Within the context that Martens sets up, the argument about Maori identity is larger than the debate over domestic violence. The ‘aftermath’ of his title may not be the right word, because what Martens examines is a phenomenon that predates Warriors and continues after. This is what interests Emiel Martens about Once Were Warriors. These are not arguments about the film qua film they are arguments about social policy and, most especially, about Maori identity, and they originate as much within the Maori communities as within the national community encompassing all ethnic groups living here now. And on that basis the arguments that had begun with Duff’s novel continued. Yet here in Aotearoa even folks who realized that Once Were Warriors is a fiction film often treated it as though it documented the life of New Zealand Maori. It is disconcerting that his manipulation of images could go unnoticed. 27-31), Tamahori brought his training in making successful television commercials to bear on Once Were Warriors. As Rochelle Simmons wrote in “Driving Force: Narrative in Lee Tamahori’s Television Advertisements and Once Were Warriors” ( Media International Australia 80 : pp. She was by no means the only person to respond to the film in this way, which is curious for various reasons, not least of which is the film’s visual style. My own favorite anecdote about its reception comes from the Screen conference in 2001 when a US scholar just returning from a Fulbright in Poland, upon hearing that I live in Aotearoa New Zealand, informed me that she had recently seen the film.

Internationally, it’s the film, of course, that is better known, and reaction to it around the world has been quite extraordinary. Then in 1994 it was an even more successful first feature film for director Lee Tamahori, producer Robin Scholes, and scriptwriter Riwia Brown. How does one describe Once Were Warriors? In Aotearoa New Zealand it was originally a surprisingly successful first novel by Alan Duff, a man of no particular fame or standing at the time (1990).

(Review copy supplied by Aksant Publishers) The Controvery of OWW in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Once were warriors book