52 Films by Women Vol 9. 11. We Were Dangerous (Director: Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu)

 

Pictured: Exiled by the state, a group of school age girls incarcerated on a former leper colony in the 1950s as featured in director Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu's film, 'We Were Dangerous', written by Maddie Dai. Right: Matron (Rima Te Wiata). Still courtesy of Madman Entertainment (New Zealand)

Cinema is filled with female authority figures of a certain age who are casually cruel but act with righteous purpose and a degree of enjoyment. Whether they are Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Miss Trunchbull in Matilda, Sister Bridget in The Magdalene Sisters or Mrs Danvers in Rebecca, these women live for their job, enforcing structure and discipline whilst suppressing empathy. Added to the list is the Matron (Rima Te Wiata), the dominant head of a reform school for girls featured in director Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu’s debut feature, the ironically titled, We Were Dangerous, set in 1954 on a tiny island that is part of Aotearoa (that’s New Zealand to non-Maori folks). Working from a script by Maddie Dai, Stewart-Te Whiu deals with perceptions of female behaviour that were deemed ‘shocking’ in 1954 but seem normal to us in the 21^st Century. I use ‘us’ advisedly. Currently in the United States, Republicans identifying as Christians are seeking control over women’s bodies. One leading – or rather misleading - Republican politician stated that the purpose of a woman going to university was to find a husband. There is something desperate about men trying to control the rights and opportunities of women, whether in Afghanistan, Iran or the United States, as if contribution to society is something determined by others and not by an individual. There is something even more sad about women doing men’s will. The purpose of We Were Dangerous, broadly a New Zealand version of The Magdalene Sisters, is to comment on the ridiculousness of religious doctrine. We learn that friendship rather than rote learning is the mark of good character.

After a failed, comic book-inspired escape attempt, teenagers Nellie (Erana James) and Daisy (Manaia Hall) are sent with other inmates of a reform school to an island that formerly housed a leper colony. The teenage girls have all ‘disgraced’ themselves, whether by shoplifting or leading boys astray. They are disadvantaged. Joining them on the island is new girl Louisa (Nathalie Morris). She came from a good home, had a good education but fell into ‘bad ways’, that is, she was caught in bed with another young woman. Lou is assigned to sleep in Hut Three, the one with the leaky roof, with Nellie and Daisy, who see a pink dress in her case and remark, ‘you won’t need that here’. Lou proves her worth, hammering some material to stop the leak, Nellie and Daisy holding each of her feet until Lou falls backward. All three girls lie on the ground, breathing heavily. They have bonded. Their friendship is solidified when they discover a hidden stash in their hut, including some alcohol. ‘It’s like Vegemite, it never goes off,’ we are told, before the girls start swigging.

There is voiceover provided by the Matron as she explains each of the girl’s backstories. She doesn’t so much narrate the film – forcing us to feel as she does – rather offers an ironic counterpoint. The ‘holier than thou’ voiceover is one of the film’s more original features – it is rare for an antagonist to narrate the action. However, it allows us to discover the source of her own conviction, inviting a small amount of sympathy, but really not that much at all.

There is one male character, Barry (Stephen Tamarapa), a caretaker of sorts, who rushes down late to greet the errant girls and the Matron, bearing a sign that Matron has requested, denoting a school for ‘incorrigible and delinquent girls’. Two girls hang it up. ‘It’s crooked,’ barks the Matron. ‘She’s taller than me,’ one girl explains.

There is a medical hut left unused. Matron doesn’t imagine treating the girls for illnesses. However, she is given a paper, ‘Fertility of the Unfit’. The medical hut is re-opened and is used for a procedure that wouldn’t be countenanced on the mainland.

Pictured: Dancing queens. Louisa (Nathalie Morris, 2nd from right) and the other girls take a break from painting the classroom in a scene from 'We Were Dangerous', a New Zealand 1950s set drama written by Maddie Dai and directed by Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu. Still courtesy of Madman Entertainment.

The girls wander the island and discover a shack. Barry tells them that it has a tragic history. It belonged to a Chinaman, said to be a leper. He was forced to live separately from the others and died, not from leprosy but pneumonia. He turned out not to be a leper at all. It was implied that he was sent to the colony because he was ‘different’, not because he was contagious.

Classes consist of etiquette and religious instruction. ‘Who can tell me the meaning of the phrase, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree?’ asks Matron. ‘I have heard of another expression,’ says one of the girls. ‘If you have lemons, make lemonade.’ ‘Don’t be stupid,’ responds Matron, ‘you need more than lemons. You need sugar.’ Matron uses the apple to relate the Adam and Eve story, how after taking a bite of the apple, the couple learned modesty. Eve covers her parts with fig leaves. ‘Adam used a larger leaf.’ The class laughs. Matron is stone-faced. She wants them to understand that modesty is an integral part of living, a virtue.

Nominally the girls are being prepared for marriage. However, the paper, ‘Fertility of the Unfit’, leads Matron into a different direct. One of the girls is taken into the hut. There are screams. The girl is not seen again.

Nellie and Daisy resolve to burn down the hut. Lou has doubts. Her father is a doctor. We sense that the medical red cross is more sacred to her than a Christian crucifix. This drives a wedge between the three girls. Lou is made to swear a vow of secrecy, having been denounced by Nellie. ‘You’ll never go in the hut. Your father will rescue you.’ Lou responds that this isn’t the reason for her reluctance.

Daisy’s illiteracy also exacerbates Nellie’s hated of Matron. Unable to read a passage, Daisy is told to go to the back of the class, face the wall, and stand on one leg, the latter a particularly cruel – and darkly comic – instruction. Nellie protests. ‘Why can’t you teach her to read? All of this instruction is useless.’ Lou and another girl take Nellie outside where she is made to sit in a tin bath and is doused with water. The divide between Lou and Nellie seems wider than ever. Later Matron inspects Hut Three and discovers a pair of scissors. She punishes Nellie by cutting her hair.

Daisy and Nellie subsequently burn down the hut. Nellie’s hair is placed in a kerosine filled glass jar, one of two that are ignited. But then certain scenes are replayed with additional detail. We learn that they have a helper.

The revising of our understanding of events has the effect of enhancing the feelgood aspect of the story, as Matron makes a discovery that silences her. In an earlier scene, Nellie and Daisy discuss their failed escape attempt. ‘If we had got out, where would we have gone?’ Nellie would have taken Daisy home with her.

In an early scene Daisy leads the other girls into a Maori dance. Matron is appalled. It is unclear whether Daisy cannot read English because she is Maori or because of a learning difficulty. We suspect the latter.

The blend of light relief and drama works well, as does the specificity. However progressive New Zealand might appear to be, it has uncomfortable moments in its history like other countries. Ultimately, We Were Dangerous is ironic, warm and entertaining, with a trio of appealing leads. Rima Te Wiata is a shockingly effective Matron, an actress in the mould of Margo Martindale or Patricia Routledge. A by-product of the film could be the elevation of her profile.

Reviewed at Aventure Cinema (Screen Three), Brussels, Friday 20 June 2025, 13:00 screening