Ka Whawhai Tonu is a strong debut from filmmaker Michael Jonathan. Filled with brilliant performances throughout, this Māori focused film hits all the right notes.

In 1864, during the New Zealand Wars, Haki, a Māori-European teenager fighting for the NZ colonial forces, was captured by the Māori resistance. He starts a reluctant friendship with Kōpū, a young girl believed to be a medium for the Māori god of war who guides her people into a brutal battle with the colonial British forces, vastly outnumbered in a battle to death or liberty.

For a film that so centrally focuses on the battle O-Rākau in Waikato between the Māori and the invading British, Ka Whawhai Tonu shines brightest when it takes a step back and allows its two young leads to take centre stage. With  Kōpū, we have someone who has been practically forced into her position as a medium for her people, and all she wants to be is free from the pressures and rules laid upon her. With Haki, he is trying to figure out his place in the world as someone of mixed race. But finding a connection with the children of the tribes, especially Kōpū, allows him to see his true purpose in life.

The idea of giving the hopeful aspect of the film to younger characters is a wise choice by Michael Jonathan, as it allows the audience to feel their inner turmoil within all of the chaos surrounding them. Their performances almost steal the film, with them surely destined to have strong careers after this.

That said, what we do see of that siege and the performance from Temuera Morrison is as riveting as they come; you believe in him as Rewi Maniapoto, and even though we know the outcome isn’t going to be a good one for him and the vast majority of his warriors, you are all in, in supporting them. Morrison commands your attention as he owns practically every second of his screen time. Cliff Curtis provides a compelling counterpart to Morrison as a Māori who has converted to Christianity and is trying to convert as many people as possible in a manner to save them from the surefire death that is incoming.

The importance of Ka Whawhai Tonu cannot be understated. We have seen how other nations have shown their side of the brutal battles that their ancestors endured at the hands of coloniser armies. So, to see this from a strictly Māori viewpoint and, almost more importantly, predominantly in their own language, is immensely integral to feeling the full scope of the pain and struggle that these tribes died to preserve.

Michael Jonathan is able to bring us as much hope in his debut feature, which is some achievement, as it could have been an extremely tempting and easier option to just show the brutality of the British. Instead, he wants that hope, strength and resolute nature that the Māori have to be the real takeaway from his film. We know what happened was horrific, but we can take so much more away from the film by showing us the strength of those who fought and died and the hope of the younger generations. Which, in truth, is what you should want in a film like Ka Whawhai Tonu: to feel that the sacrifices made were not for nought.

With a tight budget, Jonathan and his production team do everything they can to utilise every dollar to its fullest, which is an especially difficult task knowing how grand a scope that battle should really have. Yet, it all works well, and you are never distracted by the smaller scale that we see. Would it have been great for a big old budget? Sure, but by having it lower, it allows for a more personal and gripping story to be told.

A refreshing and honest film, Ka Whawhai Tonu – Struggle Without End combines both the tragedy of native people having their land and lives taken by from them by invaders while keeping an important slice of hope that resonates over 160 years after the fact.

★★★ 1/2

Ka Whawhai Tonu played at the 4th World Media Lab and the cINeDIGENOUS section at the 51st Seattle International Film Festival.

Support Us

I am but a small website in this big wide world. As much as I would love to make this website a big and wonderful entity. That would bring in more costs. So, for now, all I hope is to make Upcoming On Screen self-sufficient. Well, enough to make any website fees less of a worry for me in the future. You can support the website below…

Patreon

You can support us in a variety of ways (other than that wonderful word of mouth) and those lovely follows. If you are so inclined to help us out then you can support us via Patreon, find our link here! We don’t want to ask you much, so for now, we have limited our tiers to £1.50 and £3.50. These will, of course, grow the more we plan to do here at Upcoming On Screen.

Thanks for reading; every view helps us out more than you would think (we have fragile egos). Until next time.

Social Media

You can also support us via Twitter and Facebook Instagram and Blue Sky! by giving us a follow and a like. Every single one helps!