Director: Rachel House
Writers: Tom Furniss, Rachel House
Stars: Elizabeth Atkinson, Terrence Daniel, Reuben Francis
Synopsis: Explores the journey of three young people as they seek solace under the watchful gaze of the Taranaki mountain and companionship in the spirit of adventure.
Rachel House is a treasure. A legend of Aotearoa cinema and theatre. With her directorial debut, The Mountain, she adds blinking fine filmmaker to her legendary status. Having worked with kids since early in her career, for example Niki Caro’s Whale Rider through to her lovely turn in Taika Waititi’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople, it seems a natural fit for her to build her first film around the adventures of lonely and adventurous children.
Sam Walsh (Elizabeth Atkinson) has cancer. She’s in the hospital more often than she’s home. But she’s been training to be a warrior woman and she’s making a jail (hospital) break so she can climb her mountain – Mount Taranaki. Along with teen cancer survivor Peachy (Sukena Shah) she hatches a plan to get out and keep her mother, Wendy (Fern Sutherland) unaware of her absconding. On the roof of the hospital, she releases her collected hospital gift store balloons, hoping they will reach the mountain. They contain a message. “Let me live.”
Mallory Potts (Reuben Francis) live with his dad Hugh (Byron Coll). His mother recently passed away and they’ve relocated to a new town. Neither Hugh nor Mallory know how to adjust to their new lives. Mallory imagines he might make some friends but he’s a bit timid and right now all he has is his depressed dad and talking to his mum to keep him company.
In one day, he meets his neighbor, the charming protector of Mother Nature, Bronco (Terrence Daniel) who keeps finding Sam’s balloons over Inglewood (“Blinking disrespectful”) and Sam herself. Sam is going to her mountain Taranaki Mounga. In Māori culture, “A mountain is living family. When you’re Māori they’re your ancestors. They hold knowledge,” Peachy points out to Wendy who freaks out when she works out Sam was left the hospital. Wendy hasn’t helped Sam understand her Māori identity, so Sam has imagined it on her own.
Sam somewhat press gangs Mallory into helping her get supplies for her journey. She’s planned a bit… she has a map, a list of supply needs (mostly chocolate, marshmallows, and a gun), and a fierce attitude. Mallory decides to help her chatting with his mum about the pros and cons (pros: she’s adventurous, cons: she wants a gun). Hugh arrives home and talks to his wife about how he’s a lonely, soggy, loser. Overhearing his dad, Mallory is galvanised not only to help Mallory, but to ensure he’s on the journey with her.
Sam is bossy as hell, but she realizes she needs Mallory at least as her sherpa, so she conditionally agrees. Bronco, who has been tracking down Sam’s balloons polluting the environment and skipping school to see if his constantly absent dad Tux (Troy Kingi) notices, meets Mallory and Sam along the way. Invited to join them, the three undertake a magical, perilous, joyous, and emotional journey to the ancestor.
Sam’s journey is informed by faith; faith that her Mounga is testing her to find her worthy, and when she proves herself so the ancestor will want her to stay alive. With her stick, Woodface, and a lot of attitude she corrals Mallory and Bronco into facing the ‘obstacles’ Taranaki has put in place. Mallory is possibly the least brave of the two, but he believes his mum is watching over him and he needs to feel some frisson of life. Bronco is “millions of miles away from home” (not literally, he’s just in another part of Aotearoa) but all of Aotearoa is sacred to him. Spiritually connected to his Māori heritage on a profound level, he’s wise, positive, and gentle as well as a bit of a rabble rouser. Sam is quietly jealous of Bronco’s understanding of who he is, but she’s also open to learning from him.
Meanwhile, the parents realize their kids are gone. First, Hugh and Tux chat outside Bronco and Mallory’s school. Peachy covering for Sam is easily discovered by Wendy. Peachy explains in her deadpan way that the reason Sam has gone is Wendy has been so stressed about, and so focused on, Sam’s illness she’s forgotten that Sam the kid is inside of it. The parents set out on their own journey to find the kids (with Peachy in tow running interference) and along the way learn a little about their own failings and strengths as people.
Rachel House and co-screenwriter Tom Furniss craft a narrative filled with reverence for Māori traditions and beliefs. Utilizing Sam’s quest for spiritual belonging and her fight for a future; House crafts a mystical adventure that speaks to the individuality of her three young protagonists and the unique connection Māori iwi have to their land decolonized from Pākehā influence. The way House achieves this is through shared connection rather than confrontation. Three kids, Pākehā, mixed heritage, and Māori experience the wonder of Taranaki, mythology, the interconnectedness of the natural world, and empower each other.
A lovely example is a night spent in front of a campfire where Mallory pulls out his wall compass gifted to him by his mother before her death. Bronco uses his rope to tie it around Mallory’s neck saying his mum will help guide them. Sounds in the dark lead to the trio performing a dance to KRS-One’s “Sound of Da Police.” Their journey isn’t without some friction – Sam initially lied to Mallory telling him that her mother died of cancer and Mallory is deeply hurt. What he doesn’t see is the other things Sam is lying about, such as the state of her health. She’s giving everything to make it to her ancestor.
Stunning scenes captured by cinematographer Matt Henley of the Taranaki region merge with Sam and Bronco’s storytelling which is at times rendered via animation, or at others by attention to smaller details within the wider vista. House credits the mountain themselves as an actor: Te Kāhui Tupua Taranaki Mounga.
First time film performers Elizabeth Atkinson, Reuben Francis, and Terrence Daniel are utterly charming and carry the work without mawkishness. Rachel House doesn’t shy from the realities of cancer and how sick Sam is, but she highlights her bravery and tenacity and gives Sam with something she had not previously had – an iwi formed because Taranaki Mounga willed it.
The Mountain is a delightful, magical, mystical, and melancholy film brimming with humor and tenderness. Aotearoa and the world are blessed to have Rachel House as a creative force and one hopes she will continue behind the camera.
