"Once Were Warriors" New Zealand film Directed by Lee Tamahori
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7J_BY0N-iU
Once Were Warriors is a 1994 New Zealand drama film based on New Zealand author Alan Duff's bestselling 1990 first novel.[3] The film tells the story of the Hekes, an urban Māori family, and their problems with poverty, alcoholism, and domestic violence, mostly brought on by the patriarch Jake. The film was directed by Lee Tamahori and stars Rena Owen, Temuera Morrison and Cliff Curtis
Plot
Beth left her small town and, despite her parents' disapproval, married Jake "The Muss" (named for his big muscles) Heke. After 18 years, they live in an unkempt state house in an unnamed New Zealand city and have five children. Their interpretations of life and being Māori are tested.
Jake is fired from his job, but is satisfied with receiving unemployment benefit and spending most days getting drunk at the local pub with his friends. Jake has a violent streak, which he displays by savagely beating a muscular patron who dares to disrupt a female singer's (Mere Boynton) performance that Jake enjoys. He often invites crowds of friends from the bar to his home for drunken parties. When his wife "gets lippy," he brutally attacks her in front of their friends, who are too intimidated to interfere. Beth turns to drink when things go wrong, and has angry outbursts and occasional violence of her own, on a much smaller scale. Her children fend for themselves, resignedly cleaning the blood-streaked house after their father has beat their mother.
Nig, the Hekes' eldest son, moves out to join a gang whose rituals include getting facial tattoos (in Māori culture called tā moko). He is subjected to an initiation beating by the gang members, but is then embraced as a new brother, and he later sports the gang's tattoos. Nig cares about his siblings but despises his father. He is angered when his mother is beaten but does not intercede.
Jake's middle son, Mark "Boogie" Heke, has a history of minor criminal offences. He is placed in a foster home as a ward of the state due to his parents' home life. Jake is unconcerned by Boogie's incarceration and hopes it will toughen him up. Despite his initial anger, Boogie finds a new niche for himself, as the foster home's manager, Mr. Bennett, helps him embrace his Māori heritage. From wiki (Edited)