Uproar – Review
You young’uns might not remember the heyday of apartheid in South Africa, when a separate set of society existed between native whites (descendants of the mostly Dutch colonizers) and the native Africans. The entire legal and judicial system was against the Africans, and worldwide outrage was turning against the country in a big, BIG way.
**NOTE: this post may be updated with audio once we actually have the chance to talk about it. Until then, you can read Mark’s review below. Remember, though, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST. Stay tuned.**
110, Rated PG-13
Written by Hamish Bennett and Sonia Whiteman
Directed by Paul Middleditch and Hamish Bennett
Synopsis:
In New Zealand, 1981, Josh Waaka is a 17-old square peg in the round, rugby-obsessed hole that is St Gilbert’s College. Meanwhile, the South African national rugby team, the Springboks, are touring New Zealand, sparking nationwide protests and dividing the country. Josh’s newfound passion for acting, as well as a greater awareness of his Māori heritage, sends him tumbling headlong into conflict where he is forced to either conform or stand up for himself, his whānau (family) and his future.
What does this have to do with a young kid in New Zealand? Glad you asked.
The national rugby team of South Africa, the Springboks, was the pre-eminent rugby club in the world, and they embarked on a playing tour, which took them to New Zealand (also a rugby-happy country).
Tensions between those who opposed the government allowing the team to tour as if South Africa was not otherwise between isolated and those who wished sport to remain above politics grew, re-igniting slumbering conflicts between the native Māori and those who came with the British to that island nation.
Protests began, and violence inevitably followed across the nation.
[Quick aside: there is an absolutely GREAT bit about a white woman not knowing what she was chanting in Māori, as she was trying to coordinate the indigenous peoples for various marches. Classic white guilt beautifully called out.]
Josh Waaka, a 17-year-old kid of mixed Māori/British heritage at a prestigious “School for Men” is simply trying to get through his life, surrounded by entitled white kids. Family troubles compound this undertaking, as his widowed mom (British) and injured older brother (and rugby icon at the school) are both fighting their own battles, leaving Josh to try and find his own way.
Uproar is a look at the psychological effects of apathy about a situation and denial of your place in it. Josh is traumatized, not simply by his own mixed heritage and how that determines his place in it, but by his realization that he can’t simply float through this, as his eyes open to the plight he shares with his Māori brethren. His is a microcosm: a person who seems to fit nowhere, but who desperately wants to.
In other movies, Josh might have simply changed himself to become more pleasing to the either side, but here, in this situation, Josh takes a different tack: he acts as a means not to change his place in his current situation, but to remove himself completely from the situation; to escape New Zealand altogether.
As Josh’s mom, Minnie Driver doesn’t have the privilege of caring about the Māori situation as others might, despite being the widow of a Māori man and father to two Māori sons. She has responsibilities she considers more important: keeping her children safe. No matter what she must endure, she acts always to avoid the pain they bear, the pain she bears as an outsider. She is as much a victim of the situation as Josh is, but inadvertently compounds it by seeking to insulate Josh from the world he must inevitably enter.
Uproar is a beautiful performance by Julian Dennison. You feel his pain, his conflict, his anger, and finally, his love of himself.
And surrounded by some great supporting performances (including Driver’s), Dennison makes Uproar a truly moving and insightful film to experience. I’m a bit sad that it’s releasing in March, as this type of film will almost inevitably get overshadowed as the year moves on.
And that is a loss for the audience.
Uproar is an easy recommendation for me. Check it out when you can.
Uproar hits theaters on March 15 and stars Julian Dennison, Minnie Driver, Rhys Darby, Craig Hall, Erana James, James Rolleston, march Mitchinson, John Leigh, Milo Cawthorne, Hannah Marshall, and Troy Kingi.
And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.
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