Utu cover

 Utu still


Utu - 1983



Utu Productions - 124 min.
DVD UPC # 738329018924; 9315842009373

Cast: Anzac Wallace; Bruno Lawrence, Wi Kuku Kaa, Tim Elliott, Kelly Johnson, John Bach, Tania Bristowe, Ilona Rodgers, Faenza Reuben, Martyn Sanderson, Merata Mita.
Crew: Screenplay: Geoff Murphy, Keith Aberdein; Photography: Graeme Cowley; Editor: Michael Horton; Music: John Charles; Producer and Director: Geoff Murphy.
New Zealand in 1870 - a friendly Maori village is massacred by colonial troops and discovered by army scout, Te Wheke, whose own people are among the dead. Her turns on his employers and takes up his warrior chieftain past, seeking utu (revenge), he engages in guerilla warfare against the Pakeha. One of those attacked is a farmer whose wife is killed and house burned. He in turns seeks his vengeance. One to put on your "must see" list.

Censor rating: PG - Review rating: B

AVAILABILITY OF VHS OR DVD COPIES

Used PAL VHS copies will be about $20nz or 10eur. Used NTSC VHS copies sell for about $25us. New R4 DVDs have been available from Australian sources for about $15au, but as of April 2008, I have been unable to find a reliable seller who is offering it. There still are New Zealand sources that are offering it for about $12nz. As of Nov. 2005, the only R1 NTSC distributor (Kino) is no longer providing this title. Therefore remaining copies are starting to climb with some asking over $100us for new copies and used going for at least $25us. The R4 version is listed as 1.33:1 (unverified), whereas the R1 version is 1.70:1(verified). Both dvds are 2.0 dolby digital and no extras.
NOTE: Check the "VHS Sale" page for used copies.


SOUNDTRACK ON AUDIO CD

Click for Utu CD Details


REVIEWS

New Zealand Film Archive Info and Reviews

Movie Review Query - 5 articles

Peter Harcourt's Sequence Review

Four Word Film Review

World Festival of Foreign Films Review

"Unlike some of the products of the New Hollywood, films such as Utu are not meant to be totally consumed in the cinema but are designed to start people talking. Utu was an uneven film but it succeeded in stirring up more discussion of New Zealand history than any recent book has done." - (Roger Horrocks, Headlands, MCA 1992)

"In Utu, someone is always stalking someone, and being stalked in return; the comings and goings of the characters, as they tramp through forests and across mountains, create a visual metaphor for the movie's web of revenge. What lends Utu its particular richness is the way director Geoff Murphy plays with your sympathies; you never know which side you're supposes to be on - and neither, evidently, do the characters" - (Paul Attanasio, "'Utu': From Down Under, a Rich Tale of Revenge", Washington Post, either December 26 or 12, 1985)

OFFLINE REVIEW SOURCES

North & South Review by Brian McDonnell - December 1987


TRAILER AND OTHER TITLE RELATED LINKS

Official Trailer

NZ Film Archive clip


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