John Charles: Soundtrack from Utu

About

Utu , Geoff Murphy's 1983 film tells of a savage encounter between European and Maori in the 1870s. Mike Nicolaidi in reviewing the film in 1983 noted, "Utu must rate as the most powerful, expert and audience-appealing film yet to be wholly conceived and executed in this country...”

"A film of flame and blood, an epic of hopeless resistance - all these matters are marvellously conveyed by John Charles’ superb music ...It is a long time since the dramatic epic has offered us in a film such an alliance between image and music. In this respect John Charles’ Utu comes close to being a masterpiece." (Bertrand Bone, www.nzvideos.org)