While the 1830s-set The Convert is a work of historical fiction, the filmmakers are passionate about honoring the customs and traditions of the Māori and presenting them in a historically authentic manner. Great care is taken in the costume and set design, and there are several sequences that focus intently on Māori’s war dances and grieving rituals, as well as the nuances of their language and weaponry. This makes it all the more baffling, then, that Lee Tamahori’s film chooses to center the perspective and experiences of a white British preacher, Thomas Munro (Guy Pearce), who arrives on the shores of what would become Auckland to lead a congregation of British colonists in a newly established church.
The Convert could have delved into the causes of the animosity between two embattled Māori tribes or the myriad consequences that British imperialism had on the Māori during this time period, particularly through the arrival of guns and Christianity. Instead, and as written by Tamahori, Michael Bennett, and Shane Danielson, the film consistently hews to Munro’s point of view as he makes the less-than-shocking discovery that his fellow Brits are virulently racist.
Of course, as violent and vitriolic as the British settlers are, Munro remains nearly unimpeachable. For one, he would seem inseparable from the trusty white steed that he rides across the beach upon his arrival in New Zealand, but he eventually gives the horse up in order to save the life of an innocent young Māori woman, Rangimai (Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne), whom he’s then entrusted to look after. He avoids ascending to full-on white saviorism only because his pleading for peace between the Māori is ultimately ignored by both sides, who follow their own instincts to settle matters the way they always have: in bloodshed.
This is all good and well, but it ultimately makes Munro a rather useless and dull protagonist—a man whose attempts to change the hearts of the British and to help the Māori have very little impact. He’s eventually given a backstory that explains his strong desire for peace, but this is too little, too late. It also does little to make up for the dramatic inertness that plagues much of his storyline. All of the time spent on the man’s various campaigns for reconciliation and harmony between tribes and cultures hampers The Convert, which would have been better served had it expounded on the grander conflicts that it only superficially acknowledges.
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The Film Reviewer Mr Smith wishes this film to be a different story and message than it is. But the film is called ‘The Convert’ and therefore it only makes sense that we follow a main character who is a convert through the plot. If the film was about the battles then it would likely be called ‘The Battles’. Also the film reviewer argues the character as being both ‘dull’ & ‘a white savior’. Rather the character is both human & a convert, the writing & performance of which is not adequately recognised in this film review.