Film focuses on Kiwis’ connection to the land

• Published date: 08 April 2024
• Author: Carol J Paewai
• Publication title: Bush Telegraph

The Mountain is director Rachel House’s (Ngāti Mutunga, Te Atiawa, Kāi Tahu) first feature film. It premiered in Ngāmotu (New Plymouth) and is currently screening in cinemas around the country

Well known as an actor (Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Boy, Whale Rider) House’s first feature-length film is quite a personal story for her as well. While the titular mountain wasn’t named in the original story, Rachel, who affiliates with Taranaki, brings to the story the relationship between Māori and our maunga (mountains) and awa (rivers) and their significance in te ao Māori, as ancestors and guardians grounding us to Papatūānuku (Earth Mother).

The stars of the film are the three young actors Elizabeth Atkinson, Terrence Daniel and Reuben Francis. But the fourth star is Taranaki maunga itself, the silent hero hardly ever seen in full glory but a constant goal our three children are determined to reach. And as the characters remark in the film, the maunga is a tīpuna, an ancestor and a protector.

Sam (Atkinson), the young heroine, believes that connecting with ‘her maunga, Taranaki’ will cure the cancer she is battling. Starting out on her journey by herself, she meets up with Mallory (Francis), who has his own personal reasons to go up the mountain, and Bronco (Daniel), the new kid in the community who takes on the role of...