Lars B. Lund Engelsk 4.

oktober 2010

Once were warriors

Summary:

Jake and Beth Heke is a poor couple with Maori background. Jake is a working man, and obviously
seems like a nice guy. Beth is the housewife and taking care of their six kids. The oldest son Nig has
joined a street gang. Grace hangs out with a boy, also a Maori, who lives in a car, spending his time
taking drugs. They are living in the slum and have to live with the consequences of being a Maori.
The younger son, Boogie has got into troubles too. Soon you will realize that Jake spends most of
his time either getting drunk in the local bar, or abusing his wife. He is in his right element when he
´s drinking, singing and fighting. Often, he takes a lot of drunken people back home, and if things
don’t happens like he wants, things get real ugly. Jake calls himself, Jake the Muss. When he drinks
he gets angry and violent, and mistreats his family. The children are mostly scarred of Jack and do
not feel safe. But one day, Jake comes home with a stack of money, and is happy. The family
decides to take a trip to visit one of their sons, who´s in prison. Everything goes fine, until Jack
stops the car and goes into a bar. The family becomes sad because they thought that this was a
turning point for Jacks drinking problem. The next thing that happens is that Jack takes all of his
friends back home for drinking. One of them suddenly rapes Grace, without anyone hearing or
discover. Then Grace commits suicide, and big sorrow occurs. Beth is terrible sorry, but realize that
she most get away from Jack. She tries several times, but it results in fights with him. Beth
discovers a left note from Gracie. She have written that she have been raped by Uncle Bully. Beth
tells Jack, and Jack becomes so angry, that he almost kills Bully

Description of Jake Heke:

Jake is a father of six children. He is a Maori, but is now living with Beth in a slum. He is very
muscular, and has a horrible temper. He drinks everyday at the local bar, and often he takes the
party home. A lot of people drinks, eats, sings and acting very macho till early morning. When Jake
drinks, he gets very aggressive and violent, and ends up beating his wife or fighting enemies. Once
he actually got so violent that after beating Beth, he raped her. Most times, the family fears him,
but sometimes he seems like a total normal guy. It depends on his mood. Jake have a lot of
problems but doesn´t take any responsibility for himself or his family. When Grace dies, he gets
really sad, but can´t handle it. The only thing he can do when he get onto problems, is to drink and
sink deeper into a black hole. As soon as he discovers that Uncle Bully has raped his daughter, he
gets extremely angry and beats him nearly to death.

Description of Beth Heke:

She is the mother and housewife. She takes care of the children and protects them. She is a Maori
and married Jake when she was 18. She is strong and loves her family accepts of Jake maybe.
Lars B. Lund Engelsk 4. oktober 2010

Themes in the movie:

Violence: Jake is very violent.

Marital Abuse: Jake abuses Beth and the children by beating and shouting of them.

Culture: Jake and Beth are Maoris. They both grey up as a traditional Maori.

The meaning of the movie

I think that message in this movie is that if you have crisis at home, and don’t feel safe, your life
will be in crisis. The children in this movie try to handle their problems by changing themselves.
The meaning of the movie could be that problems are not solved by drinking or being violent, it
only makes things worse. Jake never talks about his problems and therefore he never solves them.
Nothing is more powerful than a mother's love, could be a message too. The movie is called “Once
were warriors”. Maybe the movie is about what Maoris once were. At the end of the movie Beth
talks with Jake. She says: “Our people once were warriors, but not like you, Jake. They were a
people with mana, pride. People with spirit. If my spirit can survive living with you for years, then I
can survive anything. Maybe you taught me that”. That means that Jake has lost his pride, and that
he doesn´t fight like Maoris do. The Maoris were warriors with pride and does not end like Jake
did, but keeps fighting for a better life. That is what Beth does.