River Queen
Encyclopedia
River Queen is a 2005 New Zealand film directed by Vincent Ward
and starring Samantha Morton
, Kiefer Sutherland
and Cliff Curtis
. The film opened to mixed reviews but performed well at the local box-office.
between the Māori and New Zealand colonial forces. Sarah O'Brien (Samantha Morton
) has grown up among soldiers in a frontier garrison on Te Awa Nui, the Great River. Pregnant at 16 by a young Maori boy, she gives birth to a son. When, 7 years later, her son, Boy, is kidnapped by his Maori grandfather, Sarah is distraught.
Abandoned by her soldier father, Sarah's life becomes a search for her son. Her only friend, Doyle (Kiefer Sutherland
) is a broken-down soldier without the means to help her.
Lured to the ill rebel chief Te Kai Po's village by the chance to see her child, Sarah finds herself falling in love with Boy's uncle, Wiremu (Cliff Curtis
) and increasingly drawn to the village way of life.
Using medical skills she learned from her father, Sarah heals Te Kai Po (Temuera Morrison
) and begins to reconcile with her son (Rawiri Pene). But her idyllic time at the village is shattered when she realises that she has healed the chief only to hear him declare war on the Colonials, men she feels are her friends, her only family. Her desperation deepens when she realises that Boy intends to prove himself in war, refusing to go back down river with her.
As the conflict escalates Sarah finds herself at the centre of the storm, torn by the love she feels for Boy and Wiremu, anguished over the attachments she still has to the white man's world, and sickened by the brutality she witnesses on either side.
And when the moment comes, Sarah must choose where she belongs; will she be forced back into the white man's way of life, or will she have the courage to follow the instincts that are telling her where she truly belongs?http://www.black-magic.co.nz/home/?page_id=5
was originally favoured by Vincent Ward to be cast in a leading role, but he declined.
Director Vincent Ward
was dismissed from the film towards the end of the shoot to be replaced by cinematographer
Alun Bollinger
and then in an unusual reversal, was rehired just weeks later for six months of editing and additional shooting in both New Zealand
and England
.
River Queen features the song "Danny Boy
" sung in Maori and English. The film is set in 1868, and the lyrics for "Danny Boy" were written in 1910 and adapted to the traditional Irish melody "Londonderry Air
". It is possible the melody was known in New Zealand
at the time, but another 42 years were to pass before the lyrics were written by Frederick Weatherly
.
Alexander Bisley of The Dominion Post
says "River Queen convinces that you don't have to be indigenous to tell indigenous stories. Ward who lived for 18 months as the sole Pakeha
(person of European decent) in a remote Maori community in the Ureweras, deserves a lot of mana
(respect). This is his story, this is my story, this is your story - every New Zealander should see River Queen."
Vincent Ward
Vincent Ward, ONZM is a film director and screenwriter.-Biography:Vincent Ward was awarded an Order of New Zealand Merit in 2007 for his contribution to film making. He was born in Greytown, New Zealand. He was educated at St Patrick's College, Silverstream and trained as an artist at the...
and starring Samantha Morton
Samantha Morton
Samantha Jane Morton is an English actress and film director. She began her performing career with guest roles in television shows such as Soldier Soldier and Boon before making her film debut in the 1997 drama film This Is the Sea, playing the character of Hazel Stokes...
, Kiefer Sutherland
Kiefer Sutherland
Kiefer Sutherland is an English-born Canadian actor, producer and director, best known for his portrayal of Jack Bauer on the Fox thriller drama series 24 for which he has won an Emmy Award , a Golden Globe award , two Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Satellite...
and Cliff Curtis
Cliff Curtis
Clifford Vivian Devon "Cliff" Curtis is a New Zealand actor who has had major roles in film, including The Piano, Whale Rider, and Blow, and most recently has appeared in NBC's television series Trauma. He is also co-owner of independent film production company Whenua Films...
. The film opened to mixed reviews but performed well at the local box-office.
Plot
The film takes place in New Zealand in 1868 during Titokowaru's WarTitokowaru's War
-Cause and background of the war:The immediate cause of the war was the confiscation of vast areas of Māori land in Taranaki by the Government under the powers of the punitive New Zealand Settlements Act 1863...
between the Māori and New Zealand colonial forces. Sarah O'Brien (Samantha Morton
Samantha Morton
Samantha Jane Morton is an English actress and film director. She began her performing career with guest roles in television shows such as Soldier Soldier and Boon before making her film debut in the 1997 drama film This Is the Sea, playing the character of Hazel Stokes...
) has grown up among soldiers in a frontier garrison on Te Awa Nui, the Great River. Pregnant at 16 by a young Maori boy, she gives birth to a son. When, 7 years later, her son, Boy, is kidnapped by his Maori grandfather, Sarah is distraught.
Abandoned by her soldier father, Sarah's life becomes a search for her son. Her only friend, Doyle (Kiefer Sutherland
Kiefer Sutherland
Kiefer Sutherland is an English-born Canadian actor, producer and director, best known for his portrayal of Jack Bauer on the Fox thriller drama series 24 for which he has won an Emmy Award , a Golden Globe award , two Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Satellite...
) is a broken-down soldier without the means to help her.
Lured to the ill rebel chief Te Kai Po's village by the chance to see her child, Sarah finds herself falling in love with Boy's uncle, Wiremu (Cliff Curtis
Cliff Curtis
Clifford Vivian Devon "Cliff" Curtis is a New Zealand actor who has had major roles in film, including The Piano, Whale Rider, and Blow, and most recently has appeared in NBC's television series Trauma. He is also co-owner of independent film production company Whenua Films...
) and increasingly drawn to the village way of life.
Using medical skills she learned from her father, Sarah heals Te Kai Po (Temuera Morrison
Temuera Morrison
Temuera Derek Morrison is a New Zealand-born actor. He has become one of the country's most famous stars for his roles as the abusive Jake "the Muss" Heke in 1994's Once Were Warriors and as bounty hunter Jango Fett and the Clone Troopers in the Star Wars series...
) and begins to reconcile with her son (Rawiri Pene). But her idyllic time at the village is shattered when she realises that she has healed the chief only to hear him declare war on the Colonials, men she feels are her friends, her only family. Her desperation deepens when she realises that Boy intends to prove himself in war, refusing to go back down river with her.
As the conflict escalates Sarah finds herself at the centre of the storm, torn by the love she feels for Boy and Wiremu, anguished over the attachments she still has to the white man's world, and sickened by the brutality she witnesses on either side.
And when the moment comes, Sarah must choose where she belongs; will she be forced back into the white man's way of life, or will she have the courage to follow the instincts that are telling her where she truly belongs?http://www.black-magic.co.nz/home/?page_id=5
Cast
- Samantha MortonSamantha MortonSamantha Jane Morton is an English actress and film director. She began her performing career with guest roles in television shows such as Soldier Soldier and Boon before making her film debut in the 1997 drama film This Is the Sea, playing the character of Hazel Stokes...
as Sarah O'Brian - Kiefer SutherlandKiefer SutherlandKiefer Sutherland is an English-born Canadian actor, producer and director, best known for his portrayal of Jack Bauer on the Fox thriller drama series 24 for which he has won an Emmy Award , a Golden Globe award , two Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Satellite...
as Doyle - Cliff CurtisCliff CurtisClifford Vivian Devon "Cliff" Curtis is a New Zealand actor who has had major roles in film, including The Piano, Whale Rider, and Blow, and most recently has appeared in NBC's television series Trauma. He is also co-owner of independent film production company Whenua Films...
as Wiremu - Anton LesserAnton LesserAnton Lesser is a British actor. He attended Moseley Grammar School and the University of Liverpool before going to RADA in 1977 where he was awarded the Bancroft Gold Medal as the most promising actor of his year....
as Major Baine - Temuera MorrisonTemuera MorrisonTemuera Derek Morrison is a New Zealand-born actor. He has become one of the country's most famous stars for his roles as the abusive Jake "the Muss" Heke in 1994's Once Were Warriors and as bounty hunter Jango Fett and the Clone Troopers in the Star Wars series...
as Te Kai Po - Danielle CormackDanielle CormackDanielle Cormack is a stage and screen actress from New Zealand. She was one of the original core cast of the long-running soap opera Shortland Street, though she is also known for her role as the Amazon Ephiny in the television series Xena: Warrior Princess, Cynthia Ross in The Cult, and Shota in...
as Viola - Stephen ReaStephen ReaStephen Rea is an Irish film and stage actor. Rea has appeared in high profile films such as V for Vendetta, Michael Collins, Interview with the Vampire and Breakfast on Pluto...
as Francis
Production
Sam NeillSam Neill
Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill, DCNZM, OBE is a New Zealand actor. He is well known for his starring role as paleontologist Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III....
was originally favoured by Vincent Ward to be cast in a leading role, but he declined.
Director Vincent Ward
Vincent Ward
Vincent Ward, ONZM is a film director and screenwriter.-Biography:Vincent Ward was awarded an Order of New Zealand Merit in 2007 for his contribution to film making. He was born in Greytown, New Zealand. He was educated at St Patrick's College, Silverstream and trained as an artist at the...
was dismissed from the film towards the end of the shoot to be replaced by cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
Alun Bollinger
Alun Bollinger
Alun Bollinger, MNZM is a New Zealand cinematographer, who has worked on several Peter Jackson films, and many other films in New Zealand. He has also been a Director of Photography, including the second unit for Peter Jackson's trilogy The Lord of the Rings...
and then in an unusual reversal, was rehired just weeks later for six months of editing and additional shooting in both New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
River Queen features the song "Danny Boy
Danny Boy
-Background:The words to "Danny Boy" were written by English lawyer and lyricist Frederic Weatherly in 1910. Although the lyrics were originally written for a different tune, Weatherly modified them to fit the "Londonderry Air" in 1913, after his sister-in-law in the U.S. sent him a copy. Ernestine...
" sung in Maori and English. The film is set in 1868, and the lyrics for "Danny Boy" were written in 1910 and adapted to the traditional Irish melody "Londonderry Air
Londonderry Air
Londonderry Air is an air that originated from County Londonderry in Ireland. It is popular among the Irish diaspora and is very well known throughout the world. The tune is played as the victory anthem of Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games. "Danny Boy" is a popular set of lyrics to the...
". It is possible the melody was known in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
at the time, but another 42 years were to pass before the lyrics were written by Frederick Weatherly
Frederick Weatherly
Frederic Edward Weatherly was an English lawyer, author, lyricist and broadcaster. He is estimated to have written the lyrics to at least 3,000 popular songs, among the best-known of which are the sentimental ballad Danny Boy set to the tune Londonderry Air, the religious "The Holy City", and the...
.
Reception
River Queen topped the New Zealand Box Office on its first weekend of release.Alexander Bisley of The Dominion Post
The Dominion Post (Wellington)
The Dominion Post is a metropolitan broadsheet newspaper published in Wellington, New Zealand, owned by the Australian Fairfax group, owners of The Age, Melbourne, and The Sydney Morning Herald.- Foundation :...
says "River Queen convinces that you don't have to be indigenous to tell indigenous stories. Ward who lived for 18 months as the sole Pakeha
Pakeha
Pākehā is a Māori language word for New Zealanders who are "of European descent". They are mostly descended from British and to a lesser extent Irish settlers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, although some Pākehā have Dutch, Scandinavian, German, Yugoslav or other ancestry...
(person of European decent) in a remote Maori community in the Ureweras, deserves a lot of mana
Mana
Mana is an indigenous Pacific islander concept of an impersonal force or quality that resides in people, animals, and inanimate objects. The word is a cognate in many Oceanic languages, including Melanesian, Polynesian, and Micronesian....
(respect). This is his story, this is my story, this is your story - every New Zealander should see River Queen."
Awards and recognition
- 25th Fair International Film Festival, 2007
- Best Artistic Achievements Award
New Zealand Screen Swards 2006
- Won: Best Achievement in Cinematography: Alun Bollinger
- Won: Best Achievement in Costume Design: Barbara Darragh
- Nominated: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role : Cliff Curtis
- Nominated: Best Achievement in Production Design: Rick Kofoed
- Nominated: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Samantha Morton
- Nominated: Best Performance by Actor in a Supporting Role: Rawiri Pene
- Nominated: Best Picture : Don Reynolds, Chris Auty