The Strength of Water (IFFR2009)

Proving New Zealand is capable of producing dull, Sommersault-esque cinema-to-nowhere like their next-door neighbours, The Strength of Water represents yet another tired addition to the family-in-mourning sub-genre that’s high on mood and low on characterisations and narrative development. Unsurprisingly the film was developed in collaboration with Sundance and frequently resembles a New Zealand version of some of that fest’s most hackneyed indie-with-a-capital-I inclusions.

Sketching the emotional impact a young girl’s death has on her Maori family and their relations with the wider community, Water kills off its most striking sparkiest screen presence early to focus in on the strained (and cliched) tensions between siblings, lovers and parents left to deal with their grief. Bogumil Godfrejow’s crisp lensing demonstrates a good feel for the surrounding, moody locales and the majority of the cast acquit themselves just fine. Perhaps inclusion in an indigenous sidebar beckons but this truly by-the-numbers drama is hardly likely to turn heads.