As someone who works with some of the country’s most challenged and under-served youth, I’m a sucker for well-acted films about young people on the margins of whatever society deems “acceptable”. Delightful Kiwi comedy-drama We Were Dangerous is just that.
It’s the tale of three young wāhine sent to a “school for incorrigible and delinquent girls” in the 1950s. Perfectly pitched to deliver a serious message with a lightness of touch, Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu’s (Waru, Ani) feature debut plonks the plucky young heroines on the remote island of Ōtamahua in Lyttelton Harbour in a mid-20th century Aotearoa caught up in a moral panic.
As kids are wont to do when separated from their families and sent to live in harsh conditions, self-possessed Nellie (Erana James,The Changeover), cheeky Daisy (talented newcomer Manaia Hall) and doe-eyed Lou (Nathalie Morris, One Lane Bridge) band together to get into mischief out of the watchful eye of Rima Te Wiata’s uncompromising Matron. But harsh lessons are soon learned as they battle the oppression of misguided authorities.
It’s not clear what some of the girls did to warrant such a punishment, but the uptight adults are certainly obsessed with sex. “Studies show that stupid women love to procreate,” pronounces a concerned inspector as Matron and her colleagues try desperately to teach the girls decorum. “If the island can contain leprosy, it can probably harbour a few girls on heat,” sneers another male official.
Maddie Dai’s beautifully written script drops witticisms at a rollicking pace, managing to be charming and funny despite gasp-inducing comments of yesteryear racism and ignorance.
Though the girls uncover a plot that exposes a dark underbelly of patriarchal control, much of the film feels like a romp – think Heavenly Creatures meets Little Orphan Annie.
Comedy legend Te Wiata lords it over the gals like an abstemious Miss Hannigan, and every one of the young actresses puts in a fine performance. We Were Dangerous is also cannily timed as an on-point satire, just as the government is rolling out proven failures such as boot camps to control the current generation of perceived ne’er-do-wells.
With a joyous two-finger salute to the establishment, it deserves an audience all across the motu.
Rating out of five: ★★★★
We Were Dangerous, directed by Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu, is in cinemas now.
