The Convert
The Convert
Wherever you go, there you are. This means that you cannot escape yourself and your personal problems when you travel to a different place. You can’t outrun them. That’s what British actor Guy Pearce’s Thomas Munro has to learn in the complex learning curve of Lee Tamahori’s new historical drama, The Convert. Set against the backdrop of 1830, Munro is on a journey by sea with British merchants across the Tasman Sea in New Zealand where the story takes place. However, he doesn’t know that fate has something else planned for him.
This project was worked upon for many years – all prior to capturing it on camera- and was delayed further by the pandemic. The movie premiered at Toronto International Film Festival and received applause for its beautiful visuals as well as good acting from Guy Pearce who played Thomas Munro. Tamahori co-wrote the film alongside Shane Danielsen and Michael Bennett, which is particularly useful since he made people sit up and take notice with his first movie Once Were Warriors back in 1994. From then onwards, he would direct Die Another Die, The Edge or xXx: State of the Union among others together with great episodes of TV series like Billions and The Sopranos.
Nevertheless, taking cues from his various movies, he makes an extremely colorful cinematic journey that frequently looks breathtakingly lovely as well as places emotions into overdrive even though this only happens when Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne (Hunt for the Wilderpeople) returns to play Rangimai whose husband dies moments after Munro et al.’s arrival on landfall. In early nineteenth century New Zealand where two Maori tribes had been fighting for long, they became unlikely partners through Munro serving as her protector.
The Convert starts off strongly when Munro trades his horse with a brutal tribal leader Akatarewa played by Lawrence Makoare, for Rangimai’s freedom who was injured in the fight that left her husband dead. And they go to live at Epworth, his house in a small British colony where everyone knows each other. The story focuses on a nurse and Irish widow known as Charlotte who immediately gets friendly with Munro helping him familiarize with the environment around him so as well as rendering her services when it comes to interpretation.
Although it has some fish-out-of-water moments, the film concentrates more on racial tensions of the character and its existential question – must we always keep using colonization, violence and strife as our means of progress? This is a strong theme enough to justify this wide epic, which doesn’t save it from other shortcomings mainly seen in character development. The writers should have taken time to delve deeper into what makes some of these characters tick like they do particularly Munro. However, Tamahori decides to showcase stunning locations – oh those New Zealand seashores- plus an early 19th century look and feel instead.
This is a story that becomes more somber about how one minister goes through unexpected turns of events and the extensive British racism towards Indigenous peoples, as well as what he would do to be part of the solution. Pearce never ceases to amaze in his roles, and it’s great seeing him slip into this role he does not look like his usual self. It’s a pity there wasn’t more for him to perform and show off his unbelievable diversity of talents. Like some background information concerning this character, especially when on earth shaped him into a man like him. For instance, we learn that he had served with British army at one point and then tells a story about an attack.
Guy Pearce may be here because of Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne but it is interesting following the Aboriginal cast throughout. Maybe they wanted that way! How many films can we still watch where the main protagonist i.e., white man who saves them all? But it could have been done better by focusing solely on Rangimai as she was faced with challenges in her life which eventually led to her changing.
Producer Robin Scholes (Once Were Warriors) reportedly optioned the novel Wulf, which is based on two young English sailors’ diaries who were on a ship used for trading flax for muskets. The story has expanded and evolved over time resulting in this current version. Because it’s so historically New Zealand-specific/traditional that you have to accept its authentic beauty in terms of setting and place instead of trying to hold onto its uniqueness alone that smells differently from other parts of world. Yet the filmmaker wants essentially to tell an archetypal tale involving sacrifice, service, and redemption; however it tends toward excessive descriptive digressions not really going beyond surface level.
The visuals are stunning here though. Production designer Nick Williams comes up with an award-worthy effort where apparently all sets were built from scratch. Liz McGregor, costume designer who’s actually began her career as a hand-stitcher on The Piano, does wonders making the townsfolk believable and their indigenous tribes amazing to behold. And hats off to Gin Loane, director of photography, whose shiny brilliance has made everything here look so sharp and crisp and real.
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- Genre: Action, Featured, Popular Movies, Top Rated Movies
- Country: United States
- Director: Lee Tamahori
- Cast: Guy Pearce, Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne, Antonio Te Maioha, Jacqueline McKenzie, Te Kohe Tuhaka, Lawrence Makoare, Dean O'Gorman, Jared Turner, Kelly Vivian, Jack Barry, Marris Collins, Duane Evans Jr., Andrew G Hill, Renee Lyons, Leonard Mathews, Madeleine McCarthy, Tania Nolan, Peata Panoho, Ariki Salvation-Turner, Mark Sole, Quinn Sugrue,
