Worth: $13.00
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Cast:
Cliff Curtis, Jay Ryan, Poroaki Merritt-McDonald
Intro:
This is fundamentally political cinema. As such — and as an exercise in suspense — it’s not bad at all.
Though fictional, this film was inspired by several relatively recent violent clashes between Māoris and the armed forces. It also alludes briefly to one in 1916; resistance in New Zealand is as old as the oppression which sparked it.
Virtually the first thing that strikes us is the beauty of the landscape, but there is of course nothing remotely idyllic about the story. The catalyst is an angry and sporadically violent teenager called Rusty (Poroaki Merritt-McDonald), for whom the police are searching. Cops come in various ‘shapes and sizes’ here, from undercover and community-based to tactical response, and for a short while it’s a tad confusing. But the drama soon settles down – even as the tension ratchets up – into an effective slow-burner.
As we graduate from surveillance about suspected domestic terrorism to the prospect of heavy-handed and confused confrontation, local police sergeant ‘Taffy’ Tawharau (Cliff Curtis – good in the role) finds his allegiance torn between his job and his Tuhoe people.
Tawharau also drives a school bus, and the innocence of the kids provides a counterpoint to the darkness of the broader context. Real-life activist Tame Iti, interestingly enough, plays himself.
Muru has, you will not be surprised to hear, a dramatic denouement. The title means (among other things) redress, and the movie is described when it begins as “not a re-creation but a response”. This is fundamentally political cinema. As such — and as an exercise in suspense — it’s not bad at all.
