Once Were Warriors

“Once were warriors” is a very violent depiction of people of the Maori culture in the modern day New Zealand. The movie introduces the themes of violence, gender differences, and class distinctions among the modern day Maori descendants who have lost the real values and culture.The movie is about a middle aged mother of five, Beth, who is trying desperately to keep the family together. But as the violence and abuses mount up, it becomes more and more difficult for her to do that.


In the movie, there is a distinct gender difference noticeable. The man is regarded as the leader of the household and the woman in the family do not have any say in it. Jake the muss, just decides to throw a party in his house without regards to the disturbance or inconvenience it might create for his family members. Continuous bad behavior towards the women signifies that fact. The women in the group also accept that fact. The quote of one of the friend of the wife resonate this fact: “Keep your mouth shut and legs open”. Women are objectifies and they cannot disagree with the men. Jake beats up his wife in front of his friends brutally and still does not get stopped by his friends. She is literally punched and kicked repeatedly, but no one comes to her aid. Grace, the daughter of Jake and Beth, gets raped by a friend of her father, Bully. Bully tells her it was her fault she came down stairs while they were drinking. She actually believes that if she tells anything to her dad, she would be blamed and be subject to more violence. This idea of male dominance and undermining of female rights was apparent throughout the movie.


Violence is the main theme in the movie. Every aspect of life beginning from family to friend circle revolves around violence. Violence in the family tears up the family and creates such an environment which leads to one of their son to be sent into special school to learn the actual teachings of Maori culture. Starting from domestic violence which creates hatred among the kids to eventual suicide by Grace exemplified how violence tears apart a family.

The character of Jake portrays how the modern generation of Maoris has moved away from their actual values and resort to alcoholism and gambling to battle their frustrations. Gambling is a huge part of New Zealand's economy and horse racing is really prominent. On every scene, when Jake is with his friends, there is heavy drinking all around which usually led to violence.

The movie portrays the social economic issues such as the struggles of Maori descendants. They are depicted as a poor class of people who account for 15 percent of the population, but more than half of them are serving prison sentences. Most of them get involved in criminal activities or become gang members.
Tattoos or “Moko” are part of their culture and marks important events in their lives. Every Maori descendant is believed to be a warrior and the tattoos mark their status and ranks. It is also believed to make them more attractive to the opposite sex.

The Maoris have their own rituals and believes. When they are doing the Haka, a traditional Maori dance, they envision of reaching up to their ancestors and channeling all their blessings into their own. Many facial gestures are made to intimidate the opponents such as showing the whites of their eyes, or poking out their tongues.

Although such strong tradition and believes exist among the Maoris, they have adopted just the violent part of their culture as shown in the movie. Beth’s last words summarize the whole movie as she said that we once were warriors. Warriors, who had principles, who fought for the right- not the modern day alcoholic, abusive and violent characters who moved away from Maori teachings and values.