About
It's the 1870s, and Māori leader Te Wheke (Anzac Wallace) is fed up by brutal land grabs. He leads a bloody rebellion against the colonial Government, provoking threatened frontiersmen, disgruntled natives, lusty wahine, bible-bashing priests, and kupapa alike to consider the nature of ‘utu’ (retribution). Legendary New Yorker critic Pauline Kael raved about Geoff Murphy’s ambitious follow up to Goodbye Pork Pie: "[He] has an instinct for popular entertainment ... The film has sweep, yet it's singularly unpretentious — irony is turned into slapstick."
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The January 1983 premiere of Utu in Napier. From left: then Governor-General Sir David Beattie, Sir Graham Latimer (Chairman of the Māori Council), David Carson-Parker (executive producer of Utu) and the film's director Geoff Murphy.
Photographer: Barry Durrant. Kindly provided by The Dominion Post.
Te Wheke (Anzac Wallace) and some followers on the bandwagon in a scene from Utu.
Kindly provided by Onfilm. Copyright: Victoria Ginn
Tania Bristowe as Kura in a scene from Utu.
Kindly provided by Onfilm. Copyright: Victoria Ginn
Behind the scenes on Utu. From left to right: actor Tim Shadbolt (in top hat), director Geoff Murphy, first assistant director Lee Tamahori, grip Alister Barry and camera operator Paul Leach.
Kindly provided by The Dominion Post.
Wi Kuki Kaa as Wiremu and Bruno Lawrence as Williamson in a scene from Utu.
Kindly provided by Onfilm. Copyright: Victoria Ginn
Wi Kuki Kaa in Utu.
Kindly provided by Onfilm. Copyright: Victoria Ginn
Geoff Murphy and then wife Pat Robins arrive for the premiere of Utu in Napier, in January 1983. Disembarking from the cart are John Charles, who composed the soundtrack, and his wife Judy.
Photographer: Barry Durrant. Kindly provided by The Dominion Post.
Kelly Johnson as Lieutenant Scott, in a scene from Utu.
Kindly provided by Onfilm. Copyright: Victoria Ginn
The late Tim Eliott as Colonel Elliot in Utu.
Kindly provided by Onfilm. Copyright: Victoria Ginn
