River Queen

R

2005

1h 53m

History

Drama

Adventure

List

40%

5 Reviews

Tomatometer

46%

2,500+ Ratings

Audience Score

In 19th-century New Zealand, a woman (Samantha Morton) spends years searching for her son, kidnapped by the boy's grandfather.

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deborah b

This movie gets 3 stars because of Kiefer Sutherland. I understand the objections noted because of the commercialism of using his celebrity, but at the risk of objectifying him, it was worth the watch to see his naked backside. I have no idea how he lost his clothes even though I was watching that part and never saw them come off, but I'm not complaining because that one scene made the viewing (such as it was) worth it for me. I thought he was adorable with his Irish accent and beard and his unrequited love was so sweet and endearing. I guess I should confess I played the film on a slow fast forward (could see the frames go by but not hear anything) and hit play only when I saw Kiefer. This means I did not listen to the majority of the film. I was sad that Kiefer was not in the film more. I did think Cliff Curtis was engaging and I thought Samantha Morton was both annoying and moving, yes I know that makes no sense, maybe I found her moving because I didn't listen to the film unless Kiefer was in the scene. But I do not feel that my quick viewing of the film made me miss anything, I saw the beautiful scenery, saw the war, saw the love between Morton and Curtis develop and didn't like it because I wanted her to be with Kiefer. Will I watch it again, probably not, but I may find myself trying to get a screen shot of Kiefer without his clothes. So take my review for what it's worth to you.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

Truely heart-breaking. That they would decide to make a historical epic set in my tiny home town, but that it would be so unwatchably bad that no one talked about it.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

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Audience Member

(***): [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img] An interesting film.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

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Audience Member

Horrible, horrible. This was so bad I didn't bother to watch it all. Steven Rea and Kiefer Sutherland- what were you thinking???

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

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Audience Member

While it boasts some entertaining set pieces, River Queen ultimately falls back on bad writing, overly melodramatic moments and subpar performances.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

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Audience Member

I wonder if the visual references to "The Piano" were intentional. A lonely woman, a beach, New Zealand, a child and the original people (Maori) in the center of the movie. This is not Piano, however. The movie begins interestingly, but soon shows lack of coherence. We jump almost a decade all of a sudden (why?) and it is never explained why Samantha Morton's character really started to look for her son after waiting so long (she knew who the tattoo maker was and how to start looking). It takes a while for the story to start get interesting, and then it gets a bit boring, to become more intense again near the end of the movie. Tension is not there, action is not there, except until the end of the movie. Violence of war aside, there isn't really any other story to this movie - except the reunification of a child and his mother in the midst of a war. As long as one sees this movie as a description of a woman's seach for her son, set in a certain short moment in the world history in a certain island, one can see a purpose in the film. The movie doesn't really give any view of the plight of the original New Zealanders. The violence of the spreading of western culture is shown well, when one sees the horrific moment when the army commander watches as his soldier keeps a knife on a child's throat. I might argue about how proper that is, by the way, to show in a movie. I know there are far worse things actually happening, but still it was quite awful to witness. I suppose one purpose of the movie may have been to introduce some of the Maori culture to the viewer. Unfortunately this is not very succesful. We only see war and fighting, stabbing and shooting. Failure on that account doesn't mean the film would be a failure altogether. The Maori characters, also unfortunately, remain a bit loose or shallow. There are not a lot of mainstream movies produced in the west to show Maori culture. Also a too bad is Kiefer Sutherland's character, whom he plays really well but who doesn't really say anything and nothing comes of his role. The movie has some violent moments (people killed, fingers cut off), threatening children with weapons and some obscene language. The natural beauty of New Zealand alone does not save this film from becoming slightly tedious. The Maori defending their right to live, yet as fearless fighters they show no mercy in their war against colonists. Violence. I got a feeling the movie tries to say a lot, but remains at a loss for words when its supposed to open its mouth and speak. It is a fearsome world, terrible for both western and Maori, but what can one gather from this movie? The weaknesses already mentioned, the movie's strenght is in that its sincere and quite rare of its kind. I was left with a feeling that it would have been interesting to see more of the Maori and New Zealand.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

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Vincent Ward

Director

Samantha Morton

Sarah

Kiefer Sutherland

Doyle

Cliff Curtis

Wiremu

Temuera Morrison

Te Kai Po

Anton Lesser

Baine

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Scott Foundas

Variety

A waterlogged would-be epic, lacking the emotion, narrative invention and visual brilliance that mark [Vincent] Ward's best films.

Sep 29, 2005

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Michael Rechtshaffen

Hollywood Reporter

River Queen is a period drama filled with some striking imagery but which ultimately keeps viewer involvement at an unfathomable distance.

Sep 18, 2005

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Matthew Turner

ViewLondon

Rated: 2/5

Feb 14, 2008

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Anton Bitel

Eye for Film

takes on the qualities of a disjointed vision, sometimes languid, sometimes violent, but always seeming to be only half-glimpsed on the threshold of sleep.

Aug 6, 2007

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Urban Cinefile Critics

Urban Cinefile

An ambitious film from the talented, serious-minded Vincent Ward, River Queen takes us into the magnificent heart of New Zealand, both geographically and spiritually.

Jun 28, 2006

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Synopsis

In 19th-century New Zealand, a woman (Samantha Morton) spends years searching for her son, kidnapped by the boy's grandfather.

Director: Vincent Ward
Producer: Geoff Dixon, Neil Peplow, James D. Stern, Eric Watson, Mark Hotchin
Screenwriter: Vincent Ward, Toa Fraser
Rating: R (Violent and Sexual Content)
Genre: History, Drama, Adventure
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Runtime: 1h 53m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

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