The film stars Whirimako Black, Antonia Prebble, and Rachel House. Black gives one of those performances that hardly looks like acting, but instead, responding and feeling to the scene or situation at hand. Prebble's unaffected, confident turn as Rebecca makes it credible that she would approach Black's Paraiti for knowledge and assistance. House's performance is so amazing and she plays off of the veteran Maori actors so well.
It's refreshing to see a film so intent on showing the caution and uncertainty that comes from interaction between different cultures. I also enjoyed seeing a film that opened up a world with distinctly different cultures and beliefs. Rotberg orchestrates scenes with a lyrical touch, infusing the film with doses of humor, and an effortless, cultural quality consistent with its source material. Rotberg seems concerned with evoking the economic or socio-political baggage bringing the film's characters down than she is with telling a different kind of tale of patriarchal perseverance we've seen so many times before. It's a subtle film with tracings of an art-house quality but-perhaps because the film is examining the old Maori culture. It sounds like a recipe for precious melodrama, but Rotberg creates a gripping portrait of a people managing to sustain a culture that is not only at odds with each other, but also with each other. Beautifully shot, well-acted but still slightly disappointing drama, less the fault of the actors than of their scripted characters. The film's story is a sometimes clumsy but gradually involving coming-of-age story about courage, sexism, past customs vs. contemporary social values and a community and family at odds within themselves. Stripped of its exotic cultural context and New Zealand setting, it wouldn't differ much from an inspirational TV movie. For a better look at the sexism behind ancestral traditions, try Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi's masterpiece The Circle. But this easier-to-take film has an intoxication all its own. The film moves at a snails pace, it generally remains interesting mostly because we're seeing a culture that's so different from our own.
Simon says White Lies receives:
It's refreshing to see a film so intent on showing the caution and uncertainty that comes from interaction between different cultures. I also enjoyed seeing a film that opened up a world with distinctly different cultures and beliefs. Rotberg orchestrates scenes with a lyrical touch, infusing the film with doses of humor, and an effortless, cultural quality consistent with its source material. Rotberg seems concerned with evoking the economic or socio-political baggage bringing the film's characters down than she is with telling a different kind of tale of patriarchal perseverance we've seen so many times before. It's a subtle film with tracings of an art-house quality but-perhaps because the film is examining the old Maori culture. It sounds like a recipe for precious melodrama, but Rotberg creates a gripping portrait of a people managing to sustain a culture that is not only at odds with each other, but also with each other. Beautifully shot, well-acted but still slightly disappointing drama, less the fault of the actors than of their scripted characters. The film's story is a sometimes clumsy but gradually involving coming-of-age story about courage, sexism, past customs vs. contemporary social values and a community and family at odds within themselves. Stripped of its exotic cultural context and New Zealand setting, it wouldn't differ much from an inspirational TV movie. For a better look at the sexism behind ancestral traditions, try Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi's masterpiece The Circle. But this easier-to-take film has an intoxication all its own. The film moves at a snails pace, it generally remains interesting mostly because we're seeing a culture that's so different from our own.
Simon says White Lies receives:
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