Film Review: 'This Way of Life'

A fascinating, homegrown slice of life...

> This Way of Life

Director: Thomas Burstyn
Cast: Peter Karena, Colleen Karena, Llewelyn Ottley-Karena, Aurora Ottley-Karena, Malachi Ottley-Karena, Elias Ottley-Karena, Corban Ottley-Karena, Salem Ottley-Karena
Rating: (PG)

4 stars (out of 5)

Review by Christine Powley 

It can be difficult to spot the fascinating stories that are right under your nose.

When it comes to documentaries we want to see the distant and exotic, not a boring old Kiwi family scratching a living in Hawkes Bay.

Of course, the Karena family featured in This Way of Life (Metro) are anything but boring.

Dad Peter goes hunting to put meat on the table and works wild horses as another income stream.

He is also a backyard philosopher with a Kiwi sense of the ridiculous that stops him short whenever he veers towards pomposity.

This Way of Life follows the family over four angst-packed years as they lose their house twice (in a complicated story of wider family feuding); lose a baby and have their horses stolen.

Yet, it is not all the horrible things that are happening that make the Karenas interesting, it is how they manage to hold on to their joy in being a family.

At first, watching the four eldest children roam free, you worry about how their lives will turn out.

Then mum Colleen articulates the same fears, but from the other direction.

She worries the children will lose the freedom they presently enjoy as the modern world takes over.

You might not want to live like the Karenas but after watching This Way of Life you certainly admire and respect them.

Best thing: Every member of this family has charm in buckets.

Worst thing: You always feel that the real story is happening somewhere off-camera as Peter's dad manipulates events from afar.

See it with: The full knowledge that you will leave wanting your very own pony.