The Uncomfortable Truth in Marlon Williams’ Doco

Ngā Ao E Rua – Two Worlds becomes about much more than the singer's personal journey.

The feature-length documentary, Marlon Williams: Ngā Ao E Rua – Two Worlds, is about so much more than the crooner’s journey to connect with his Māori heritage and make Te Whare Tīwekaweka, his latest album sung completely in te reo. Whether intentional or not, it also highlights the two vastly different worlds that sit uncomfortably close together in our country, and leaves you with a serious choice to make when its credits roll.

But before that, the movie charts Williams’ struggle with his cultural identity and his soulful longing to not only find his place but also to find himself. The album acts as a conduit and, in many ways, a cover to allow him to do so. Or to at least take the first tentative steps in that ongoing journey. As his mentor, collaborator and language advisor Kommi Tamati-Elliffe tells him, the mahi can’t just be for an album or himself, it has to be for future generations. To inspire and educate. To make them proud of their heritage in a country that often doesn’t.

It’s a serious business, but director Ursula Grace Williams [not related to Marlon] keeps the movie’s vibe light and breezy. Her camera is filled with air and space, showcasing the stunning beauty of our landscapes in the most naturalistic, low-key way possible. As a cinematic postcard to attract tourists, we may finally have a worthy successor to Sir Peter’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.

But it’s also light and breezy when it comes to the nitty gritty. It floats past the touchpoints of the singer’s life, rather than landing and exploring. So while it shows him revisiting his childhood home, still not repaired and uninhabitable 11 years on from the devastating Christchurch earthquake, and charts his journey from Dylan-inspired 9-year-old in a natty suede jacket, to choir-boy nerd to world famous alt-country troubadour and part-time movie star, it devotes as much time to that journey as I have in this paragraph.

In this regard, Ngā Ao E Rua – Two Worlds should be considered more a snapshot of the singer’s last few years than a dedicated biography. Even with Williams’ mindful reflections on his past and his uncertain future.

This doesn’t mean it’s anything less than constantly engaging viewing. Williams’ natural charm, presence and all-around nice guy persona can’t help but pull you in. The dude’s an extremely likable fellow whose charisma isn’t restricted to the stage, and whose thoughtfulness isn’t restricted to the film’s voiceover. For example, we see him ambling down a fire escape on the side of a building to chat with a group of middle-aged women in Melbourne who couldn’t get tickets to his show but spotted him having a cheeky ciggie on the venue’s balcony and started loudly calling out to him.

And if he’s at all image-conscious, it doesn’t show. Indeed, he can come off as a bit of a goof like when he’s engaging in a fierce and lengthy battle with a corkscrew and a bottle of wine or proudly showing off his gnarly toenails while grinning like a schoolboy and admitting that the horrendous sight will cause him “to lose a few fans”.

It may sound like it, but the doco’s not really a hangout film, although there is a lot of hanging out; at his home, on tour, in recording studios and on visits with his mum and dad that see him trying, and sometimes failing, to not revert into teenager mode — something even the oldest of us can be guilty of when spending time with our folks.

There’s also candid footage of Williams collaborating with fellow folkie and former partner Aldous Harding, whose breakup inspired his breakthrough album Make Way for Love, but is not at all mentioned here, and his collab with global pop superstar Lorde in a knockout performance as they record Kāhore He Manu E together, the first single from his reo album.

There are fun montages and killer live footage from life on the road and frank, anxious conversations with Williams musing on the detrimental effects this transient lifestyle is having on his health, relationships and well-being.

But aside from the showbiz stuff, the film reveals the mostly ordinary existence of an extraordinary talent who deeply and desperately feels the need to connect with his heritage and find his footing in the two worlds he inhabits.

The movie is about this journey. But the movie becomes about Aotearoa’s journey when Don Brash intrudes via a disgusting vocal clip of the former National Party leader pompously declaring te reo —and, by extension, Māori culture — to be “not of value”.

This film amply shows its value in a beautifully understated and honest way. Not just to Marlon Williams, but to Aotearoa New Zealand as a whole. Because we may be one country, but there are two very different worlds living here.

One is a world where music can act as the great unifier, bridging the cultural gap and giving all people a path to come together, to celebrate each other and embrace what makes Aotearoa such a special and unique place.

The other is a world that wants to burn those bridges and instead build barricades from which to lob sneers and hate while grotesquely masquerading under the delusion of being civilised people.

And that’s not a world I want any part of.

Ngā Ao E Rua – Two Worlds shows Marlon Williams’ journey into his heritage. It shows the rest of us the two paths leading to the future of Aotearoa, New Zealand.

You’ll need to decide for yourself which path you choose to walk down.

• Viewing info

Ngā Ao E Rua – Two Worlds is in cinemas now.