Haane Manahi - Anzac Day
2 minute read
Musings
Written by Murray Crane
Watching Sgt Haane, directed by Tearepa Kahi, in the context of Anzac Day, it feels less like a film and more like remembrance, properly held.
At its centre is Haane Te Rauawa Manahi and the battle for Takrouna - the efforts and bravery of his company, part of the 28th (Māori) Battalion - young men in their prime sent to war, many not returning. Those who did carried the weight of it, and a vow not to forget.
It’s simple. No exaggeration. A Māori story, a warrior story - about brotherhood and whānau - but also a New Zealand story more broadly. One shared by Pākehā families as well, who sent sons to the same war and lived with the same loss.
Private, humble men. Accolades never fully heard. Commendations never fully completed.
What stayed with me - what really resonated - were the details. A worn rifle butt carved into a meeting house figure. An empty cross - marking a Victoria Cross never awarded. Those photographs - ancestors lost - simply stacked in a Sistema tub. No archiving, no white gloves. Taken out, handled, looked at.
Whakaahua of tūpuna. Still part of everyday life.
Lest we forget.
