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List Price: $19.95 | | Label: Weinstein Company
Salesrank: 79286
Released: November 25, 2008 |
| Our Price: $4.26 |
| Used Price: $3.10 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Two-time Oscar nominee Samantha Morton (Elizabeth: The Golden Age), Kiefer Sutherland (TV's "24") and Cliff Curtis (Whale Rider) star in this epic romance set against the breathtaking beauty of 19th century rural New Zealand. Morton portrays the daughter of an Irish-born army surgeon (Oscar nominee Stephen Rea, The Crying Game) who falls for a Maori tribesman -- only to have to raise their child alone when her lover dies of influenza. After the boy is kidnapped by his chieftain grandfather, Morton's quest to find him leaves her torn between her life with an Irish soldier devoted to her family -- and a Maori freedom fighter who stirs her passions. Featuring a "flawless performance from Morton" (screenjabber.com), River Queen is a powerful film about the heartfelt struggle between love and loyalty.
Description of River Queen:
Kiefer Sutherland sporting a kilt and a laughable Irish accent and beautiful scenery gorgeously photographed are but two of the attractions in River Queen, a 2005 film that earned considerable acclaim in New Zealand, where it was produced, but was never released theatrically in the United States. Set in the 1860s, writer-director Vincent Ward’s tale stars Samantha Morton as Sarah O’Brien, a young Englishwoman who travels with her father (a cameo by Stephen Rea) to New Zealand, where the nasty imperialists are stealing the land and trampling the culture of the indigenous Maori. A brief and dangerous liaison with a young native (who soon dies) leaves her with a child known only as "Boy." When the six-year-old’s Maori grandfather kidnaps him, Sarah embarks on a seven-year odyssey to find him, a search that finally ends when a warrior named Wiremu (Cliff Curtis) offers to take her to him if she will use her healing powers to cure the Maori chief of his "coughing sickness." And so it goes, with Sarah discovering that her son is torn between his two heritages while she herself is attracted to both Wiremu and the soldier (Sutherland) who defends her--all while the Maori "rebels" and their colonial oppressors are battling it out in the woods and along the rivers of this untamed wilderness. The idea is basically sound; the battles scenes are well staged, and Alun Bollinger’s cinematography is wondrous (although it’s sometimes so color-saturated as to suggest an overripe Thomas Kinkaid painting). But in his quest to create a great, sprawling epic, Ward too often goes way over the top, as a surfeit of heaving breasts, manly chests, searching looks, and fraught dialogue, all to set to the sounds of heavenly choirs, bring to mind a Harlequin romance scored by Enya. Most tellingly, much of the narrative exposition is delivered by Morton in voice-over, usually an indication that the script was lacking in the first place. --Sam Graham
River Queen Reviews:
Heart & Conscience 
2009-06-20 - "River Queen" was a film I enjoyed despite the fact that it seemed to be pulling in several different directions that didn't always hang together. The scenery of the boats winding up pristine rivers was breathtakingly beautiful. However, these pastoral aspects were juxtaposed to the violent racial conflict between the Maori people and the White settlers. Layered on top of this was a story about romance, motherhood, and family attachment and betrayal. Vincent Ward directed. Stephen Rea from "Tara Road" and "V is for Vendetta" plays the Irish father. His strong-willed daughter Sarah played by Samatha Morton has a romance with a Maori who dies from illness. She gives birth to Boy. The boy's paternal grandfather steals the half-caste from her. Morton has two Oscar nominations from "In America" & "Sweet & Lowdown." She brings a strong quality performance to screen. Cliff Curtis who is of Maori heritage plays the strong Wiremu who finds himself attracted to Sarah seven years later. Kiefer Sutherland does a decent Irish accent as the soldier Doyle who has both heart and conscience. The war scenes have a gritty realism as the viewer is torn between the two groups who fight. Although the film didn't totally gel for me, I appreciated having seen it. The scenery and the tale of racial conflict give it substance. Enjoy!
Notorious New Zealand flop 
2009-02-07 - The troubled production of this film is far more interesting than the end product. Director Vincent Ward was temporarily fired and the cinematographer Alun Bollinger filled in. Star Samantha Morton was ill for much of the time, which accounts for the extensive use of voice-over narration.
The action takes place in 19th century New Zealand where Maori (the indigenous people) and the colonial English are engaged in conflict around a river. Director Ward has tried to create an epic in the mold of Herzog's "river" films but his terrible script leaves the actors nothing to work with. A notorious flop in New Zealand.
Happy to have found this 
2009-01-21 - I am happy to have found a movie that was done out of the USA and available at a good price. It came fast and in great condition.
We All Go Down That River... 
2008-11-26 - "A word for you. Cease traveling on the roads. Stop forever the going on the roads lest you be left there as food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the field; or for me. Because I have eaten the European as beef. He was cooked in a pot and the women and children partook of the food. I have begun to eat human flesh. My throat is constantly open for the flesh of man. I shall not die. I shall not die. When death itself is dead I shall be alive."
Temuera Morrison delivers his lines with the equanimity and menace he uniquely combines as Te Kai Po, a rebellious Maori chief. For its U.S. release 'River Queen' was stuck with a B-movie cover that camouflages the Grade A story within. Pitched as a Kiefer Sutherland vehicle by the jacket, it is easy to miss many of New Zealand's heaviest hitters beneath: Cliff Curtis, Temuera Morrison, and director Vincent Ward. Samantha Morton is a strong lead, backed up by Stephen Rea and a creditable Irish accent by Sutherland, who plays Private Doyle.
The story revolves around a mother (Morton) searching for her kidnapped child amidst the Maori warring against settlers during the 1860s. The fern-choked muddiness of 'River Queen' evokes 'The Piano' but it is a story that goes down a river; a meandering, primeval tract of green reminiscent of 'Apocalypse Now' where Sarah meets her own Kurtz. Cunning battle tactics developed by the outnumbered Maori are well depicted, and enemy musket shots are often little more than flashes lost amid the verdant undergrowth.
Cultural references throughout the movie are globally relevant today; the moko form of tattoo and tikis are abundant, and there are several excellent hakas, the war dances that are now becoming popular with West Coast college football teams. Maori spoken throughout is mostly translated, but sometimes input is demanded from the audience, such as a phrase made obvious by a hand gesture that goes untranslated. The London Philharmonic provides a strong musical backdrop over which to tell the tale, and the only negative is a subtle current of unease that runs through 'River Queen', a vague sense of the production problems that always seem to plague visionary directors like Terry Gilliam, or in this case, Vincent Ward.
This battlefield was behind the scenes as well as on the screen.
2008-11-16 - This historical drama, set in 1860s New Zealand, focuses on the beautiful Whanganui River valley and a widowed Irish settler's seven year effort in trying to find her half-caste son, kidnapped by his Maori grandfather. All the while, colonials and Maori are engaged in guerrilla-style warfare. This is probably Ward's best film to date and probably the best Maori themed film yet made. The settings and photography alone are worth the viewing, even though the film is not perfect. I was left with the feeling that some further improvements were needed with editing. But given the production problems, there may have been some filming needs that were not fulfilled. Very much worth seeing.
