A NEW ZEALAND FILM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19732, 3 September 1927, Page 9 (Supplement)

A NEW ZEALAND FILM.

MAORI LEGEND ON THE SCREEN.

There have been many attempts, meeting with varying degrees of success, to make in New Zealand dealing with the Maori race. Most of these pictures have dealt with periods in history about whioh the Pakeha has definite knowledge, wars and adventures in which white colonists have played their parts. But it is not generally known that a purely Maori has been made here and has met with outstanding success in England. It "is called " The Romance of Hine Moa," a screening of a page from the legends of the Maori race. It is acted entirely by Maoris and the scenes are laid in the Rotorua district and on White Island. Authenticity is an important attraction of the filming of a beautiful and dramatic legend. Mr. Gustav Pauli, the director, spent seven months in New Zealand making his preparations for the film, and- an additional four months in actually filming it. In the work of preparation he had the assistance of Mr. Elsdon Best, Director of the Wellington Museum, and one of the greatest living authorities on Maori folk-lore. Government Assistance Given. The practical assistance of the Government was also extended. Already, the scenic films of the Dominion made by the Government Publicity Department have succeeded in advertising New Zealand in no small measure, and the Government was not slow to recognise the power of advertisement in an artistically correct picture of Maori life in the old days. Many of the priceless carved houses in the possession of the Government were loaned to Mr. Pauli for the making of the picture. At first sight it appears that a great risk is taken in the making of a film out of a legend of people who are now in a high state of civilisation. But the Maori legends are beautiful things, full of a poetry seldom found in the stories of other native races. If artistically handled any Maori legend should make an artistic film, and art is said to predominate in this simple story of a Maori maiden and a young chieftain. Another and a greater risk has been taken in the complete casting of' the i picture with Maoris. But here again the peculiar features of the Maori race minimise the risk. Even when the white men first arrived in New .Zealand the Maori, for a native, was in a high state of civilisation. It is quite possible that the Maori, in his own particular sphere, may prova quite as good a film actor as the American pakeha, who, when circumstances require him to do so, apes a savage, and often very badly. In the story of Hine Moa the Maori actors have acted something that was known to them when they were little children; it is a part of their upbringing. And the Maori is an actor. One only needs to watch the antics of fat, old Paul-at Rotorua to realise this, and,x incidentally, ' Paul appears in the picture. The Story of the Film. The story itself has a place among those collected in Sir George Grey's " Polynesian Mythology." It concerns the visit of Tutanekai, a chief of the Ngaitawa tribe, to Umukarai, chief of the Arawas, in search of a new home for his people. The young chieftain falls in love . with the peerless Hine Moa, daughter of his host, and excites the jealousy of Tai, one of the most cunning of the Arawa warriors. The food of the chief is ", tapu" and Tai places a basket of kumera stolen from the royal store in Tutanekai's whare. Theft from a chief is punishable by death, but Tutanekai is condemned to face the ordeal of the Four Elements. The picture shows him sent into an eerie cave from which there was no exit save through the Valley of Fire. Tutanekai passes over scorching rocks and trembling earth, through choking sulphur fumes and streaming lava, emerging from the inferno, blistered and exhausted, but miraculously alive. His people settle on the island of Mokoia in Lake Rotorua and at night Hine Moa would sit in a tree a.t the side of the lake listening to the music of Tutanekai's flute as it drifted across the water. One night, to escape marriage with the chieftain of another tribe, she slips off her mat find swims across the lake to the island, there to be reunited with her Tutanekai. Praise from English Critics. It is a simple story, as most native legends are, and if the simplicity has been retained in the picture it should be a pleasant change from American melodrama. The wonderful scenery," the carved Maori houses and the genuine Maori mats and ornaments drew praise from every English critic, and more than one word of, praise vas given to the acting by the Maori players. When the picture was being shown in England, the distributors, the Gaumont company, produced a booklet desfcribing the story and giving interesting details of the historv and habits of the Maori race. Illustrations from scenes in the picture prepare one for an elaborate spectacle and the film should be assured of a wonderful reception when it is shown in Auckland. For in it, New Zealand has made the step of a pioneer in the motion picture industry. A picture has been woven about a native legend, acted entirely by the descendants of people who lived at Rotorua in the days of Tutanekai, and photographed in the actual places named in the legend. The picture is to be shown before members of Parliament in Wellington on Monday, and shortly afterwards will be seen in a local theatre.