Working in his native country seems to enliven -born director , whose best film remains his 1994 debut feature . His Hollywood career has been a mixed bag, including such clunkers as the Nicolas Cage starrer and the ill-fated , not to mention , one of the most forgettable of recent James Bond films. Tamahori demonstrates something of a return to form with , a 19th century-set historical drama starring , about an English minister who travels to New Zealand to preach at a British settlement only to get caught up in the violence between warring Maori tribes.
Like Tamahori’s 2016 feature, , is uneven and doesn’t fully live up to its thematic ambitions. But it’s handsomely made and thankfully avoids falling victim to white savior syndrome. Set in 1830, the story begins with Pearce’s Munro traveling with British traders on a sailing ship through the Tasman Sea.
Upon landing, Munro journeys to shore, first gently coaxing, and then riding through the water, his beloved white horse, a resonant image that instantly conjures up colonialist associations. Unfortunately, he isn’t able to keep his horse for long after stumbling into a conflict between the tribes in which the husband of a young woman, Rangimai (Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne, ), is brutally murdered. Munro trades the violent tribal chief Akatarewa (Lawrence Makoare, truly fearsome) the horse for the wounded Rangimai’s life and then takes her to his modest home in the British settlement of Epworth.
There, he nurses her.