Six Māori Battalion soldiers camped in Italian ruins wait for night to fall. In the silence the bros-in-arms distract themselves with jokes. A tohu (sign) brings them back to reality and they gather to say a karakia before returning to the fray. Director Taika Waititi: "they are a bunch of young men [...] who have a special bond, strengthened by their character, their culture and each other." Shot in the rubble of the old Wellington Hospital Tama Tū won international acclaim: honourable mention at Sundance and a special jury prize at Berlin.
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Great short! It's usually hard to keep the audience interested throughout when there is no talking, but the silence and body language really work here. Very effective. I loved the whole scene with aiming at the German soldier. And the song used in the credits is just beautiful.
cant believe their are no comments so far.
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Krystal-lee Brown
Posted at 07.14PM - 08.03.2010
Absolutely amazing, the whole thing, i love that the longest dialogue you here is the karakia just goes to show the intensity of karakia and us as maori how so few words could possibly guide us with courage and strength to overcome anything, the humour - crack up : typical maori boys, such a serious situation but the humour just makes you forget about whats going on outside, my favourite shot, the very last shot we see before it ends - the carving next to the toy soldier, the way the carving was positioned behind the soldier as the soldier is facing in the other direction , to me, looks like the carving is a symbolism of a kaitiaki or their matua tupuna watching over them, supporting them, standing behind them. chuuurrr Taika Waititi ! MEAN SHORT!! using this short for a assignment at uni. =p