Once Were Warriors (film)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Once Were Warriors is 1994 film based on New Zealand author Alan Duff's bestselling 1990 first novel of the same name. This social realist drama tells the story of an urban Māori family, the Hekes, and their problems with poverty, alcoholism, and domestic violence, mostly brought on by the family patriarch Jake Heke. It was directed by Lee Tamahori, and stars Rena Owen and Temuera Morrison.
The film was filmed at a local Otara state house, located in O'Connor street. The film was filmed primarily in this house, with neighbours complaining on numerous occasions due to the film's late night party scenes.
Plot
Beth leaves her small Māori village and, much to her parents' chagrin, marries Jake "The Muss" Heke. After eighteen years, they live in an unkempt state house in South Auckland and have five children. Their interpretations of life and being Māori are tested.
Jake is fired from his job, but remains satisfied with receiving unemployment benefit and spending most days getting drunk at a nearby pub with his friends. He shows his violent streak by savagely beating a muscular patron who dares disrupt a female singer's (Mere Boynton) performance. He often invites crowds of friends from the bar to his home for drunken parties. When his wife "gets lippy," he brutally beats her in front of the group, who are too intimidated to interfere. Beth turns to booze when things go wrong, and exhibits angry outbursts and occasional violence of her own on a smaller scale. Her children fend for themselves, resignedly cleaning the blood-streaked house after their father beats their mother.
Nig, the Hekes' eldest son, moves out to join a gang whose rituals include getting facial tattoos. He undergoes an initiation beating, passes and is then embraced as a new brother. Nig cares about his siblings but despises his father; he is angered when his mother is beaten but does not intervene. Nig's younger brother Mark, aka "Boogie," is placed in a foster home as a ward of the state due to his parents' home life. Jake is unconcerned and hopes the experience will toughen him up. Despite his initial anger, Boogie finds a new niche for himself after the foster home's manager, Mr. Bennett, helps him embrace his Māori heritage.
Grace, the Hekes' 13-year-old daughter, keeps a journal in which she chronicles events, as well as stories she tells her younger siblings. Her best friend is a homeless boy named Toot, who lives in a wrecked car. She dreads a future she believes is inevitable and is constantly reminded of getting married and playing the role of a wife, which she believes comprises catering to a husband's demands and enduring beatings. She dreams of living an independent and single life.
Grace is raped by Uncle Bully, a friend of her father. She falls into a deep depression and seeks support from Toot, with whom she smokes marijuana for the first time. Toot kisses her but she reacts violently and storms out, believing he is "just like the rest of them." Confused, Grace eventually goes home to an angry Jake with his friends. Bully asks for a goodnight kiss to test his power over her. She refuses and Jake sees it as a sign of disrespect; he rips her journal in two and nearly beats her. Beth returns home from searching for Grace, and then screams hysterically after finding her daughter has hanged herself from a tree branch in the backyard.
Jake selfishly deals with the tragedy by going to the pub while the rest of his family takes Grace's body to a tangihanga. Beth stands up to him for the first time when he refuses to let her be taken to the marae. The film cross-cuts between the mourning, Jake's drinking and the family on the marae. Boogie impresses Beth with his Māori singing at the funeral, and Toot says his goodbyes, telling Grace the gentle kiss he gave her the last time he saw her was a gesture meant only to confirm their mantra 'best friends for life'. Boogie reassures Toot that Grace loved him, and Beth invites him to live with them.
Reading Grace's diary later that day, Beth finds out about the rape and confronts Bully at the pub. Jake initially threatens Beth for accusing his friend, but Nig steps between them, protecting his mother. After glancing at the diary himself, Jake explodes in a rage and beats Bully nearly to death, castrating him with a broken bottle. Beth, blaming Jake just as much as Bully because of his violent lifestyle, decides to take their children back to her Māori village and traditions, defiantly telling him that her heritage gives her the strength to resist his control over her. Jake shouts at her on a kerb outside the pub as the family leaves, with police sirens wailing in the background.
Cast
- Rena Owen as Beth Heke, the matriarch of the Heke family. She cares for her family's welfare and shows them the love that Jake will not, even though she is not present at Boogie's court hearing. Much like Jake, she too is an alcoholic although she is less abusive.
- Temuera Morrison as Jake "the Muss" Heke. The abusive, alcoholic husband of Beth Heke. In addition to abusing his wife and his family, he is a selfish, lazy, and arrogant man who will tear anyone down if he feels they stand in his way. He tends to spend a lot of time at the pub getting drunk with his mates and savagely beating any patron he considers has stepped out of line.
- Julian Arahanga as Nig Heke. The oldest son of Jake and Beth Heke. He despises his father, and he eventually joins a gang to make up for the missing father figure in his life, though this gang is revealed to be just as violent as Jake himself.
- Mamaengaroa Kerr-Bell as Grace Heke, the cynical daughter of Beth and Jake. She enjoys writing stories to make up for all of the craziness in her life and eventually hangs herself as a result of being raped by Bully and the constant violence around her.
- Taungaroa Emile as Mark "Boogie" Heke, the middle son of Beth and Jake, he is something of a juvenile delinquent as he is sent to a borstal since neither of his parents were able to show up to his court hearing on his behalf, though Grace was present. At the borstal, he soon finds himself a new niche as he grows very fond of his Māori heritage.
- Rachael Morris Jr. as Polly Heke
- Joseph Kairau as Huata Heke
- George Henare as Mr. Bennett, the man at the borstal who takes Boogie under his wing after he is seen smashing windows in the gymnasium with a Taiaha.
- Cliff Curtis as Uncle Bully, Jake's friend who is revealed to be a pedophile after he rapes Grace in her bed at one of Jake's "drunken parties."
- Pete Smith as Dooley, Jake and Bully's happy-go-lucky friend.
- Calvin Tuteao as Taka
- Shannon Williams as Toot, Grace's best friend who is revealed to have a crush on her. He tries to kiss Grace, but she angrily storms off as she is reminded of Bully raping her the night before. He lives in a car under a motorway overpass, and is known to be a drug addict as well. Yet he remains very optimistic about the future.
- Mere Boynton as Mavis
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