NZIFF: Poi E

This is an iconic song of our country, and this is the movie of the iconic song: Poi E.

We mainly follow the life of Dalvanius Prime, the man who would grow up to make the song famous. He had a big career overseas, but wasn't really Maori until he came back. He kept up the music and with Ngoi Pēwhairangi they made a song... a song we know well.

This is a lot of talking heads with people in Dalvanius' life, and we get a pretty good picture of him and Maori music culture at the time. No-one thought this would be big except him, and he proved himself right. Even going as far as performing at the Royal Gala for the Queen.

I do wonder if it would have become as popular without the background dubstep beat. It's presented as a mixture of the traditional and the modern, but that beat makes you sit up and take notice.

Good song, and a good movie to see, especially if you have memories of the eighties...

And because I now have to:

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