Starring: Tanea Heke, Briar Grace Smith, Rachel House, Ana Scotney, Chelsie Preston Crayford
Distributor: Vendetta Films
Runtime: 99 mins. Reviewed in Jun 2021
Reviewer: Fr Peter Malone msc
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Cousins, from New Zealand, is based on a popular novel by Patricia Grace, adapted into feature-length running time (though, certainly, there is more than enough material for it to be developed into a miniseries).
The film opens with the introduction to three young Maori girls, playing together, in the countryside. The voice-over tells us that they have happily come together, that they will be separated, but that they will come together again. And this sequence is repeated after we have shared the stories and journeys of the three girls – but especially of Mata, whose story is a sad one.
The audience has to keep attentive because there is a lot of moving from the present to the past, to various stages of the journey of the three girls.
The film also takes us back to the 1940s, incorporating footage from films and newsreels of the time, paying special attention to the men who went to war and returned. The narrative moves into the 1950s, to the 1960s and beyond.
In the present, we see an older woman, bushy black hair, wrinkled face, overcoat, bag, standing at the city traffic lights, putting her thongs in her pocket, reciting a chant about numbers from 1 to 10, waiting for the green light, then crossing the road. She seems homeless, is given some food at a Chinese takeaway, dosses down. We discover this is Mata – and we wonder how the little girl could have come to this. Heke is strikingly impressive as this bewildered adult Mata.
Mata’s story that absorbs us. We have seen the little girl. We have seen her as an orphan, bullied at the home, invited to share with the young girls whom she sees as cousins. But, she is one of New Zealand’s stolen generation children, taken from the orphanage by a dominating woman, who expresses racial prejudice at times, severe on Mata and her upbringing. We also see the teenage Mata, rather reserved, having to leave home for the city to get work. She does see a jovial young man on the train who later courts her and marries her. But, Mata is severely repressed – although, she does get an opportunity to blossom when a friend from the orphanage asks Mata to mind her young son for some time and Mata and the boy bond – but he is taken away.
Some attention is given to the other two girls. Makareta eventually escapes an arranged marriage in the Maori tradition, goes to the city, studies law, becomes involved in civil rights issues. By contrast, Missy, marries the jilted man, and has a happy marriage and family. She becomes the custodian of the traditions.
The three women eventually do come together, the lost Mata eventually coming home, touches of sadness, but Missy (the always lively House) continues her role as custodian.
We can welcome this opportunity to experience a New Zealand story, sharing the memories, sharing the hardships, acknowledge the oppression, and experience the sadness.
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