Mahana

New Zealand 2016, 103 minutes
Dir. Lee Tamahori
In English, Te Reo with English subtitles
Rating: [M] Sexual references & content that may disturb
Genres: Drama

Topics: Period 1960s.

Feat. Temuera Morrison, Nancy Brunning, Akuhata Keefe, Jim Moriarty

“Proudly a Maori story with a Maori denouement, and it's a fitting reminder of the important place Ihimaera occupies in our national literature.”~Peter Calder, New Zealand Herald

Aroview: Lee Tamahori and Temuera Morrison re-team for this evocative adaptation of Witi Ihimaera's saga of warring families in 1960's New Zealand.

It plays something like a generational, thematic prequel to the great ONCE WERE WARRIORS, with Morrison reprising his intimidating patriarch, though much of the film is celebratory and nostalgic, and blessed with a uniformly excellent ensemble cast of Maori players.

Adopt-a-Movie Kindly Adopted by Alastair Ross