Reviewed by Cassam Looch
Stars Samantha Morton, Kiefer Sutherland, Cliff Curtis,
Temuera Morrison, Anton Lesser, Rawiri Pene,
Stephen Rea, Wi Kuki Kaa, Mark Ruka
Written by Vincent Ward
Certification UK 15 | Australia M
Runtime 114 minutes
Directed by Vincent Ward
A film that has had its release delayed for almost three years is hardly the best of starts, but River Queen is an interesting and thought-provoking little film. Sure it has its problems, but it' hardly a disaster — in fact, in a pretty lean week it could be the best bet if you want to watch something with substance.
In 1860s New Zealand, Sarah (Samantha Morton) and her father live an isolated yet peaceful existence. He is part of the colonisation forces from Britain, but as a man of medicine he lives side-by-side with the Maoris. When Sarah falls in love and subsequently has a baby by one of the Maori tribe, things change, and her father eventually leaves when his grandfather kidnaps the child (called Boy). Sarah desperately searches for her son finding herself at a British outpost with an Irish soldier (Doyle) who has been with her since childhood. She is then lead back into the heart of Maori territory with the promise of being reunited with her son, if she can save the life of the ailing tribal chief. She succeeds, but then realises the chief is intent on finishing the war once and for all, leaving Sarah and her new ‘family’ with a desperate choice to make.
The meditative nature of the film is its biggest drawback, as hard as it tries it cannot match up to the work of Terrence Malick. The ‘frontier’ aspect is reminiscent of The New World, but Malick’s control and visual flourishes as a director never allowed his film to lose focus and linger on the ‘spirit’ world as Ward’s story does. To be fair very few can compete with the American director, and not all the comparisons are unfavourable. The delicate balance of telling the story from both sides is done well, showing us heroes and villains on both sides. The film also boasts believable romance elements including a moving strand involving Sutherland’s roguish Irish soldier of fortune. The plot is dense but never feels impenetrable, mainly thanks to another flawless performance from Morton. Carrying the film like few others could, she is fragile early on, but strong and dominant when searching for her son. The film relies on her presence, which is fine, but in the scenes where she isn’t centre-stage (most notably the battle scenes), there feels like there is something lacking.
The film looks beautiful making full use of the stunning locations, and is a nicely told if unevenly paced story. With a great central performance that can only enhance Morton’s growing reputation, this is well worth a look.