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Lee Tamahori
18 quotes
“This is Beth’s film ... and I knew that Rena had the power in her acting to carry it off. Her scenes are just so extraordinary. She’s not from the "pretend" school of acting and sometimes she hovered in a knife-edge between reality and illusion. By the end of the picture you’re absolutely with her.”
Lee Tamahori (1950–2025) first seen 1995 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Katherine Findlay, Once Were Warriors, Now Are Movie Stars, MovieMaker, April 1, 1995
“Once Were Warriors was a huge challenge because it was about a subject that nobody wanted us to make a film about and it was being made from a book by the most controversial author in New Zealand.”
Lee Tamahori (1950–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This film slotted into the genre I wanted – a tough, gritty, urban-based drama.”
Lee Tamahori (1950–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I've always wanted to do films that challenge me and challenge the audience. ... It's very hard but it does address problems that we have as a nation and if it opens up a debate about those problems, then it's done a good thing. Casting was a vital element of the film and I always believed the performances would be the key to the film's success. We did the most exhaustive casting process and the people who were delivered to us were phenomenal – I'm very proud of them all.”
Lee Tamahori (1950–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I saw this story had potential and a lot of elements that were of interest to me about New Zealand – social politics, high drama and very interesting characters.”
Lee Tamahori (1950–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I read it and I said, "this is a terrible movie, this is the worst movie you could ever f....ing imagine – it's [got] death, suicide, drugs, alienation, alcoholism, brute force, domination", ... I said, "look, I think it's a terrible idea. I think it's doomed to failure". I said, "nobody will go and see a film like this, nobody goes and sees New Zealand films anyway". I said, "I admire your zeal, but this is not going to succeed and so thanks for asking me but no, I'm going to look for another project".”
Lee Tamahori (1950–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“... women stay with abusive men because, a) they love them and b) most of all because they think they can change them, turn them around, if they stay in the relationship long enough the man will come around. Well, they never do of course. It goes on and on.”
Lee Tamahori (1950–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I thought, "I have a successful life making TV commercials, if I make this film and it fails, as I know that it will, then it will quietly disappear and I will have made my film and I can quietly go back to making commercials and nobody will never know I've made this dud of a picture that a few people saw at the Auckland Film Festival".”
Lee Tamahori (1950–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For the first time ever really, Māori were going to see a New Zealand film. ... It was able to unlock a dialogue between women of this country, both Māori, Pasifika and Pākehā, about what we were becoming as a nation.”
Lee Tamahori (1950–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Certain people, mostly Māori academics in particular, were dead against this film. Some of them hated it with a passion. They hated the book with a passion. Mostly I think, I can't speak for them, [but] I think that they saw it as being derogatory and denigrated what they wanted to do – affect Pākehā New Zealand and change their views about Māori. This book came along and sank it like a torpedo in a ship, from their point-of-view, so they disliked the film intensely.”
Lee Tamahori (1950–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My father came to Wellington in the post-war era and he was part of the first wave of urban Māori leaving the land and coming to the cities. And I was a child of that. I grew up watching [it] at close range.”
Lee Tamahori (1950–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To my mind, it was about Māori losing touch with their roots and their culture.”
Lee Tamahori (1950–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I didn't want to make a regional story. I wanted to make a story about our biggest city, which is Auckland. I think that what I knew, and what we knew as a nation, was that most of the problems were coming out of our cities.”
Lee Tamahori (1950–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I said, "I don't think I can show this [Grace's rape] to the audience. It's quite progressive and in the film it won't stop and you get quite uncomfortable watching it", ... [My editor] said, "the audience needs to see it, they need to know". It's not about us saying, "to hell with the audience" and dragging their noses through it. It's about putting them in a situation and forcing them to watch.”
Lee Tamahori (1950–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“People still meet me in places and go, "I saw your film 20 years ago and I've seen it recently and it still affects me". It's still very flattering.”
Lee Tamahori (1950–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For a while, we changed things, ... I know that sounds lofty and a bit bulls... – films don't really change anyone's life – but we do know that that film in that country did affect people's lives. ... Another generation comes along and repeats the mistakes of their parents and on it goes. Now, we have a methamphetamine epidemic. Before it was alcohol.”
Lee Tamahori (1950–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Someone should do a film about white, male Westies. Someone should make a film about white nationalists in Christchurch. We've got things we need to examine. It's time. It's been 25 years.”
Lee Tamahori (1950–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The look of the film was another key factor. I definitely wanted a very hard, almost treeless urban experience that not many people in New Zealand would ever have been aware of or seen. So it's a concrete jungle film really. People live in these situations, they live right next to motorways, they live under power pylons. But Once Were Warriors has hope and a 1994 feel. There's a vibrancy amongst all the kids, everyone from the age of 25 down is seething with their urban lifestyle. If you're that age and you go and see the movie, there are people in there who are like you and speak the language you speak.”
Lee Tamahori (1950–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source