Fresh
A gut-grabber from New Zealand ... that stays with you for days.
Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle
Once Were Warriors
A family in crisis, a life in chaos... Nothing is more powerful than a mother's love.
1994 · 1h 39m · R
Drama
Directed by
Lee Tamahori
Overview
A drama about a Maori family living in Auckland, New Zealand. Lee Tamahori tells the story of Beth Heke’s strong will to keep her family together during times of unemployment and abuse from her violent and alcoholic husband.
Director and cast
- Lee Tamahori Director
- Rena Owen as Beth Heke
- Temuera Morrison as Jake Heke
- Mamaengaroa Kerr-Bell as Grace Heke
- Julian Arahanga as Nig Heke
- Taungaroa Emile as Mark 'Boogie' Heke
- Rachael Morris Jr. as Polly Heke
- Joseph Kairau as Huata Heke
- Cliff Curtis as Bully
- Pete Smith as Dooley
- George Henare as Bennett
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
93%
Tomatometer
Rotten
As often happens when films are intent on getting a message across, Once Were Warriors can't stop itself from overdoing things.
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
Fresh
Yet familiar as the pattern is ... the film holds because of the acting and because it functions as travelogue.
Stanley Kauffmann, The New Republic
Fresh
The actors, many of them of European-Maori descent, are wonderful to look at. They also deliver authoritative yet sympathetic performances that get at the roots, or rootlessness, of their characters.
Rita Kempley, Washington Post
Fresh
It is powerful and chilling, and directed by Lee Tamahori with such narrative momentum that we are swept along in the enveloping tragedy of the family's life.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
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