Crooked Earth

"Crooked Earth" centers on the Maori people's hereditary claim to its land and traditions, as enacted in a bitter showdown that pits brother against brother. Directed by American-born, New Zealand-raised Sam Pillsbury with an eye toward the conventions of the Western genre, film is a handsomely mounted and compelling.

"Crooked Earth" centers on the Maori people's hereditary claim to its land and traditions, as enacted in a bitter showdown that pits brother against brother. Directed by American-born, New Zealand-raised Sam Pillsbury with an eye toward the conventions of the Western genre, film is a handsomely mounted and compelling.

“Crooked Earth” centers on the Maori people’s hereditary claim to its land and traditions, as enacted in a bitter showdown that pits brother against brother. Directed by American-born, New Zealand-raised Sam Pillsbury with an eye toward the conventions of the Western genre, starring the electric Temuera Morrison (“Once Were Warriors”), the film is a handsomely mounted and compelling — if overlong — family saga that could eke out a specialized distribution niche.

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No Western would be complete without referencing the relationship between the hero, the landscape and the mythology that binds them; “Crooked Earth” has those elements in spades. In place of the sprawling plains of the American Southwest, pic offers the craggy peaks of Raukura, New Zealand, home to the tribe Ngati Kaipuku. As the script (credited to five writers) makes clear, heroic tradition and Maori mythology are inextricably linked.

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After 20 years as an army officer, Captain Will Bastion (Morrison) is forced to resign. Returning home to bury his father, a tribal chief, Will finds his rebellious younger brother Kahu (Lawrence Makoare) anxious to inherit the mantle of tribal leader. Charging into the funeral procession astride a white stallion, Kahu means to make his presence known. Whereas Kahu is a radical separatist who openly defies the government’s laws, Will feels estranged from tribal traditions and is reluctant to assume the leadership duties incumbent on the elder son.

At issue is the future of the tribe’s land. Having had to fend off the incursions and manipulations of white legislators for years, the tribesmen insist their land remain within the Maori family, despite repeated governmental offers to purchase it, albeit at an insultingly low price. Though Will is willing to negotiate with the government, Kahu’s much more aggressive leadership prevails, forcing violent, sometimes fatal confrontations with his dissenters.

Meanwhile, Will’s precocious 17-year-old daughter Ripeka (Jaime Passier-Armstrong) has begun a furtive romance with Api (Quinton Hita), one of Kahu’s followers. As Will struggles to assert himself as a father, a brother and a prospective leader, the events Kahu has put into motion begin to snowball out of control.

Pillsbury manages a remarkable balancing act of objectivity: He neither glorifies Maori rituals as exotic, nor does he demean them. As a result, the film feels authentic and true to its origins. David Gribble’s lensing likewise achieves a double-edged mission, rendering the countryside lush and inviting while showing the harsh and dangerous aspects of it as well.

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Crooked Earth

New Zealand

  • Production: A Pandora Pictures presentation. Produced by Robin Scholes. Executive producer, Peter Beilby. Directed by Sam Pillsbury. Screenplay, Waihoroi Shortland, Greg McGee, Gavin Strawhann, Michael Brindley, Karin Altmann.
  • Crew: Camera (The Film Unit color), David Gribble; editor, Chris Plummer; production designer, Kai Hawkins; art director, Brad Mill; set dresser, Tim Robinson; costume designer, Gavin McLean; sound, Tony Johnson; assistant director, Michael Bennett; casting, Don Selwyn, Ruth Kaupua. Reviewed at AFI Festival, L.A., Nov. 5, 2001. Running time: 100 MIN.
  • With: Will Bastion - Temuera Morrison Kahu Bastion - Lawrence Makoare Ripeka Bastion - Jaime Passier-Armstrong Api - Quinton Hita Marama - Nancy Brunning Pettigrew - Sydney Jackson Tipene - George Henare

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