“Only those who have been at sea, truly grasp the enormity of this world…”
The words spoken by Guy Pierce’s Thomas Munro at the beginning of a eulogy had potential to set the stage for The Covert as a historically fictional adventure story centered around themes of faith, trust, and confidence within humanity. Unfortunately, The Covert finds itself as a presentation that, while filmed beautifully, presents a story of conflict without a clear delivery of it’s message.
https://youtu.be/6NQkoW7hwi8?si=ZlvKoDGtqPPRzrvF
When the story begins, the viewer witnesses Gin Loane’s cinematography beautifully shot across real world locations of the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia. Throughout the buildup and rising action, the viewer sees Lee Tamahori’s direction as one of smooth sailing. By the time the viewer arrives at The Convert’s 30 minute mark, they begin to sense the aforementioned conflict as a theme of division. The viewer begins to wonder if this period piece would take them out of the equation through distractions of the outside world. While story themes may center around such reminders across various moments, The Convert is not an “in your face” formatted story where conflict is hammered down the viewer’s throat.
Pierce portrays Munro as a peaceful missionary whose journey takes him to an upstart colonial village in 19th Century New Zealand. As the character settles in, he bears witness to these differences and the state of precariousness through the demeanor of the stubborn. A fascinating study, the psychology behind moving forward in the name of peace and tranquility symbolizes leadership. A critical trait humanity should unwittingly be able to find. Yet as The Convert’s story progresses deeper into tribal warfare, Pierce’s portrayal sees Munro backtrack into that of an outsider. Though the viewer learns memory tidbits about the character’s backstory, the viewer begins to piece together what led Munro down this path. Risky, the development takes place through the form of dialogue and left to the audience’s imagination. While a compliment to the viewer in a sense of ability to puzzle piece, it leaves a notion of whether such development was too conservative in delivery, or if it were being held back into something more grandiose. Ultimately, the aspect may speak to different viewers through different mannerisms. This, along with a question of relationship necessity during The Convert’s falling action prove to be the weak points of Tamahori’s vision. A feeling that generalized viewers will embark on comparison and contrast exercises with other cinematic stories centered around pivotal moments in world history.
Yet as good as Pierce is with what he is presented, the potential show-stealing performance comes from Tioreore Nigatai-Melbourne. Similar to Pierce’s Munro, Ngatai-Melbourne’s Rangimai is an outsider in her own way. A protector, the way in which the viewer sees the character evolve, it leaves a smile on their face seeing all transpired come to fruition. It may not be something overpowering in the sense of the overall story, but it provides the viewer with a small tidbit of something they can take with them:
Hope.
From it’s verbiage, the development highlights anything as being possible. From it’s noun standpoint, the moment provides a feeling of trust and grounds of belief that good things can indeed happen.
Despite this development from Shave Danielsen’s screenplay, along with the production design of both Nick Williams and Guy Moana, one is unable to feel positively due to the feeling of The Convert not living up to what could have been a fuller potential. The Convert is the type of story one wants to recommend in the sense of a historical escape captured through beautiful cinematography. Though it leans along the lines of mixed rather than negative, it encourages both filmmakers and viewers alike to head to their local library and study up on the history that is the Mãori.
…
2.88957595 on a scale of 5
(Thumbs Down)
…
‘The Convert’ is now available exclusively on streaming platforms, including:
- YouTube
- Apple TV
- Google Play Movies & TV
- Fandango at Home
- Amazon Prime Video
Leave a Comment