Réalisation:
Kiel McNaughtonActeurs·trices:
Uli Latukefu, Nathaniel Lees, Jay Laga'aia, Duane Evans Jr., John Tui, Benjamin Law, Katlyn WongRésumés(1)
Fritz, a displaced Tongan man, returns to the cul-de-sac of his youth to sell his family home. When a priceless heirloom - a championship wrestling belt belonging to his late father, Baron To’a, - is pillaged from the family home, Fritz’s uncle Otto cancels the sale of the house until the belt is returned. A local street thug reveals the belt is now in the possession of resident gang, The Pig Hunters. Fritz determines to get the belt back with higher reasoning. After a run-in with a corrupt cop and a vicious attack from the gang, three patched members invite Fritz to a BBQ to ‘break bread’. The family-oriented BBQ becomes dangerous after dark as Fritz comes face-to-face with gang leader Tahu who has the belt draped over his shoulder. Fritz fails to reason with Tahu and is ruthlessly beaten into the streets. While healing, Fritz realises he must rekindle a lost connection with his father’s legacy, proclaiming to Otto that he wants a “shot at the title”. After training with Otto, Fritz combines his analytics skills with his father’s wrestling techniques to smash his way through the gang and flush out Tahu. An epic ‘no holds barred’ title fight ensues but does Fritz truly understand what it takes to become the champion? (Madman Entertainment)
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Critiques (1)
The Legend of Baran To’a is an outstanding crowd-pleaser that plays by the tried-and-true rules of movies about outsiders and self-improvement narratives, but it brings a lot of needed modern updates to them. Besides the likable ensemble cast and inconspicuously inventive screenplay, however, the most surprising aspect of the film is the flawless choreography of the wrestling bouts. In accordance with the film’s concept, these bouts are dramatically intertwined with the narrative, develop the characters, don’t draw attention to themselves as a superficial attraction and adhere to the film’s overarching exaggeration and humour, despite their superb physicality. In fact, it can be considered a minor miracle that this entertaining treatise on roots, community and the personal quest to appreciate them manages to not only thrill audiences with its humour and characters, but also delivers some of the best planned and superbly filmed bouts of recent years in global cinema. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Hollywood has already reached out to Kiel McNaughton, because he is shaping up to be another New Zealand pop-genre talent like Taika Waititi and, in his time, Geoff Murphy.
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