This is something of a jumble, getting by because it depicts a somewhat interesting (to me) culture.
The reason it is a mess is because it wanders all over the place without any narrative coherence. I'm all for that when the incoherence matters. But here we have a set of Maori prepubescent twins. One dies and magically accompanies the other, whose troubles are resolved at the end.
Along the way, we have parallel stories about older troubled teens, and unanchored metaphors involving the sea, chickens and a mad dog.
Native magic is a powerful thing to mine in cinema. The two kids here are pretty darn effective, but then they are deliberately playing slightly handicapped personalities. There is one thing you could enjoy: The two teen leads have a strange physical appeal, somewhat hypnotizing. But then that could have been the 30 hour plane voyage on which I say this.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
The reason it is a mess is because it wanders all over the place without any narrative coherence. I'm all for that when the incoherence matters. But here we have a set of Maori prepubescent twins. One dies and magically accompanies the other, whose troubles are resolved at the end.
Along the way, we have parallel stories about older troubled teens, and unanchored metaphors involving the sea, chickens and a mad dog.
Native magic is a powerful thing to mine in cinema. The two kids here are pretty darn effective, but then they are deliberately playing slightly handicapped personalities. There is one thing you could enjoy: The two teen leads have a strange physical appeal, somewhat hypnotizing. But then that could have been the 30 hour plane voyage on which I say this.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.