Thursday, May 18, 2006

Sione's Wedding

It has finally happened! A cheerful, life-affirming film has been made in New Zealand, by New Zealanders, about New Zealanders.The nation should celebrate, and it's residents should go and see this film.

Sione's wedding it ground-breaking for lots of reasons. It's about Samoans and for me the list of Samoan films I've seen is even shorter than the list of cheerful New Zealand films I've seen. As I already mentioned, it's a happy movie. It's scenically beautiful, and entirely filmed in Auckland. And its a chickflick for blokes.

Sione's wedding is a romantic comedy about four guys who have been banned from attending their friend's wedding unless they come with a date (i.e. a civilising influence). So they each have a week to find a girl and their exploits over the week keep the watcher very much amused. We see each of the heroes overcoming their weaknesses and making it to the wedding with seconds to spare. We get to enjoy lavalavas, taro leaves and umu packs making it to the big screen, and we get to enjoy Auckland at its golden sun-kissed best. The palangis don't come off so well, but who cares?

This film has great dialogue, it's well-acted and it looks great. Off you go!

Anne's rating 4/5 Ian's rating 3/5