Edit
Storyline
In New Zealand in the 1860s the native Maori people fought the British colonials to keep the land guaranteed to them by treaty. The warrior Te Wheke fights for the British until betrayal leads him to seek utu (revenge). The settler Williamson in turn seeks revenge after Te Wheke attacks his homestead. Meanwhile Wiremu, an officer for the British, seems to think that resistance is futile. Written by
Brian Rawnsley <rawnsleb@natlib.govt.nz>
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
Edit
Did You Know?
Trivia
The gag in which the old Maori rebel sticks his face in flour and pretends to be a pakeha is very likely based on a stand up bit by
Godfrey Cambridge from the 1960s in which his young son uses his mother's makeup to appear white. The punchline in both cases is almost identical.
See more »
Utu is quite a good film. Having said that, it is quite possible that we have seen it before in other settings.
Utu is unique in that it is one of the few films available in North America dealing with the Maori culture of New Zealand. Other than that, the film is basically an anti colonial sentimented film which could have taken place almost anywhere else in the world where colonialism was experienced.
Utu still manages to pack a punch in the very earnest way the main character sets out to rid his country of the white invaders. Utu, meaning revenge, is the basic theme of this story. The colonial army in the film pillages Maori villages. The Maori corporal who quits the army to fight against it seeks revenge. The story is simple, yet compelling.
The film examines imperialism in a light not uncommon to stories of this nature, but it is better in the sense that it does not try to gloss over the anger of the natives by arming them conveniently with western values. That is a crime many movies are guilty of. The level of violence in the film is typical by genre standards, and it actually lends itself to the films raw emotion. This one's worth a look.