π Share this article Lee Tamahori's Debut Once Were Warriors Revealed a Filmmaker of Guts and Flair During 1994, this director Lee Tamahori delivered one of the most significant first films of that era, operating at full capacity with his gut-wrenching social-realist melodrama Once Were Warriors. The Mekes represent a working-class indigenous family in South Auckland: Temuera Morrison is the drinking, brawling, bragging dominant benefit recipient the father, who returns from pub visits with his weak followers to terrorise and assault his wife Beth, played by Rena Owen, and their kids. He is entirely indifferent to the future of his older boys who have fallen into gangland culture and illegal activities, as well as his gentle daughter the girl, who has talent as a storyteller. A son gets tattoos; another is taken to a youth detention where he is at least tutored in the traditions of indigenous heritage β the haka and the taiaha warrior spear β and learns self-worth and self-respect. But back at Jakeβs chaotic house, the daughter is raped by a repulsive acquaintance βUncle Bullyβ; disaster follows, and Beth forcefully challenges the wretched Jake: βOur ancestors once were warriors, but in contrast to you, they, they were people with mana, dignity; soulful beings β¦β Emotional Violence and Skilled Filmmaking Tamahori let rip with all this emotional violence, and delivered powerful blows with the pub scenes, domestic moments and the gang ritual initiation scenes, handling them with assurance and verve. He crafted a bold, sincere picture with a very 90s streak of brash and trash. It succeeded with viewers and reviewers, and β for good or ill β deeply impressed studio heads in the film industry who recognized how he could bring this energy and flair to commercial projects. American Films and Diverse Work Stateside, the director made the noir thriller Mulholland Falls, about aggressive police officers who care nothing for protocol, and then the David Mamet-scripted survival thriller The Bear with the actor and his co-star as characters who journey through wild terrain after their plane crashes. (This film gained cult status when the producer he wrote humorously about the chaotic circumstances of shooting with an animal actor in his droll tinseltown memoir What Just Happened?) Along Came a Spider was a decent suspense film, and he had another payday directing the sequel in the triple-X franchise XXX State of the Union. Bond Film and Professional Changes Yet the peak, or perhaps the low point, of his American work was taking on the Bond movie Die Another Day in 2002, with Pierce Brosnan; this was the installment mocked for having the worst gadget in the series β a cloaked vehicle. What is the point such a car, viewers asked? This car which makes it very hard to remember its parking spot. Later Work and Return After this, Tamahori discovered some more interesting form. His The Devilβs Double in 2011 featured Dominic Cooper in the twin roles of the dictator's brutal offspring the character and also Udayβs decoy double, employed to shield the heir from assassination or abduction: it was a forceful, watchable movie which sidestepped the usual doppelganger cliches. In subsequent times, Tamahori returned to the subject of Maori culture, directing The Convert in 2023, working with Australian critic-turned-screenwriter his partner. Tamahori was an outstanding filmmaker β but it was his first film, the heartfelt Once Were Warriors, that was his greatest work.