(PG) 85 minutes
When a movie is billed as a feelgood true story,there’s an implied promise it contains nothing to worry about. Certainly,you can safely take the whole family to see the upbeat,brightly lit,thankfully briefRed,White and Brass,which boasts Taika Waititi as executive producer and combines eagerness to please with a typically New Zealand sense of the mundane.
Ringleader Maka (John-Paul Foliaki) holds the mop while the band practice with plastic instruments in Red,White and Brass.Supplied
The starting-point is the 2011 Rugby World Cup,specifically the well-remembered match between France and Tonga that was played in Wellington – and,more specifically still,the brass band that supplied the,made up of members of the Tongan community from the local Wesley Methodist Church.
Given that co-writer Halaifonua (Nua) Finau was drum major in this band,we can assume many details of the setting are true to life – and there’s no doubting the film’s authenticity as an expression of Tongan national pride (the youthful cast consists largely of Tongan New Zealanders,although the director Damon Fepulea’i is of Samoan and European heritage).
The plot,on the other hand,is pure Hollywood. In this version of events,the whole scheme of starting a brass band is cooked up by the buffoonish hero Maka (John-Paul Foliaki) as a last-ditch way of scoring tickets to the big game,with his down-to-earth mate Veni (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) reluctantly going along.
Maka (John-Paul Foliaki) prepares to lead the band onto the field at before the France v Tonga match in Wellington.Supplied
Challenges are many,from locating instruments and uniforms to deciding what kind of performance will best represent Tonga on the world stage. But where some underdog comedies dwell on the failures preceding the final success,the setbacks here feel relatively minor,with the hastily recruited band members transforming from beginners to skilled musicians all but overnight.
The trouble withRed,White and Brass is that it’s a bit too slick to be charmingly amateurish and much too amateurish to be truly slick. On the whole,it works better the closer it gets to being a literal home movie – as in the scenes with Maka’s sceptical but staunch mum and dad,played by Valeti and Tevita Finau,Nua Finau’s parents in real life.
These two appear to have minimal acting experience between them,but they more than rise to the challenge. Valeti Finau,in particular,is responsible for the single funniest interlude,where her character learns her son has been ripped off by a crew of petty crooks and marches into their suburban den to sort things out.
Curious about where her unfazeable authority might have sprung from,I googled and learnt she’s a lay preacher and the founder and director of a mentoring program for Pacific Island students,besides much else. If she can find the time,an additional career as a beloved fixture of New Zealand cinema isn’t off the cards.
Red,White and Brass is in cinemas from June 22.
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