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Once Were Warriors (1994)
Lee Tamahori's breakthrough film about violence, rejection and shame in New Zealand's Maori society is raw, unpolished and highly powerful. Tamahori's brilliant, maroon colour palette creates a feeling of inescapability, and the film is crowned with instinctive, methodical acting performances. There are moments of dubious competence both in front of and behind the camera, but it is a movie made and acted by people wearing their hearts on their sleeves. And while the writing and dialogue at times border on the one-dimensional, the turning points sequences are so powerful and emotionally erupting that they carry the film on their own.
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