THE CONVERT - Mark Reviews Movies

The Convert, Magnolia Pictures

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Review by Mark Dujsik | July 11, 2024

Perspective matters in storytelling and history, the more official notion of storytelling. As is so often the case with movies that attempt to tell a lesser-known side of history, perspective is the major issue with The Convert, a well-meaning tale about the early period of the colonization of New Zealand and its impact on the indigenous Māori people of that land.

For as much as it discusses the culture of the Māori, the movie never is really about them, of course. That's because Michael Bennett, Shane Danielsen, and director Lee Tamahori's screenplay (inspired by Hamish Clayton's novel Wulf) is squarely focused on one of the European settlers of those Pacific Islands.

He's Thomas Munro (Guy Pearce), a lay minister from England with an open heart and plenty of guilt about his past deeds. In a way, the man is the perfect protagonist for this version of this story, which wants to see the Māori as they were during this period but can only do so in relation to the rising conflict amongst themselves and with the encroaching settlers.

They exist more as an idea than as anything or anyone else in this telling, which mainly serves as a critique of the inherent prejudice, cynicism, and all-consuming nature of colonialism. Even when the movie has a potent point to make about the Māori, it's entirely framed from an outsider's point of view.

We've seen such stories told from this specific perspective too many times to linger on that intrinsic flaw, perhaps, and comparatively, Tamahori's movie isn't nearly as dismissive of the Māori as it might have been. We can tell the intentions here are good, especially in its later attention to the customs of, divisions among, and politics within the pair of Māori tribes who are key to this story.

Are those matters not enough, though? The thought keeps creeping in while watching this movie, which possesses a few Māori characters of much potential—with clear motives and differences of philosophy and, in the case of the leader who finds himself caught between real or possible foes on either side of him, plenty of conflict with which to deal. Munro's an intriguing character and played by Pearce with simmering internal strife, to be sure, but is this character really the right man for the job of being the vessel for this particular story?

He's not, but Munro isn't nearly as patronizing a character as he might have been, at least. In 1830, he has come to New Zealand to become the pastor of the church in an English settlement there. He's a man of practical faith, seeing his role as one of an example of how live in peace and harmony with others. In other words, Munro is no missionary with evangelical aims, and as his path becomes clearer over the course of the story, the title takes on a certain of irony of expectations that's intriguingly subversive.

Before and after arriving at the settlement, Munro is caught up in two different wars being fought. One is among the tribes of Māori, as Akatārewa (Lawrence Makoare), described as a local warlord, is making his way across the islands and violently seizing lands held by other tribes. In the bloodshed of one raid, Munro negotiates the release of Rangimai (Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne), a woman from a small camp that's killed by the warlord, and takes her under his protection.

At the village, the hostility between the Māori and the English settlers is quieter and beneath the surface—but obvious to anyone who looks for it. The settlers are renting the land from Maianui (Antonio Te Maioha), a nearby chief and Rangimai's father. When the chief tells his daughter to stay in the settlement for education under the protection of a young warrior named Pahirua (Duane Evans Jr.), the prejudice of some of the settlers—with Charlotte (Jacqueline McKenzie), the widow of a Māori warrior, being the most noteworthy exception—against the Māori quickly rises into plain view.

Again, all of this is seen from Munro's perspective, as he witnesses the violent consequences of racial intolerance by the settlers, is confounded by the Māori's warrior ethos, and, as a man who has seen too much of senseless war (A single monologue about his tormented past might amount to more words than some of the major Māori characters), tries to parley peace between the three battling parties. Through his interactions with the assorted Māori and Charlotte (who oddly seems more of an expert on indigenous culture and history than the people themselves), the minister learns that one fight in particular might be key to the survival or decimation of the Māori.

There's a good amount to admire about the movie, from its genuine consideration for Māori culture once Munro becomes a guest within it (despite the intrinsic distance the focus on him gives the material) to the details of the period and Gin Loane's austere cinematography, which turns the landscape into a backdrop as harsh as the human conflict happening in front of it. There's also, though, a decent amount to question about the way The Convert has framed its story, which always keeps us wondering if a shift of perspective might have told it with more honesty and sincerity.

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