No. 2

There are films and there are films with a soul. No. 2 is a film with a big soul and needs no special effects no big budgets or big names to be a big little film.

It takes the time that is necessary to tell a story so unusual in nowadays cinematic landscape, a story that makes the audience feel and touches the souls of those who are willing to listen to it.

There are wonderful performances of several actors to observe and No.2 shows how a wonderful script has no need for a big budget. It's not a tearjerker or going for the easy laughs, it's not a black and white movie but shows the shades of grey that make life life.

I laughed, frowned, had tears in my eyes, cringed, smiled and felt touched so many times.

It is one of these films that can be distinguished from the majority of films by its ability to make you feel and that somehow cause your whole being to be uplifted by the time you leave the cinema.

It's one of the films that linger and hold the audience so captive that only after the credits have been rolling for quite a while, the first people start to reluctantly file out of the theatre.

I was at the premier of this film out in the open air on Auckland's harbor...NZ's Prime Minister was there as she is a great supporter of the arts...I might add unannounced at first. This film can all remind us of someone(s) in our family and is a "feel good" in the end. Way to go NZ and I hope this film does a great showing worldwide...and no I am not from NZ...Canada! The way this country(NZ) has evolved into a great wealth of artistic talent speaks volume for its people and its isolation geographically. Must say I am most impressed with this film...was't sure what to expect and was pleasantly surprised...GO SEE IT!

A rough gem but a gem nonetheless. Slow going at first, as you wonder what it is with these people. Is there any hope? Has this extended family (apparently) totally lost their way in life? Then as you learn bits of the family history, the high walls and broken bridges separating the family start making sense, and you can see possibilities of reconciliation.

Ruby Dee plays (magnificently) the Polynesian matriarch, living in Mt. Roskill, Auckland NZ, for most her life, who knows what's wrong with her scattered cantankerous family and can see the one path that just might set things right -- a little "tough love", Polynesian style. Even though no one else can see the sense in it, they obediently carry out her demand for a family feast in the backyard, to happen that same evening, at which she will announce her successor. All must attend, even those who never come round.

Preparation for the improbable feast involves everyone, and in the process forces communication that's been avoided for years. But they pull it off, because after all, Mama may have lost her marbles but she is still the matriarch. The result is memorable, and validates her foresight.

The film is also, by the way, a great glimpse of suburban New Zealand life, Samoan (or Tongan, not sure) style. See it just for that, and enjoy the story too.

I went to school in Mt. Roskill, where the film is set; I drive through the suburb everyday to and from work; and my mother is from Polynesia. On several levels I could relate to this film and was proud to see Auckland, and it's Polynesian culture, represented in such an accurate and endearing way.

No. 2 centers around Nana Maria (a great performance by Ruby Dee), who wants her grandchildren to organize a feast for her at which she will name her heir, who will take over the house when she dies. Tense relationships both amongst and between generations are slowly and subtly introduced, and over the course of the day the family struggles to negotiate their Fijian culture within the New Zealand context.

The acting was superb (although notably, I think a minority of the actors were actually Fijian), the story subtle but beautiful, and Auckland was represented very accurately and stunningly. A feel-good film that makes you want to get in contact with your long lost cousins and reminisce about days gone by.

Great characters, great acting, and an enjoyable film.

This is a great film portraying human interaction and how families interact.

However, for a film that is supposed to portray a Fijian family, what a pity there was only one Fijian (the Priest) in the cast. The others were mainly a reasonably talented group of Maori and other South Pacific Island actors.

Why could the producers not have found Fijian actors to make the film more authentic?

That the film was produced more or less on our own doorstep (and we had not even heard of it before it was seen in "Shorts") and showed our own well-known and familiar locality added additional colour and interest to our viewing. But of course, a film is always "local" to those who live where it is filmed.