What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?

Dir: Ian Mune

1999

***

1994's Once Were Warriors was an outstanding film that received critical acclaim around the world. The ending was absolutely perfect in its poignancy and mood. Like all great films though, it is easy to want and not want a sequel at the same time. While the story was left in such a good way, you still want to know what exactly happened to the characters next. Two years after the release of the first film, author Alan Duff wrote the follow up and three years after that What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? was made into a film. Expectations were high, several characters were missing and original director Lee Tamahori had been replaced by Ian Mune and it was a good film, but it was nowhere near as great as the original. How could it be though, the impact of the first cannot be replicated in the same manner and certain characters had moved on. The story is strong considering but the film is let down by substandard direction and some weak performances. The main story is about the eldest son of Beth and Jake and his involvement in local gangs. Beth (once again played by Rena Owen) has a small part to play in the film and the lead is taken by her son who seeks vengeance for the death of his brother. This story-line is patchy, with strong and rather weak scenes. The strength of the film are the scene involving Jake "the Muss" Heke (played once again by the superb Temuera Morrison who steps back into the role perfectly). This time round and several years after the events of the first film, we see Jake a little calmer but full of regret. We watch him slowly attempt redemption although times are getting repeated tougher for him. I think a better story would be simply focused on Jake's rehabilitation, the gang stuff isn't as believable as the first film and it does nothing for the story. The film had a lot to live up to and it is an entertaining film and I'm glad it was made, but the cynic in me thinks that it was really more of a cash in on the first film, rather than a passionate adaptation. Many have attributed the drop in quality due to the involvement of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment who decided to replace the cultural themes with a more generic theme of gangland violence. The film was still the second most successful New Zealand film of the 90s (behind Once Were Warriors) but the fact that the third book in Alan Duff's series (Jake's Long Shadow, written in 2002) hasn't even been attempted to be made into a film probably tells you all you need to know about how the film was critically received. Worth watching for Temuera Morrison strong performances but unlike the first film, I'm fine with where it was left, I no longer feel the need to know what happened next to the characters.