Ever wondered what it felt like to be on the frontlines of Polynesian wartime?
The latest of Māori magic to be showcased on the big screen is none other than KA WHAWHAI TONU: STRUGGLE WITHOUT END. This two-hour feature film reveals the true accounts of indigenous resistance in Aotearoa during the 1864 battle of Ōrākau. It’s a period film about great loss, but even greater love. From the expressive storytelling to the breathtaking cinematography, every aspect of this film breathes Māori pride. I remember watching WHALE RIDER for the first time as a young teen and feeling the pride that Māori had for their people and culture. THE DEAD LANDS was the first film I watched that was in te reo Māori and though I wasn’t keen on reading subtitles at the time, I remember feeling engaged and excited by the epically gory war scenes that were displayed. Since those films, I’ve never seen any other film that gave me the same level of emotions, until now.
As the opening premise displayed in both te reo Maori and English, I was immediately struck with an intensity that made me feel as if the on-screen talent I was about to see acted for their lives. I later ended up learning that this is exactly true because most of the Māori actors and actresses are direct descendants of the warriors they depict in the film. I can only imagine what it must’ve felt like to be on set representing your chiefly lineage. It’s unmistakably evident in the amount of conviction each person had when they played their role. I was most easily impressed by the performances given by the Māori children. A pākehā (half-white/half-Māori) named Haki (played by Paku Fernandez) is the son of a British father and Māori mother. While following his father’s path as a British soldier, he gets captured by a Māori tribe. Kōpū (played by Hinerangi Harawira-Nichola) a young, lonely, and reluctant medium to her tribe’s war god sets him free. They attempt to escape together and become friends along the way. As her tribe defends their families and homeland in a historically significant and intuitively tactical display of pre-World War I trench warfare, Kōpū and Haki have to make life-altering decisions to save themselves and other Māori youth.
When it comes to synchronous harmonies, you must look (and listen) to how the carefully curated score of traditional Māori melodies and chants carries the story from beginning to end. Each tune evokes immense emotional connection to the land and its ancestral stewards, bringing appropriate context to the sacred sites through which these ancestors traversed. Storytelling through chants and songs holds a special significance in Polynesian and Pasifika culture because they honor a genealogical legacy that starts from the beginning of time, through the creation of life, up to the spiritual and familial relation to the mountains and oceans that are still being honored to this day. It’s a poetic time-capsule of artistry that preserves meaningful stories of the whenua (earth) and her whānau (family).
Indigenous people are no strangers to overcoming the intense tragedies of colonization. After watching this film, it inspired the indigenous warrior in me to overcome my own tragedies and allowed me to see a truly indigenous narrative from the perspective of the descendants who lived it. There are so many white-washed accounts of history that I can’t help but to look back at the blatant disregard of relevant truths that were omitted from my history classes through the Americanized schooling system. It’s films like these that allow native people to reconnect with our identity through the lens of our ancestors. As producer Piripi Curtis best explained in a Q&A after the HIFF premiere, “Colonization has been devastating for every indigenous culture in the world and this is something we have to let out in order for us to heal, and our country needs to heal. Our unresolved past, they don’t even know it, so how can they even face it to actually heal as a country…”
I had high expectations coming into this screening and can pleasantly say that those expectations were met tenfold. A main takeaway that I got from this film is that we can’t allow other people to tell our story for us and that it’s imperative that we tell our own story from our own point of view. The action of us even doing so is a healing process in and of itself. Amidst tremendous chaos and trauma on the frontlines of Polynesian wartime, KA WHAWHAI TONU: STRUGGLE WITHOUT END showed me that the strongest of warriors can persist towards a victorious horizon. It should go without saying that I give this film a rating of 10 out of 10 stars. I look forward to seeing how they turn this into a series showcasing the many other epic battles that occurred in the long white cloud of Maui. What an honor it was to be at the Hawai’i premiere and experience a post-film reflection with producer Piripi Curtis and director Michael Jonathan. Get cozy and enjoy this amazingly Māori-made movie.
Ngā mihi, mahalo nui, agyamanak unay, & thank you.
Ashton “Bradda Ash” Obrero is a roots reggae musician, singer, songwriter, producer, and co-frontman to Zion Bound, his 10-piece roots reggae band. He was born and raised in Kalihi Valley in Honolulu, Hawai’i. As a full Ilokano and a grandson of a Sakada, Ashton’s family history in Hawai’i began when his grandfather Timoteo arrived in 1946 to work in sugar and pineapple plantations. Ashton is the owner and founder of Creative Natives, a music and multimedia network designed by and for local artists. Through this platform, he curates musical and cultural experiences, collaborating with some of Hawaiʻiʻs most influential musicians, artists, storytellers, and aloha ʻaina warriors from various levels of artistry.
The HIFF ONLINE CREATIVES & CRITICS IMMERSIVE (HOCCI) program supports sustainable film criticism in Hawai’i through mentorship and paid career opportunities for Hawai’i-based AANHPI critics. The mission of HOCCI is to broaden diversity in film criticism across the Pacific and use influencer branding strategies to spark career opportunities. The 2024 HOCCI is supported by Critical Minded, a grant-making and learning initiative that supports cultural critics of color in the United States.
