankets
Non-American film?
Yes
What language?
- English
Subtitles?
- No
Any profanity?
- A huge amnt of foul language
Is this movie based on a
- book
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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