Talk us through itSandra is an Auckland executive involved in a deal to turn what looks like waste land into a casino. The clearing crew need to knock down an old shack but the tractor has broken down twice in the last week and the local Iwi (tribe) are protesting as the shack holds historic significance to them. We learn by inference that Sandra is from the local Iwi but has lost touch with her traditional roots. Selwyn, Sandra's boss, is keen to push on with the development as his company's future rests on the deal with investors proceeding at a decent rate. Both Selwyn and Sandra have historic ties to the land in question, though from different sides of a cultural fence. When Sandra starts to have disturbing nightmares and then sees lines tattooed on her chin she begins to question her sanity. The land, and in particular a revenant, are calling Sandra and will use her to return the land to it's rightful owners. Can Sandra work out what's going down before she is dragged into mystic waters of the Maori supernatural?
Review"And you say there's nothing historically significant about the house?" - SandraWhile watching The Blue Line I was reminded of the Split Enz song "Another Great Divide". Okay the Enz song is about something completely different and I am drawing a long bow here but The Blue Line is about divides, cultural and historic. As Temura Morrison helpfully points out the Maori believe they are one with the land and any injustice on that land will evoke a spiritual remedy. The Pakeha on the other hand believe in land ownership, and Director/Writer Vanessa Rare is quick to point out profit on that ownership. The cultural differences between Maori and Pakeha are just one divide The Blue Line highlights. Okay lesson for the day, and before we descend into further philosophical thoughts about the episode. In Maori culture females were also adorned with tattoos called moko. Young women were tattooed with patterns on their chin, which were meant to signify the importance of the land etc in a spiritual sense. Director Vanessa Rare gets her episode off to a flying start with the immediate injection of an ongoing story arc in the episode. We open to a tattoo ceremony beginning and then cut to Sandra waking from a nightmare. Throughout the episode Rare will use the developing moko as not only symbolic of Sandra coming under the spell of the resident revenant, an old lady who was murdered because she refused to walk off her land after being evicted in colonial times, but also to reflect that perhaps Sandra is becoming more attuned to her spiritual roots. Through out the episode Sandra can see the developing markings of the moko, no one else does, and finally is fully adorned as The Blue Line closes in a sort of mystical coming to terms with things. Nice touch when Temuera tells Sandra "it suits her", firstly meaning the corporate offices of the land development company and then finally when Sandra has her moko and is at peace. Director Rare pulls out all stops to present a heavily symbolic episode that will delight those wanting a bit more on their screens than someone simply going boo! If you are starting to wonder if Director Rare is heavily into symbolism in The Blue Line then you wouldn't be far off the mark. The episode simply drips with meaning and Rare is getting every drop she can out of it. When Sandra first visits the disputed site there's a temporary chain link fence thrown up that separates the Pakeha land clearing workers from the Maori land protestors. The differences in ethnicity isn't by accident and notably Sandra is on the Pakeha side of another divide The Blue Line confronts us with. Rare is indicating there is a gap between Sandra and her Iwi roots, the episode really does focus on how that gap closes and how Sandra crosses the divide to embrace her heritage. Notable at the ending of the episode Sandra is on the other side of the chain link fence, receives her moko in a sort of mystic convergence thing, and then can visit the shack from a re-found perspective. It's all powerful stuff but you get the feeling that Director Rare would have liked another twenty minutes or so to fully explore the implications and to nail what she is presenting. Before someone accuses me of becoming overly analytical here, hey we're a review site not a critical site, lets hit the scare aspects that most readers dialled in for in the first place. Besides the ever evolving moko, well presented in the episode loved the blood that only Sandra can see, we also have one wicked revenant to get down and dirty with. The old lady murdered in colonial times, by Selwyn's ancestor none the less, is tied to the disputed land and is out for revenge. She works via Sandra, I was taking a sort of possession angle there, and Rare breaks through the line twice with scenes that will have you bright eye and bushy tailed. Sandra decides to take a bath, no doubt to relax, after almost piling her bmw into a parked car, the result of further moko development. As Sandra relaxes and drifts off the revenant pays her a visit. There's always something special about seeing a colonial apparition in a modern black and white tiled bathroom, for some reason that really works for me from a visual stance. Rare nails the scene and the audience will be on edge because of course Sandra is completely vulnerable. 
In a pivotal scene we flash back, or at least we think we do, to colonial times and the old lady is really going to town on the revenge kick. I reckon she could give Sadaku a run for her money in this scene. We learn it's time for Selwyn to pay the debt his ancestor incurred, but Rare keeps it off screen and Sandra is made aware of Selwyn's death via the receptionist phoning her with he news. The sound of crystal, as Stephen King would put it, rings loud and clear with Selwyn facing his true inheritance in one of those ironic twists where we find both he and Sandra have ties to the land. Cheri James (Sandra) was an ideal choice for the lead in The Blue Line, she delivers a believable performance and is all over both facets of her character. Once again I would point out that there wasn't room in the episode to fully explore Sandra's re-discovery of her heritage. Kirk Torrance (Temuera) nails it as the modern Maori lawyer who hasn't lost touch with his Iwi ancestry. Torrance is able to mix and match both cultures to good effect. And Peter Feeney (Selwyn & Captain Harrison) does well with his dual roles, specially liked his statement that they had taught the Maori their place and Sandra's reaction to that. Great scene for both actors. Kipa Royal and Frank Marinthe continue their good work audio wise, great integration of the tapping sound the moko ceremony involved with the score. Hirini Melbourne once again provides the traditional Maori instruments that are used to good effect in this episode.
Summary ExecutionI cut a point from the rating for The Blue Line due to the episode not having enough runtime for the ideas Director/Writer Vanessa Rare is trying to get across. In a couple of places she has to rely on the audience making all the inferences, and it's a bit too much of a stretch to be perfectly honest. Otherwise I thought it was a wonderful episode full of texture and meaning. Wonder if Rare has ever thought about making a movie length version of The Blue Line?The sharp eyed have already been out making connections with a couple of people pointing out that according to the imdb.com I'm all over the shop with my chronological order of the episodes making up Mataku. The imdb are probably right, the series never aired in Australia, but I'm simply going by the order episodes are presented on the DVD boxed set. Since there weren't two separate DVD releases for apparently seasons one and two I'm simply counting it all as season one as presented in this country. Not entirely sure The Blue Line is going to work for viewers not versed in land rights issues in New Zealand or the cultural thing going down between Pakeha and Maori. Vanessa Rare aims her episode at a spiritual understanding of the land that may not have particular relevance to other cultures. The episode is still worth a look, hopefully I've explained enough here to give you a foundation, and should hopefully help bridge some divides in cultural across the ditch.
ScaryMinds Rates this episode as ... Worth a look but be careful of ancestors baring gifts if you are white!
|
