''The Maori Merchant of Venice'' ( mi, Te Tangata Whai Rawa o Weniti) is a 2002
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...
in the
Māori language (with
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
subtitles), directed by
Don Selwyn
Don Charles Selwyn (22 November 1935 – 13 April 2007) was a Māori actor and filmmaker from New Zealand. He was a founding member of the New Zealand Māori Theatre Trust and directed the 2002 film '' Te tangata whai rawa o Weneti (The Maori me ...
.
Production
The play ''
The Merchant of Venice
''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock.
Although classified as ...
'' was translated into Māori in 1945
["Shakespeare goes Maori"](_blank)
BBC, 4 December 2001 by
Pei Te Hurinui Jones
Pei Te Hurinui Jones (9 September 1898 – 7 May 1976) was a Māori political leader, writer, genealogist, and historian. He identified with the Ngāti Maniapoto iwi. As a leader of the Tainui confederation of iwi and of the Kingitanga mo ...
, and his translation is used for the film. It is the first Māori-language film adaptation of any of
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's
plays
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* P ...
.
The film was shot in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...
, but "recreate
16th century Venice, with costumes and surroundings to fit the original setting".
Cast
Almost all the film's actors are
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
, many of them acting for the cinema for the first time.
Waihoroi Shortland stars as Hairoka (
Shylock), Ngarimu Daniels as Pohia (
Portia), Te Rangihau Gilbert as Patanio (
Bassanio
Bassanio is a fictional character in Shakespeare's ''The Merchant of Venice
''Bassanio,'' the best friend of Antonio. He is a spendthrift who wasted all of his money in order to be seen as a respectable man. To regain his fortune, he is deter ...
),
Scotty Morrison as Anatonio (
Antonio) and
Veeshayne Armstrong as Nerita (Nerissa).
["The Maori Merchant of Venice"](_blank)
on IMDb
Reception
According to the
New Zealand Film Commission
The New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC; mi, Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga) is a New Zealand government agency formed to assist with creating and promoting New Zealand films. It was established under the New Zealand Film Commission Act 1978 (as amended ...
, the film deals with the themes of "religious discrimination, revenge for past wrongs", and "explores the nature of justice and mercy" as well as "the effect of heritage on an individual’s life decisions and the strength, wit and wisdom of women": "The Maori take on Shakespeare's '
pound of flesh' drama is a story of deep seated social and religious
prejudice
Prejudice can be an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classification of another person based on that person's per ...
, in which the Jew (Shylock) has a long memory of oppression, but revenge is not so sweet." Valerie Wayne, in ''
The Contemporary Pacific
''The Contemporary Pacific: A Journal of Island Affairs'' is an academic journal covering a wide range of disciplines with the aim of providing comprehensive coverage of contemporary developments in the entire Pacific Islands region, including Mel ...
'', underlined the apparent parallel drawn by the film between the oppression suffered by Shylock because of his
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...
and the sometimes violent subjugation of Māori by the colonial authorities in
nineteenth century New Zealand.
Reviewing ''The Maori Merchant of Venice'' for ''Te Kete Ipurangi'', Lana Simmons-Donaldson described it as "an educational, even motivational tool" for Māori language learners, and provided glowing praise:
:''"No sex, action or violence here, ''Te Tangata Whai Rawa o Wēniti'' makes a refreshing change to the usual menu on offer to the movie going public. Chivalry, camaraderie, romance, justice, honour, cruelty, aristocracy and poverty all in
te reo Māori, it's very palatable even exquisite depending on your taste.
..Rurutao (Shakespeare) himself would have wept at its poetic brilliance."''
Awards
The film won the audience award for best feature at the
Hawaii International Film Festival
The Hawai'i International Film Festival (HIFF) is an annual film festival held in the United States state of Hawaii.
HIFF has a focus on Asian-Pacific cinema, education, and the work of new and emerging filmmakers. HIFF’s primary festival is ...
in 2002, while Waihoroi Shortland won the film award for best actor at the
New Zealand Film and TV Awards
New Zealand film and television awards have gone by many different names and have been organised by different industry groups. As of 2017, New Zealand has relaunched a standalone New Zealand Television Awards after a five-year hiatus. The film awar ...
in 2003.
Other Māori productions of Shakespeare plays
''The Merchant of Venice'' is not the only Shakespearian play to have been adapted to Māori themes, though it is the only one to have been released as a feature film. Adaptations of ''
Othello'', using a Māori cast and usually set during either the
Musket Wars
The Musket Wars were a series of as many as 3,000 battles and raids fought throughout New Zealand (including the Chatham Islands) among Māori between 1807 and 1837, after Māori first obtained muskets and then engaged in an intertribal arms rac ...
or
New Zealand Wars
The New Zealand Wars took place from 1845 to 1872 between the New Zealand colonial government and allied Māori on one side and Māori and Māori-allied settlers on the other. They were previously commonly referred to as the Land Wars or the ...
of the nineteenth century, have been performed on numerous occasions since the late 1990s, most notably at
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...
's
Court Theatre in 2001.
Othello Polynesia
New Zealand Theatre Review
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maori Merchant of Venice, The
2002 films
2002 drama films
Māori-language films
Films based on The Merchant of Venice
Films set in Venice
New Zealand drama films
Films about Māori people