My name is Paikea Apirana, and I come from a long line of chiefs

I'll be brief: this movie is wonderful.

If you care to know why this movie is wonderful continue reading.

Okay, so this movie was great from the beginning.  I really loved the fact that the girl who plays Paikea is not a professional actress, and like her, many of the people in the movie are not professional actors.  No they are not professionals, but they are Maori. I think that this Hollywood-escape made the movie so refreshing.

There is so much value and richness that this film brings from a historical perspective.  The call to war, dances, chants, songs, etc. that we see from the Maori people in the movie are so lively and undeniably enchanting.  

I appreciated that the film took a subject that is so personal to a specific group of people, such as the history of the Maori, and makes it accessible and fairly relatable to a grater audience.  While I watched this film I was reminded of my culture and my personal need to live up to the expectations that it holds me to.