River Queen

River Queen Movie Reviews

1.  
    ClevomanReviewed at 05:42PM on 5 Mar 2006Colonialism - Remebering this film is not about maori/pakeha relations but one Irish womans quest amdist the chaos will take a lot of people farther while watching this film. I enjoyed the colonial aspects of this movie , the... more lifestyles it depicted and how. Our NZ actors excelled in thier natural roles. I would have liked to see how people reacted to the main characters person after she merged with the Maori culture.Didnt leave me thinking about much as i hoped it would.
2.  
    AtheistReviewed at 02:29PM on 31 Jan 2006River Queen - It started well and I was soon caught up with the story and the atmosphere of the Wanganui River - having myself just come back from 6 days kayaking down the Wanganui and camping in the forest beside it. However... more the movie went downhill after that. I found the story very confusing and had difficulty empathising with any of the characters. Everyone seemed to be crossing sides (between the Maoris and the British forces) every few minutes, Samantha Morton's character had little to say, did miraculous things like spiriting a large naked man from place to place. I assume she must have done weight training! I never did get to know what happened to the Maori Land they were fighting over which, I think, was the central theme to the story. Oh well the scenery was magnificent and Cliff Curtis and Temuera Morrision did a great job, and so did the little boy. Good acting with a difficult script.
3.  
    rissyjayneReviewed at 12:01PM on 1 Feb 2006Brilliant! - A friend and I went to the premiere in New Plymouth, and were blown away by this film. Usually when a film finishes everyone starts chatting in the theatre, but everyone was totally quiet. I found the story was easy to... more follow, and I know I would not of wanted to of been around in those days. The fighting scenes were very real, and the acting, scenery was great. Cliff Curtis is awesome, Temuera Morrison is fantastic, and Sam Morton plays a great part in the entire movie. The only disappointment was that Keifer Sutherland wasn't in the film more. Overall this movie left me with alot to think about and I would highly recommend it to all NZers.
4.  
    jmilneReviewed at 01:41PM on 10 Feb 2006Painful - Yes the scenery was nice and very pretty. The story was painfully slow , basically colonial woman goes through much angst
5. ShaktiReviewed at 06:53AM on 30 Jul 2007Beautiful Sex Magick Scene - Personally I loved the movie. It is the first movie I have seen sex magick protrayed and wondered if this was something that was instilled in the moari culture or if pakeha just added it to the atmosphere of the movie.... more Which I believe most people missed in watching the movie. I felt the movie complimented the moari culture and people. The stories I heard growing up in NZ always protrayed the moari as strong unique intelligent people and that was not lost in this movie. I could fully understand how the pakeha woman could get caught up on both sides because she is a purely loving soul who doesn't judge by differences but by her heart. The sadness felt when power plays to destroy.