River Queen - Samantha Morton, Kiefer Sutherland, Cliff Curtis, Temuera Morrison, Vincent Ward
Threat advisory: Elevated - Significant risk of entertaining activities
Movie propaganda
Where the forest meets the river...
New Zealand, 1868 - a country in the midst of a war between British settlers and the Maori tribes resisting the colonisation of their lands. At the furthest outpost, the life of young Irishwoman Sarah O'Brien (Samantha Morton) is torn apart when her son is taken from her and taken upriver by his Maori grandfather. Unsure whether or not he is even alive she continues her search for seven long years. Caught between two sides, River Queen tells the story of a woman's struggle to choose sides and her journey to win back her missing son.
Target demographic movie keyword propaganda
- Film drama New Zealand Land wars British colony Maori Irish child river
Persons of interest
- Samantha Morton .... Sarah O'Brien
- Kiefer Sutherland .... Doyle
- Cliff Curtis .... Wiremu
- Temuera Morrison .... Te Kai Po
- Anton Lesser .... Baine
- Rawiri Pene .... Boy
- Stephen Rea .... Francis
- Wi Kuki Kaa .... Old Rangi
- Mark Ruka .... Hone
- Tyson Reweti .... Tommy Boy
- Grayson Putu .... Young Wiremu
- Nathan Passfield .... Boy (7)
- Laura Coyte Douglas .... Theresa
- Julie Ranginui .... Old Puhi
- Brandon Lakshman .... Timoti
- Kayte Ferguson .... Tangamoko
- Nancy Ngaiwaiwera Turanga .... Te Manawanui
- Poipoia Te Taonga Poa .... Hoki Mai
- Danielle Cormack .... Viola
- Liston Rua .... Boy (23)
- Vincent Ward .... Storywriter
- Toa Fraser .... Screenwriter
- Vincent Ward .... Screenwriter
- Vincent Ward .... Director
Cinematic intelligence sources
- River Queen official movie site
- River Queen film production notes (.rtf)
- River Queen QuickTime movie trailers
- Awards and film festivals:
- Bangkok International Film Festival 2006: International Competition
- New Zealand Screen Awards 2006: Nominated: Best picture (Don Reynolds, Chris Auty), Performance by an actor in a leading role (Cliff Curtis), Performance by an actress in a leading role (Samantha Morton) Performance by an actor in a supporting role (Rawiri Pene), Achievement in cinematography (Alun Bollinger), Achievement in production design (Rick Kofoed), Achievement in costume design (Barbara Darragh)
- Sydney Film Festival 2006: World in focus
- NB: English and Maori languages with English language subtitles
- Studios and distributors:
Intelligence analyst
Special Agent Matti
Theatrical report
River Queen the movie is a bit like River Queen the boat: likely to tip over at any moment and dump all onboard into the river. The historical impact is good (dirty, muddy, smoky, smelly, lonely) but without a good story to get your teeth into, it's as entertaining as a history book.
FYI: River Queen was filmed on the river behind my family farm. The cliffs really are that steep!
Security censorship classification
MA 15+ (Strong violence)
Surveillance time
112 minutes (1:52 hours)
Not for public release in Australia before date
Film: 6 July 2006
Cinema surveillance images
