"With darkness all around, only the heart can see" (River Queen (DVD))

Member Name: nixtee

Product:	River Queen (DVD)
Date:	15/08/08 (37 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: An enjoyable film

Disadvantages: Slightly dodgy accents at times

The film...

River Queen is set in 1860's New Zealand where the British (and the Irish working for the British) are clearing the land and colonising the country. Sarah, an Irish girl (played by Samantha Morton) falls in love with a Maori boy and is pregnant by him (much to the dismay by the families on both sides). He dies and Sarah is left to bring up "Boy", that is until his Maori grandfather kidnaps him. Sarah's soldier father (Stephen Rea) abandons her and she spends her life in search of Boy, with only Doyle, a soldier, as her friend.

Years later, Sarah gets a chance to find Boy, but she must save the life of the Maori's ill rebel chief in order to see him.

The Maori then declare war on the Colonials. With her son on one side (and refusing to go with her) and her friend and fellow Irish on the other, she finds herself in the middle.

Will she join the Maori people or go back to her Irish ways?

Why not watch the film and find out?!

My thoughts...

River Queen caught my eye due to a certain Kiefer Sutherland being in it. Now, I've read some not so good reviews on this film, but I genuinely enjoyed watching it. OK, the film may have benefited from the actors who played the Irish actually being Irish, but more often than not an actor is chosen for their acting skills not for where they came from.

Despite River Queen being approximately 1 hour and 49 minutes, it doesn't feel like a long film. There is plenty of action (violent battling between the Maori and the Colonials), but also some emotional scenes. I enjoyed watching it and would have done whether Kiefer Sutherland was in it or not... I'm just glad he was in the film otherwise I might not have thought about watching it.

The DVD is a little short on Special Features... in other words, there isn't any! The film is still a good watch though, after all Special Features are just a bonus.

River Queen is rated "15" and contains strong battle violence.

Also stars Cliff Curtis, Temuera Morrison and Rawiri Pene.

Summary: A story set in Britain's colonisation of New Zealand