DVD Mini Review - River Queen
This film is from 2005 and it is first getting a DVD release now! And it was never released in theaters in the US. I just don't get it. Vincent Ward has created a wonderful adventure/romance with beautiful cinematography by Alun Bollinger. It makes me want to hop on a plane to New Zealand right now!!
The story takes place in the 1860s. The British are trying to clear out the Maori's land and create roads. An Irish doctor (Stephen Rea) lives there with his two daughters. One of them, Sarah (Samantha Morton) falls in love with a young Maori man. She gets pregnant by him but he dies. She raises her child on the island but he is eventually kidnapped by his grandfather.
Sarah spends many years trying to find her son. She talks to her friend, a soldier named Doyle (Keifer Sutherland) the only one she can pour her heart out to. When the chief of the tribe gets sick Sarah is taken to heal him by her dead lover's brother Wiremu (Cliff Curtis). He promises her that she will soon see her son.
And that is all I will tell you about the film. For me the film is finding your true identity and finding the place that you belong. It also reminds us how much we white Europeans have pillaged the land of indigenous peoples around the world. And we are still doing it.
Moron and Curtis are terrific. I really like Rea in his small role and I wish that he was in the film more (he is the reason that I even found out about this film). Sutherland is billed as a lead but he isn't in the film all that much. He is okay but his accent sometimes falters. And Karl Jenkin's score is great.
I am pleased to recommend this film and all I can say is that I am thankful that we have DVDs and cable so that we can see films that are never released in theaters or only have very short runs.
The story takes place in the 1860s. The British are trying to clear out the Maori's land and create roads. An Irish doctor (Stephen Rea) lives there with his two daughters. One of them, Sarah (Samantha Morton) falls in love with a young Maori man. She gets pregnant by him but he dies. She raises her child on the island but he is eventually kidnapped by his grandfather.
Sarah spends many years trying to find her son. She talks to her friend, a soldier named Doyle (Keifer Sutherland) the only one she can pour her heart out to. When the chief of the tribe gets sick Sarah is taken to heal him by her dead lover's brother Wiremu (Cliff Curtis). He promises her that she will soon see her son.
And that is all I will tell you about the film. For me the film is finding your true identity and finding the place that you belong. It also reminds us how much we white Europeans have pillaged the land of indigenous peoples around the world. And we are still doing it.
Moron and Curtis are terrific. I really like Rea in his small role and I wish that he was in the film more (he is the reason that I even found out about this film). Sutherland is billed as a lead but he isn't in the film all that much. He is okay but his accent sometimes falters. And Karl Jenkin's score is great.
I am pleased to recommend this film and all I can say is that I am thankful that we have DVDs and cable so that we can see films that are never released in theaters or only have very short runs.
posted by Film Fanatic | 8:54 PM
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