Dir: Vincent Ward. NZ-UK.2005. 114mins.

Long before Peter Jacksonbecame the Lord of the Kiwis, Vincent Ward was the leading light of New Zealandcinema. After disappointing Hollywood ventures and aborted projects, Wardfinally returns home for River Queen, a labour of love period drama thatemerges virtually unscathed from a difficult, fractured production history.

The story of an Irish womancaught in the crossfire of the conflicts between white colonialists and thenative Maori population, River Queen is slow to capture the interest.Frequently it feels as if The Last Samurai, Dances With Wolvesand even The Mission have all stolen much of its thunder but itgradually builds into an absorbing mixture of personal drama and historylesson.

Focusing on the spectacular,untamed scenery of the New Zealand locations, the star names and the romanticaspects of the story could provide a diligent distributor with a modest,middlebrow arthouse success.

Ward spent three yearsdeveloping a project that became the starting point for The Last Samurai.River Queen is also set in the 1860s and also deals with a clash betweencultures as the modern world takes shape and ancient, traditional cultures arestaging a last, desperate defence of their nationhood.

A fictional tale inspired byvarious true events, the film finds its focus in Sarah (Morton), a youngIrishwoman who has grown up in the frontier garrison of Te Awa Nui. Pregnant bya Maori boy, she gives birth to a son who she calls Boy.

Boy (Pene) is kidnapped byhis Maori grandfather when he is seven. Sarah's quest to retrieve the lad takesher up river to a Maori village where she is able to heal ailing chief Te KaiPo (Morrison).

She is reunited with Boy andstarts to fall in love with his uncle Wiremu (Curtis). Her loyalties and herheart are torn when Te Kai Po declares war on the colonial forces led bysadistic British commander Baine (Lesser) and including her good friend andfellow countryman Doyle (Sutherland).

River Queen initially struggles to find its focus. Events arerushed and the story is not given the chance to breathe and develop.Admittedly, Ward has a good deal of material to cover as he tells of Sarah'srelationship with her father (Rea), tries to convey life under British militaryoccupation and give some weight to the character of kilt-wearing IrishmanDoyle.

Matters do improve onceSarah's single-minded devotion to her son starts to shape and simplify eventsand she embarks on a quest that owes something to the iconic John Ford western TheSearchers.

Given its basis inhistorical fact, River Queen is a little too generic for its own good.There is not enough of the telling detail or incident that would make it seemmore special. Ward also has an unfortunate fondness for using slow motion foremphasis.

However, the powerful storydoes eventually take hold, the journey into Werner Herzog-style territory isstriking to the eye and Morton provides a strong emotional constant amidst allthe battles and conflicts.

Production companies
Silverscreen Films
The Film Consortium

International sales
Celsius Entertainment

Executive producers
James D Stern
Geoff Dixon
Neil Peplow
Eric Watson
Mark Hotchin

Producers
Chris Auty
Don Reynolds

Screenplay
Vincent Ward
Toa Fraser

Cinematography
Alun Bollinger

Production design
Rick Kofoed

Editor
Ewa J Lind

Music
Karl Jenkins

Main cast
Samantha Morton
Kiefer Sutherland
Cliff Curtis
Temeura Morrison
Anton Lesser
David Pawiri Pene
Stephen Rea