- Actors: James Rolleston, Cliff Curtis, Kirk Torrance
- Director: James Napier Robertson
- Disc Format: Color, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
- Language: English
- Subtitles: English, Spanish
- Dubbed: Spanish
- Region: Region 1
- Number of discs: 1
- Rated: R
- Studio: Broad Green
- DVD Release Date: July 12, 2016
- Run Time: 124 minutes
Despite being
based on a true story, the narrative in The
Dark Horse resembles the type of formulaic plot seen so often cinematically
that few surprises are offered within the lengthy run-time. Fortunately, this New Zealand
drama is held together by the committed performances of the cast rather than
any originality in the script. It may not offer many surprises, but it tells a
familiar story well and does justice to the real people and events it was based
upon.
The Dark Horse doesn’t just utilize one
formula, but rather several at the same time. There is the story of mental
illness in the struggles of protagonist Genesis Potini (Cliff Curtis), family
drama as he rebuilds the relationship with his brother Ariki (Wayne Hapi) after
being released from a mental institution, and the inspirational underdog tale
told through the inner city kids that Genesis leads in a chess club. The
relationship at the center of the film, however, is between Genesis and his
nephew, Mana (James Rolleston). Pessimistic about the realities of what the
world has to offer his son, Ariki pushes to have Mana initiated into the
violent gang he is a member of, though the young man begins to show an interest
in the positive path that Genesis has begun to take in the impoverished
community. Competition in a National Chess Championship offers a glimpse of
hope and self confidence that the young man is unaccustomed to seeing in his
daily life.
At just over two
hours long, The Dark Horse may be a
bit more film than the content calls for. Some of the sequences begin to feel
redundant and this mostly seems to be a way to showcase Curtis’ dedicated
performance as the beloved real-life person he is portraying. The actor gained
a great deal of weight and stayed in character during the shoot, but this
doesn’t necessarily make up for the amount of time that screenwriter and
director James Napier Robertson spends dedicated to his mental struggles. There
is a fine line between the portrayal and the exploitation of events, and
sometimes it feels as though Robertson revels in the darker elements in order
to pad the central performance with some showy sequences.
Even with some
of its cinematic shortcomings, The Dark
Horse is an enjoyable film. The predictability of the screenplay is easily
forgivable because of how well the characters are fleshed out by the
performers. We can believe in the people within the story, which makes
accepting the cliché plot devices far easier. And the positive message is
something to be embraced, even if it occasionally comes off as unrealistically
idealistic. My only suggestion is to watch the film with subtitles. Although
some of the dialogue is already subtitled to help the audience, many of these
lines were oddly the ones I needed to assistance to understand, while more
difficult sections of Gen’s ramblings are left for audiences to struggle with.
Thankfully, this DVD provides optional subtitles for all of the dialogue.
Entertainment Value:
8/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 7/10
Historical Significance:
5.5/10
Special Features: 0/10
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