The strongest film ever made

friman-2

If anybody asked me to name the ten best films I know I would probably give different answers at different times. However, if I had to name the one film that made the greatest impression on me I would never hesitate to name this one.

There are films so brilliantly made you cannot help but love them (Kieslowskis "Blue"), others are funny ("Living in Oblivion"), modern ("Matrix") or any of a thousand different qualities. "Once Were Warriors" has excellent acting, directing, cast and so on, but what truly makes it great is the raw emotion it manages to express. I remember sitting in my chair shaking with fury (anger simply does not describe the emotion) over the injustice of the scene were Grace fetches a glass of water, I almost cried over the scene with the tree and the rope and had difficulty remaining seated to what followed the notebook being glued together.

I live in antipode of the set, in a completely different situation and society but the story still touches me deeply. I recommend different films to different people, with this one exeption. This is a film I think everybody should watch and consider.

score 10/10

friman-2 18 December 2000

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0345028/