Guerreros de antaño

Guerreros de antaño es una mirada cruel a la vida periférica de una familia que sufre socialmente y está rodeada de violencia. El sufrimiento de los personajes más puros y mejores aquí debe terminar en la muerte, para que abra los ojos de sus seres queridos y les obligue a tomar decisiones vitales importantes. Un drama muy bien actuado y dirigido que hará que tu vida parezca un sueño de cuento de hadas en las nubes. La atmósfera deprimente y la sensación de impotencia se ve realzada por Lee Tamahori con un tarareo oscuro de fondo y las frecuentes vistas inferiores de la cámara, cuando todo el terror psicológico se nos echa encima con la misma intensidad que a los sufridos protagonistas (la escena de romper el diario justo antes de la escena clave de la película). Sin embargo, a pesar de todos los aspectos positivos y de las ambiciones artísticas muy bien cumplidas, la propia trama de la película me pareció un poco absurda. Lo que en otro lugar sería el primer gran giro de una película más desarrollada se convierte aquí, tras 100 interminables minutos, en su desenlace final. Pero si viviera en condiciones de desesperanza y falta de libertad similares a las de los protagonistas, probablemente estos sentimientos de absurdo serían rápidamente sustituidos por una dolorosa identificación con la realidad. Y esta película sería una inspiración de por vida para mí. (05.08.2002)

Tamahori's directorial debut, exploring the nature of (in)human brutality and instinctive primitivism, may indeed portray the indigenous people without unnecessary embellishment, as well as avoiding total demonization, but it certainly doesn’t deliver a comprehensive picture. The blood of the slaves in a fistfight with the "warriors" may hold up, but a more skillful mix of characters would have helped, given that a confrontation at the level of spouses, where there is clearly a "caste" of the ruling man and woman in the position of near-slave, could have done without the analysis of the relationships inherited from the ancestors. Fortunately, Tamahori makes up for this with an unvarnished view of the offspring, who form the only common element in this unequal relationship. Therefore, the greatest strength of the film lies not in the barroom brawls of hot heads and big muscles but is brought out most wonderfully in the scene of the family outing, when the mother recounts to the children meeting their father and the subsequent aftermath, and especially the utterly emotionally overwhelming impact that is initiated by the tree with the swing. This is the strongest and most important thing the film has to offer. Together they resolve nothing and the "cathartic" conclusion deserves a longer discussion. However, the feeling that "this is how things work in some places, not only on the other side of our planet" is more than unpleasant. (17.09.2006)

Cruel reality, without exaggerations, diversions, American pathos or making heroes out of people who simply aren't. On a spiritual level, an incredibly powerful and heavy film that throws you into a depression not by a false pressure or the depiction of physical suffering, but simply by the fact that you believe everything that happens in it, every tear, wound, scream, and twist. The basic story and the conspicuous tediousness of some scenes prevent me from appreciating it sufficiently in terms of cinematic art, but that was not the point here. This is mostly about breathtaking performances, about the human conscience and about the slums of New Zealand, where I don't think anyone would want to grow up. Hats off. 85% (30.09.2013)

A very stark film about the Maori people, who in the civilized world only remember how they were a nation of proud warriors. Some have not lost their pride, inherited from their ancestors to this day, others drown their frustrations in alcohol. The performances are brilliant, especially Temuera Morrison's as the neurotic drunk and bully, when I first saw him I thought, "Oh my God, where did they get this nutter? He can't possibly be an actor!" The whole film gives the viewer a feeling of incredible authenticity, and it opened Lee Tamahori the doors to Hollywood. (04.01.2003)