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Tiare, a veteran from the Vietnam War, lives homeless, wandering the city, collecting bits and pieces in his plastic bags... His daughter brings her own daughter to visit and tries yet again to persuade him to return to their ancestral home. He does not wish to go there. His reverie is disturbed by boys whose play casts him back into the haunting images of his service in the Vietnam War.
Back on the streets he has a heightened awareness of messages of war, death and destruction which meld into his ever powerful memories. Distracted by the confusion in his mind, he bumps into a heavily tattooed gang member.
Confounding his paranoid expectations, this man (Manu) helps Tiare to his feet and buys him a meal. He believes he recognises a fellow soldier, someone who will understand, and opens up to him. But with his guard down, he forgets to watch out for himself and is knocked down by a car.
In convalescence, his daughter can now insist on his coming home again.
They return home, but as he stands to speak as an acknowledgement to the ancestors he has returned, it becomes clear that the past still haunts him and that healing will be slow but only possible with the support of family.
“Festival/Awards: 2003 - Critics' Week Cannes, New Zealand International Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival, Hawaii International Film Festival, Hof International Film Festival.” - New Zealand Film Commission; www.nzfilm.co.nz/film/turangawaewae-a-place-to-stand; 26/02/2014.
F230578 refers.