The two films No. 2 and Once Were Warriors focus on two aspects of New Zealand culture, Maori and Fijian and the differences and similarities between the two are noticeable.
Both films explore the theme of a culture supplanted. The family in Once Were Warriors is a far cry from the traditional Maori family, at one with the land and traditional Maori values. Instead the family depicted in this film is eking out a bleak existence in the back streets of Auckland, corrupted by imported influences such as alcohol and drugs. However there is a harking back to the traditional ways that is shown throughout the film, with the family's trip into the countryside, the funeral at the Marae, and the youngest son's re-education of traditional Maori values.
The grandmother of the family in No. 2 has been supplanted from Fiji, and here we have an interesting mix of the grandmother born and raised in Fiji and her children and their children, now 1st and 2nd generation New Zealanders of Pacific Island descent. It is the grandmother who wants to experience the life she knew in Fiji one more time before she dies, but she struggles to get her views across to her family, who have only experienced life in New Zealand.
Both films also treat the topics of alcohol and fighting very differently. Once Were Warriors shows the bad side of both these subjects through the central character of "Jake," who hits out at everyone, including his wife, and usually when he's had more "booze" than he can cope with. In No. 2 drinking and fighting are seen as an acceptable part of Fijian culture, with the grandmother getting quite merry during the course of the day and being delighted when her grandchildren come to blows at the party.
