Thirty years ago, Lee Tamahori made an extraordinary and excoriating feature debut with his adaptation of Alan Duff’s South Auckland-set Once Were Warriors. Afterwards, Tamahori was courted by the big studios to make a Bond movie, a Morgan Freeman crime thriller and to direct an episode of The Sopranos, among lesser works. He returned in 2016 to deliver the wonderful Mahana, based on Witi Ihimaera’s novel Bulibasha. It featured several fine performances including by the late Nancy Brunning.
Now, with The Convert, he imports some talent from across the ditch to lead another literary adaptation about a lay minister who is sent from England in 1830 to a remote colonial settlement that is living in uneasy harmony with local Māori, who are caught up in the beginnings of the Musket Wars.
Loosely developed from Hamish Clayton’s Te Rauparaha-inspired novel Wulf, The Convert is centred on Guy Pearce’s Munro, the quietly intense preacher with a gradually unfurling backstory of trauma and guilt. As he learns more about his new home, Munro interferes in local life, risking his neck while opening up the potential for unthinkable relationships.
It’s refreshing to see mostly unknowns among the supporting cast, which aids our suspension of disbelief. Of the familiar faces, Dean O’Gorman (Pork Pie) is hugely enjoyable as the characterful Captain Kedgley, one of Munro’s guides to the strange traditions and perils of dealing with the indigenous “savages”.
As he was as a pre-European warrior in The Dead Lands, Lawrence Makoare is compelling as rangatira Akatārewa, and Australian actress Jacqueline McKenzie is impressive playing Charlotte, a Scotswoman with a solid grasp of te reo.
It’s Pearce who is unusually uncompelling here – his bland Munro is a far cry from the great Aussie actor’s memorable past characters.
Unfortunately, Tamahori’s debut self-penned script does Pearce few favours. He plants the do-gooding Christian between two suspicious peoples, in need of a translator for the te reo dialogue and the appropriate tikanga (customs). The incessant interpretation required from McKenzie’s reo-speaking Charlotte may be less obvious and more enlightening for overseas audiences, but it might feel a bit clunky to many New Zealand viewers.
As a character, Munro comes into his own more as he crosses boundaries and butts in with his Christian motivations to save a young wāhine’s life and help avenge other European-perceived injustices. While the script’s heavy exposition impedes much of the emotion, at least Tamahori’s pā battle scenes are a lively history lesson in Māori warfare.
Rating out of 5: ★★★
The Convert, directed by Lee Tamahori, is in cinemas now.
