Feature NZ 2010 prod co Filmwork Ltd prod Fiona Copland dir Michael Bennett story Iaheto Ah Hi, Michael Bennett, Gavin Strawhan writers, Gavin Strawhan, Michael Bennett  DP Alun Bollinger ed  John Gilbert production design Miro Harre  costume design Jane Holland sound design Hayden Collow original music Don McGlashan cast Jason Wu, Susana Tang, Michael Whalley, Alix Bushnell, Edwin Wright, Vela Manusaute, Iaheto Ah Hi, Jared Rawiri, Sara Wiseman, Mark Ruka,  Mabel Wharekawa 92 mins

Reviewed by Helen Martin

Setting a drama about adversity around the redemptive promise of New Year is as old as storytelling time; giving Māori New Year, Matiriki, centre stage is a clever and well placed first. Set and shot in the mean streets of South Auckland’s Otara, this film is both specific in focus and universal in reach.
Inspired by Iaheto Ah Hi’s short theatrical piece about the car stealing exploits of his Tokelauan cousin Aleki, the story is broadened out into a multi-stranded narrative where cause and effect dynamics see the lives of several characters, disparate in age, social and economic status and ethnicity, intersect over a few days.
In the central inciting incident, popular and talented rugby league star Tama, who is married to local cop Megan, intervenes to help a stranger, Gunge, being beaten by drug dealers. While Tama in turn is beaten up, schoolboy Aleki steals his car. Into this mix of visceral, no-holds barred violence are threaded narratives revealing the ravages of drug taking, the heartache of unplanned pregnancy, the pain of cultural and family dislocation and the despair in losing a loved one.
This is an extremely well-made film. Alun Bollinger’s cinematography is characteristically superb, as is Don McGlashan’s beautifully judged score. Editing so many disparate strands for narrative consistency was a challenge handled well by John Gilbert – there’s no time to relax into a particular storyline before you’re thrown headlong into the next – and while the whole thing could have easily have fallen apart, Michael Bennett does a fine job of holding it all together to achieve a comprehensive ‘whole’.      
In some of its plot details Matiriki feels unconvincing and contrived, the mix of gritty realism and notions of a romanticised ‘destiny’ awkward. Not wanting to give anything away I’ll just mention the fate of the baby (yeah right!), which is a serious flaw given that it carries the weight of the hopeful resolution, and the bits of business with the old lady are plain silly.
Balancing that, for much of the time the narrative bounces along nicely (the storyline about Gunge and his wounded dog Baby deserves mention here – it doesn’t miss a beat) and the Otara market scenes are superb.
Most gratifying is seeing the top class performances from the ensemble cast where, from long-time actor Sara Wiseman to first-timers Susana Tang and Jason Wu and all the others in between, there is not a single false note.        
 
Further reading

• The official website 

• Interviews with director/co-writer Michael Bennett and producer Fiona Copland in the November issue of Onfilm magazine