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Utu Movie Review

Utu is a 1983 New Zealand historical drama film directed by Geoff Murphy and starring Anzac Wallace in the main role. It is an authentic, but very messy flick.

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“For me it is blood for blood. Utu“

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In 1870, a Maori warrior working with the British finds his village massacred, and vows revenge. What Australia and New Zealand did to the Aboriginal people of the continent is well documented and it constitutes among the worst crimes committed upon the natives in the entire colonial era. Thus, this movie dealing with this subject matter must have been huge back in the eighties, but nowadays we got much better films dealing with this issue, ‘The Nightingale’ being one excellent example.

Geoff Murphy is a respected New Zealand filmmaker who eventually transitioned into Hollywood and mostly due to the success of this movie. It is no surprise that Americans loved it as it pretty much acts as a New Zealand take on a western, thus making it an exotic spin on this tired genre.

My issue with the movie stems from its emphasis on all the wrong things, including the violence. It isn’t just too graphic in violence, but it is also excessively action-oriented to the point that it was bordering on becoming an action flick in its second half.

That bothered me as otherwise the movie was so gorgeously composes and historically accurate and important that this added action layer was not necessary. It was intriguing just as a period piece with no additional thrills necessary to be added, but Murphy made that bad choice and he stuck with it unfortunately, resulting in a chaotic, bloody movie that was more style than substance.

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With that being said, Utu still had its dramatic moments that were emotionally resonant and the main performance from Anzac Wallace was undeniably powerful. The casting of the real natives made the film very authentic and how they were portrayed was also commendably grounded in reality. The film’s production design, costumes and editing are all excellent as is the beautiful cinematography that makes great use of its gorgeous locations.

Utu is a New Zealand historical drama about the Maori uprising in the 19^th century. It’s an authentic period piece in terms of technical aspects and casting. The performances are terrific while a couple of sequences were quite powerful. The problem here is that the film focused more on action than on drama, resulting in an overly bloody, chaotic viewing experience that is more style than substance.

My Rating – 3.5

This is the 21st film in my African Cinema Marathon where I will watch one film from each African country every day. Next up is 🇿🇦.