Ka Whawhai Tonu

What’s it about?

Set in 1864 in Aotearoa New Zealand, Ka Whawhai Tonu tells the story of an important battle during the initial land wars in the Waikato region. It shows the clash between Māori and Colonial forces, where two rangatahi find themselves caught up in the chaos of battle.

The intense retelling of history in this film may be upsetting or confronting for viewers who whakapapa Māori, particularly descendants of those who fought in this land war or one of the many historic land wars between Māori and Colonial forces.

The facts

• Directed by Michael Jonathan
• Starring Temuera Morrison, Miriama Smith, Cliff Curtis
• Te reo language with English subtitles
• Aotearoa’s first feature-length te reo film
• Runtime: 115 minutes

Why did it get this rating?

This film was cross-rated by the Film and Video Labelling Body. You can find out more about cross-rating here.

Violence

There are a number of fights and battle scenes containing violence and afew of them are quite graphic.

Some of the more challenging scenes are:

• A woman dies when she is stabbed with a bayonet several times. You do not see the bayonet going in but you see her body slumping over and blood staining her clothing after being attacked.
• A man pressures his son to shoot a child. While you do not physically see the child being shot, the suspense that builds before the son fires the gun could make the viewer feel shocked.
• In one fight scene, a bone heru is used to stab someone in the throat. While a hand covers the actual wound, there is a lot of blood shown and you can hear the stabbing noise.
• There is a major battle scene where a number of people are shot or stabbed, and a lot of blood is shown.

Offensive language

One scene contains the words f**k and f**king. Coarse language such as b**tard and bloody are used.

Content that may disturb

There are several instances of mothers and children hurt, killed, or dying which may be upsetting for viewers. In the scene where a woman is stabbed by a bayonet, just before it happens she is grieving over her child who has just been killed.

Helplines:

The violence in this film could be upsetting for some viewers. If you are struggling with what you have seen on-screen please reach out for help. If you or someone you know needs to talk:

• Te Whare Mārie
• 1737
• Youthline

Further information

• Why are ratings and content warnings important for me and my whānau? - Blog