Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Laikals The greatest movie ever made..!

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life

The Greatest Picture An interesting look at new zealand long ago but its boring as. moves at a criminally slow pace, pathetic camera work, acting worthy of being New Zealand, bad singing, unbelievable plot. I wouldn't wish this movie on my worst enemy because its boring as aye bro. If you want to watch a good new zealand movie watch hobbit

markdroulston I was fortunate enough over the weekend to attend a screening of NZ feature White Lies followed by a revealing Q+A session with writer/director Dana Rotberg, star Antonia Prebble, composer John Psathas and novelist Witi Ihimaera. It might seem odd for a film about NZ colonial identity to be made by a Mexican filmmaker, but surprisingly the story benefits greatly by coming from an outside perspective.Adapted from Witi Ihimaera's novella Medicine Woman, White Lies doesn't have a particularly well told story at its core, but is nonetheless an important film for NZ to have produced. Set during the early days of settlement, the film depicts a sinuous power struggle between colonial housewife Rebecca (Prebble), her housemaid Maraea (Rachel House), and Paraiti (Whirimako Black), the Maori medicine woman whose particular skills and discretion are sought.The shifting dominance of each of these women, representing different aspects of female identity at the time, weaves a compelling and bleak narrative, but some of the story beats that should have had greater impact unfortunately fall a little flat. Elements that needed more room to breathe play out much too quickly, not allowing audiences time to digest, although the film's closing scenes are powerful. White Lies deals with uncomfortable subject matter, and Rotberg doesn't shy away from the story's most tragic aspects.Thankfully, White Lies looks better than any NZ film for some time. The cinematography by NZ legend Alun Bollinger gives the rugged setting of the film a beautifully oppressive quality reminiscent of his work on Vincent Ward's Vigil, and has moments of rare, haunting beauty. It's a shame that most viewers will be unable to hear Rotberg speak about her approach to the film. The director's keen understanding of the tragedy of colonialism in her homeland brings significance to White Lies that a Kiwi director may have been guarded about addressing, and hearing her thoughts on NZ colonialism and our nervous attitude about exposing our own violent past was incredibly refreshing. Her desire to treat the subject with integrity while never sugarcoating it comes across with wonderful passion, and while she remained respectful of the source material, she makes no excuses for altering Ihimaera's work to suit her own vision. Despite the film's faults, White Lies takes more risks and offers deeper perspective than most NZ films of late.

jan-paul I had no hesitation in giving this film 10 out of 10. I thought it was extraordinary, as did everyone else in the cinema. Everyone sat respectfully and watched the credits roll and comments heard as we left the cinema were without exception complimentary. What a story - quite dark but very moving as we see the collision of two cultures. I believe White Lies has the potential to win Viewers' Choice Awards at film festivals. There was not a false note in it for me, although some may find Antonia Prebble's character quite rigid - but she needed to be. I am going to see this film again later this week, and it's not often that I do that.

LuvNotWar This film is based on a book by Witi Ihimaera called Medicine Woman. For some reason the title was changed to White Lies. Perhaps that was an attempt to inflame racial passions and get people interested enough to go and see it. I don't know, but I find the choice of title to be in highly questionable taste.But apart from that the best I can say for this film is it looks nice, as NZ films and television invariably does. It's not hard to make a nice looking film in NZ considering our scenery, but unfortunately it is used to hide a multitude of sins, such as a weak story and poor acting among others. The story in White Lies is interesting enough in its own way, but everything else lets it down and even the cinematography can't save it.The dialog sounded false and artificial and very few of the actors seemed at all professional. So much so that it was difficult to concentrate on the story, such was the poor quality of almost all of the actors involved. I am all for encouraging NZ film and television but that doesn't mean we MUST only use inexperienced locals surely?I'm sorry to hurt the feelings of anyone involved in this film. I'm sure you did your best and gave it your all, and I certainly wanted to love this film after enduring the dismal Top of the Lake, but I'm afraid I found White Lies to be just another in a long string of low quality Kiwi films. Please don't take it personally.Once again full marks for the cinematography and scenery, but low marks for all the rest. Better luck next time everyone.