Beat your wings
Lest you succumb to the rain
And now the sun shines
From the dark into the light...
The dark into the light
The dark, dark, dark...
There it is... I see... I'm through...
Into the light.
What's going on, little bro?
Nothing.
- You want a beer?
- Yeah.
And then surely the day
follows the night.
As a knight takes the bishop.
My old friends,
it's been such a long time.
It's been such a long time.
I missed you.
I missed you.
I missed you, my friends.
It's a nice one, isn't it?
Lovely, lovely. Yes, indeed.
All warriors. They're
all warriors here, see?
Uncle Jim made that
when he was locked up.
It's a war game, a pakanga.
Those are all warriors there.
- Can I play you?
- You don't know how to play.
Can you teach me?
Fuck, you're a nosy little
bugger, aren't you?
Is there someone you want me to call?
No, you couldn't. You can't do that.
I mean...
Rm; Lopez.
There it is, right there.
That's on B5, not C4.
- I'm sorry?
- And you want the Sicilian Defence?
Well, impossible.
C5, that's where that should be.
Your fianchetto bishop, he's on the G7.
That's the way it should be,
but that's not what's happening.
What's happening here
is the Scotch Game.
The bishop takes GA.
And play the gambit,
ease them into the game.
Nice and easy. Here she comes.
Show them the way. Show them... Easy.
See? It's alright, everyone.
You're gonna be okay.
- See this fella?
- Yeah.
He's a pawn.
He's basically the weakest fella
on the board.
- Like you.
- Shut up.
This lady?
The queen.
She's like Papatuanuku.
Earth Mother.
She can move wherever she wants,
but she'll always come back
'cause she loves...
The king,
who the pawn will grow up to be.
Like Maui, leader of his people.
Lose him, lose the game.
So you keep him safe.
My angry friend... I'm sorry.
Can only be one.
Genesis?
Gen, do you want to come with me now?
- He wasn't being...
- it's okay.
Usually I have to do my notation.
Gen?
yes?
Do you want to play one with me?
- Pardon?
- Teach me?
- Teach you? Did I promise?
- Yeah.
I promised to teach you.
I promised to teach you.
I don't know how to...
I don't know how to...
We'll come back.
We could come back.
We can come back. Is that okay?
- Yeah.
- Sure.
- Okay, we'll come back.
- You teach me at home.
Wonderful. I've been craving...
I've been hanging out for a game.
I would just love to have a game.
That way, eh?
- Yeah?
- Beautiful.
Gonna head this way...
And get in the van, eh?
And come with...
- That's better.
- Come with me to the van.
No, no. Thank you.
- No, Genesis, come here.
- I was just playing a game.
- Come get... Just look at me.
- No, I think I'll go back there by...
- No, no.
- Hey.
It's okay. Gen, you're
not well right now.
Gen. Listen to me, Gen.
I was playing a game of chess.
- Gen?
- I just want to go back!
- Gen, it's going to be okay. Gen.
- No, come on.
Genesis! You're gonna be okay, all
right? You need to get into the van.
You're all right. Here we go.
- In there. Get in the van.
- No!
Come on, Genesis.
Hi, Gen.
I've spoken with Dr Andrews.
He doesn't feel we're going to be able
to release you this time
without someone to look after you.
A family member, support person,
that sort of thing.
Is there someone you'd like us to call?
How are you?
No, bro.
Don't think I can help you.
Be better off with someone else.
Bro...
There ain't nobody else.
Just gonna end up back
in here anyway, eh?
Ain't you?
Please.
Don't skip a dose.
Don't get less than eight hours'
uninterrupted sleep a night.
You got an emergency script for
lithium, Zopiclone, and benzodiazepine.
And try to avoid anything
that could stress you out.
Stress is the number-one trigger.
Are you listening?
Your brother can have you readmitted.
Try to find something positive.
There will be monitoring
calls twice a week.
Avoid anything
that could stress you out.
Stress is the number-one...
...for lithium, Zopiclone,
and benzodiazepine.
This is my boy's room.
He can crash on the
couch in the lounge.
I'll be out in the house.
What the fuck you doing in my bed?
You awake?
Mana, this is your uncle.
He's gonna take your bed.
You got the couch.
We're out of drinks.
- You up for it?
- Yes. Yeah.
Take the boy.
Any change, get yourself something.
Yeah, I'll grab them. I
know what they want.
I think there's only enough change
for one of us.
You have it.
So you're Dad's bro'?
You don't even look like him.
I reckon I look like him more than you.
I reckon you should take the couch
and I take my bed back.
What do you reckon?
Yeah, I reckon that's the best idea
for both of us.
So, where have you been hiding, then?
Me? Well...
I've been travelling.
Travelling?
Like where?
Don't worry about it.
Well, I retraced the ascent of The
Creator when he ascended the 12 heavens
on the sacred thread of a spider's web.
He was enlightened, that fella, eh?
And I watched Maui catch the sun,
seize the day
with a magical net of woven flax,
even witnessed Maui charm flames
from the very fingertips
of the Goddess of Fire
and her retaliate with breath of fire
like a dragon in hot pursuit.
Been busy, eh?
Yes.
And I noticed this
fella across the road,
and he was repping all his colours
and that. I thought, "True.
Looked straight at him,
and he was just staring at me,
like he wasn't even
taking his eye off of me.
And I was like, "True."
So, I just barged straight over,
jumped off my bike,
went straight up to him...
You just what, bro?
Come on, bro. Share it with the boys.
- Nothing.
- Yeah.
Hey, where you going, mate?
Come and sit down, bro.
Have a beer with the boys. Come on.
Hey, you too, bro.
Sit down, mate.
Whereabouts is the old man?
Fucked if I know, bro.
Fucked if I care, eh?
Fill the pipe up too, bro.
Got some new sunnies there, bro?
No, leave it on, bro. It's a good look.
- Like a fuckin' real gangster, eh?
- Real gangster, eh, boy?
Mean, all right.
What, you scared or something, boy?
Scared of 0l' scary Mutt, eh?
No.
Best you look at someone
when they're talking to you, eh, boy?
Show you ain't afraid.
Fucking hell.
Go on, boy. Get us a beer, boy.
You all right there, bro?
You keep staring, cuz, you're gonna
lose those fuckin' eyes in a sec.
Better me than a little kid, eh, bro?
I ain't a fuckin' kid!
I don't need your fuckin' help!
I didn't fuckin' ask for it, did I?
- Yeah.
- See ya, man.
Fuck off.
Are you still here, bro?
Fuck, he's gone, bro.
Nobes.
Yeah.
The fuck?
- Nobes.
- Genesis.
How are you, bro?
Shush, man! How am I?
Got bloody neighbours, man.
What the fuck are you doing here?
Do you know what time it is?
We need to talk. I got this idea.
Listen, I like this area.
I don't want to piss anybody off.
- All right? What do you want?
- Yes. This.
I want to join it. I want
to be a part of this.
Eastern Knights.
It's for kids, Gen!
Well, that's fine.
- That's fine?
- Yeah.
How are you doing at
the moment, my male?
Good. Really good.
- I'm better.
- You're better?
You're banging on my bedroom window
at 4:30 in the morning
'cause you want to join
a kids' chess club
and that's better?
These kids are fucked
up enough as it is.
I can't rock their boat.
Sorry, Gen.
Glad you're feeling better.
Hey, look, I could help. I can help.
It's not even a real chess club, Gen.
It's just someplace for them to go.
Stability. Look at me. Stability.
Now, I'm going back to bed
'cause I got to be at work
in two fuckin' hours, bro.
All right, I'll blend in.
You won't even know I'm there.
Stability. I got n.
Gen, no! No!
I'll help organise, do
the dishes, make teas.
We don't have tea.
I don't care. I'm...
No boat-rocking. I will
not rock the boat.
If I agree to this,
will you get off my bloody doorstep?
6:00 p.m. tomorrow.
All right, my bro.
Good night, Gen.
Eastern Knights!
Gen! Shut up!
ATM'?
ATM'?
What are you doing?
I got to O-
You were once a chess champ, eh?
The Dark Horse?
You know you shouldn't really
go through other people's things.
Yeah, you shouldn't leave them
in other people's rooms.
How come you stopped playing?
Dad's home.
Where you been?
Drive to fuckin' Hamilton or something?
Sorry. I've left your
keys right there, okay?
No, no, you wait around.
I want to talk to you.
Mana, come out back. Blood's here.
You coming?
Hey, Boss.
Thanks for coming, my brother.
You know my boy.
Birthdays coming up.
Fifteen.
Been thinking.
He's ready.
I want him in.
Some ain't right for it, eh?
He is.
This what you want, boy?
Yeah.
Old time's sake, my brother?
Old time's sake.
You want him done on his birthday?
Right.
- Mutt.
- Yeah?
Boy's all yours now. Harden him up.
We ain't patching no child.
Sweet as, bro.
Moment of truth now, boy?
Sweet.
Be seeing you soon, eh, boy?
ATM'?
You wanted to talk to me?
Murray!
Rusty! Rusty! Murray?
- Hey, bro, can I have a turn?
- No.
- No! No! You can't!
- I said please.
Don't break the table, all right?
You do it every week.
Don't you break it.
I'll break your face!
Thank you for doing
what I said not to do.
Calm down.
Calm down! Rusty.
Come on, you fellas, calm down.
Shut up!
Thank you, Nathan!
All right, everyone, sit down, please.
- I'll take you to...
- Murray, Murray!
Boys, I told you, sit down.
Okay, so, you fellas who haven't had a
meal, there's some milk up there for you.
And we've got a new member today.
Genesis Potini.
Or, as he was once
called, The Dark Horse.
- Dark Pony!
- Nice hair, bro!
Thank you very much, Rip.
Thank you very much.
We're gonna do some
quick introductions,
and when I say quick, I mean quick.
So, Jedi, you want to kick us off, bro?
Kia or a, bro.
I'm Jedi.
- The Stallion.
- The gelding.
I'm the club DJ here,
so if you got any requests,
send them this way.
Even if I was 40 years old,
I wouldn't listen to your shit.
Now, stop it.
And my special power would be...
- No.
- ...ladies' man.
- No special power.
- I want a special power.
All right, you can have one.
Everyone can have one special power.
Kia or a, bro!
I'm Rusty,
and my special power will be
to jump to the moon and colonize it.
- Kia or a.
- Kia or a, Rusty.
I'm Piripi.
I don't really have a special power.
- Come on.
- I'm Rangimarie.
I'm from Awapuni,
and if I had a superpower,
it would be to fly to America,
meet Usher, bring him back to Gizzy,
and make him have my babies.
HEY-
- You'd have his babies.
- Cut it out.
My name is Murray. If I had a superpower,
it would be invisible and super strength.
- Can only have one.
- No, only one.
Fine, I pick super strength.
I'm Nathan. My special power
would be playing music.
Kia or a, bro.
- My name's Rip.
- Rip!
And if I had a superpower,
I'd have to go with being
like Tumatauenga, the god of war,
so I can, like, beat all you fellas up,
smash you all.
Yeah. Kia or a. Thank you.
Thank you, now.
- I'm talking, bro.
- You can't smash me, I'll smash you.
- Sit down. Sit down.
- Kia or a, Gen.
Kia or a.
I'm Sandy,
and I'm gonna get the invisibility
that Murray gave away
so that I can hide from all of you
when you talk too much.
Especially you!
- Whatever! You love us!
- I got a special power.
My special power is, I'm the milky man.
All right! All right.
And lastly...
Hi, everyone.
I am of the Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti clan.
My name is Genesis Potini.
And...
My special powers, yes.
Yes, yes, yes.
I'm gonna lead you all
to the National Chess Championships
up in Auckland
in six weeks' time!
Outside.
Nobes...
Gen, what are you doing?
Positivity. Wait, wait!
I'm trying to give
them some positivity.
- They've already got something positive.
- No, that's not...
They don't even have
decent chess sets, cuz.
Gen, listen to me.
I have thought about this,
and I know it will work.
- You thought about it?
- Yes.
- Thought about them?
- Yes, yes.
Who you just met tonight?
Who you don't even know
whether they can even play!
Yeah.
Gen!
I can help them.
They'll have a purpose.
They need a purpose, a focus.
Who knows what'll happen?
I know what will happen.
You'll rev them up
with some new and exciting idea,
then you're gonna go off the rails,
and we're not gonna see you again.
They don't need some big,
delusional tournament.
They don't even have parents.
Just fuckin' gangs and jails.
They're not even around.
They need people
who are gonna show up, Gen.
Stability!
- Cuz...
- Go!
Shut up, everyone!
No rocking the boat.
Not supposed to... Don't rock the boat!
Nana'?
Where's he been tonight?
You think you're his
fuckin' mummy now, eh?
Fuckin' retard.
You fuckin' pisshead, eh?
Too much!
You want a sash, man'!?
You want a drink, you soft cock?
Come on, sis.
ATM'?
Beer, bro?
No. No, no.
I know things have been hard on you,
my bro.
Been hard on me, too.
You understand?
Mutt...
He said you took Mana out last night.
No, he followed me, bro.
I don't want it happening again.
He's got to be a man
now, got to be strong.
I can't have you messing with his head.
No, I would never do that, bro.
That's the last thing I want.
That's 1,000 bucks, bro.
Go and get a place of your own.
No. What about the ward, bro?
I'll tell the ward what
you want 'em to know.
As long as you respect
what I'm asking, bro.
Get on the dole.
Start your own life.
I can't do anything more for you now,
my brother.
When I was really sick...
I'd see you.
Back when we were little kids.
You'd put your hand on my shoulder,
and you'd say,
We'll be all right, bro.
Everything will be alright."
You're gonna be all right, eh?
You're gonna just buy me out
just like that, eh?
That's how it's gonna be, man.
You think that's good?
That's how you want to do it?
That's how you want to leave it?
I just have to find a purpose.
A traitor? A Judas? Why?
What was it about?
Michael!
You want to go inside, bro?
We gonna start soon.
Fella won some local school comp.
Cleaned them all up.
Then tried to burn down the school.
I told his parole officer
that we're going to this...
This tournament.
Be like his community service.
They went for it.
Gen, you probably think
I'm being some big arsehole.
But you talk dreams to those kids,
you better follow through.
Take your meds, get
your sleep, whatever.
Just promise me
that you're looking after yourself.
Promise me you won't let 'em down.
Promise.
So, gear...
I figure we...
What are those?
Just be careful with them, please.
We just got them!
Come on, at least let
them last the night.
Nice one, bro.
Michael, can you help Piripi, please?
Thank you.
Be careful with them, eh?
Don't want to be like Noble
and end up in no-man's-land.
Someone stole our pawns!
Must have been Usher.
Not even funny, bloody Jedi.
Stop with the fuckin' old music!
Hey, hey! Look here.
Good evening, team.
Rusty!
As members of Eastern Knights,
you belong to a very special family,
which means...
- Oh, man!
- Awesome!
You will each be represented
by a warrior on this board.
You're to keep it with you at all times
as a kaitiaki, or guardian.
At practise, you return it here,
back to the board,
to reunite us all as a family.
Okay?
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
Line up, then.
Wail. Wait.
Before you get your sticky, dirty little
fingers on these beautiful pieces...
I think there's one that needs to
be handed out first, don't you?
King for a king, eh?
What do you all think?
- Yeah!
- Yeah!
Yeah, of course.
All right, now, think about who you
are, all the good things about you.
Pick a piece.
Come on.
Nice one, Rip.
Thanks, Gen.
Thanks, Gen. Mean.
I think I'm gonna take this
because I deserve him.
And... Yeah.
Thanks, Gen.
Thank you, Genesis,
for giving me this beautiful...
- Rook.
- ...rook.
Next week, you're all going to be
learning chess notation.
Who knows what that means?
You got to write down
where you move your pieces?
That's exactly what it means.
You have to write down your moves,
where your pieces end up on the board.
Now, see, I have my little notebook,
and I make chess notation.
See that, see the knight there?
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
I take two steps closer to...
Angry Noble!
And where does Angry Noble go?
His milk truck!
Very funny.
His milk truck. Awesome!
And his milk truck is parked at E3.
How do I know that is E3?
A, B, C, D, E.
One, two, three... E3.
- Rank.
- Rank and file.
Easy. All right, now, what move
should black make next?
Manihera?
Bro, I'll give you a game, eh?
Whatever.
All right. How about...
Look.
Jedi the Stallion.
Checkmate again.
Sorry, bro.
Good game, my bro.
Looks like we got another Dark Horse
in our midst, eh?
What Dark Horse? Him?
- Didn't you go crazy or something?
- Michael.
You made a mistake.
What, winning?
You could've got checkmate
about six moves earlier.
This fella for real, Noble?
Let me see.
So, you were here.
- Yeah.
- Pretty much it, right?
And then he moved his queen here.
So, queen takes queen, C3.
That's the best move.
That's what I did.
Try this one. See?
See, you just lost your queen, bro.
No wonder they call you crazy.
Take the queen, Noble.
Checkmate.
See? Be crazy.
- Burn the school down.
- Don't burn the school down.
Burn the school down!
Don't burn the school down!
Burn the school down!
All right, all right, all right.
Everybody, go to your own tables.
Put those back.
Put that back, please, Murray.
Get outta here, man!
Please do not burn down the school.
Crazy little midgets.
Only on the board.
Okay, great, come on.
Go again?
- I can choose what I want!
- What did your parents teach you?
Hurry up, eh...
- Fine. I spy with my little...
- Big eye.
- Big eye.
- ...my big eye something that's green.
- Are you dumb?
- I ain't dumb.
Supposed to be a letter,
not a bloody colour!
I can choose a colour if I want!
- Well, then, grass.
- You have wonderful children.
- No! No! No!
- Yeah! Yeah! Shut up!
Yes, it is,
'cause she's my next-door neighbour.
Thanks.
Mum, can Gen come in when we get home?
I think Gen's got his own stuff
to do tonight, hon.
- Yeah!
- Okay.
- Thank you, though.
- Shut up!
- Said number 10, right?
- You shut up!
- Is this it?
- Yes, yes, yes.
- I can kick your arse.
- I can kick you!
Bro, your leg's down there, Murray.
Nice place.
See you tomorrow then.
See you tomorrow.
BYE, Gen!
- Bye.
- Bye, Gen.
You hold onto those pieces,
all right, you kids?
- Yeah.
- Thanks for the lift.
- Bye.
- Good night.
BYE, Gen!
We a know who Maui is, eh'?
- He's one of our ancestors, eh'?
- Yeah.
And one day he went fishing.
He had this magic fishhook.
He threw it over the side,
and then something bit.
He was like, That's a bit heavy.
Can't pull that up all on my own."
So, because he was a leader
of his people, like this king,
Maui, he went and got
all of his family, just like us,
just like all these
pieces on this board,
they come together,
and they pulled and they pulled
and they pulled up land.
And that land is the land
we all live on now, eh?
- New Zealand?
- That's us.
And that board there,
the kingdom for this king,
that board is like our land.
We have to protect our land, eh?
And we do that
by all working together with our king.
Now, if we lose our king, Maui,
game over, no more game,
'cause he got the magic,
so we have to protect him.
Now, the one last thing about Maui,
our king,
is he has to carry that responsibility,
and it's very heavy.
So, it slows him down,
and he can only move
one square at a time.
Nana'?
Mafia.
What are you doing here?
I've got a present for you.
Found it in our house.
I thought you might want it.
You followed me here?
You can't be here, Mana.
Does your father know you're here?
He knows
that you came to our practise.
Are youse going to a tournament?
How did you know that?
I know you think I'd be shit at chess, but
that's just 'cause nobody's taught me.
Maybe I could be all right.
Maybe I could play in your tournament.
Oh, boy.
You have to go.
Nana, I'm sorry.
Fuck it, then! Whatever!
You're just scared!
Fuckin' bullshit anyway!
This is way better than Noble's garage!
All right, you kids, listen up!
Okay-
We need to raise some money if we're
gonna make it to this tournament.
Now, I know all of you
have a special talent,
something that you're good at.
This is what we're gonna do.
We're gonna practise it,
we're gonna make it even better,
and then we're gonna charge people
some big bucks
to come and watch us!
Think about what it is.
What are you gonna do?
You can't sleep up there
any more, all right?
Do you have something Mana could do?
Yeah, of course.
Hey, everyone, say kia or a to Mana.
- Hi, Mana.
- Kia or a, Mana.
Come here.
Go on. Go talk to Sandy.
Kia or a. I'm Piripi.
- I'm Rip.
- Cheers.
- Hey, Mana, I'm Nobes.
- I'm Mana.
Jedi.
Okay, show me the next bit.
That's good. What's the next bit?
Like a diamond. But turn around.
Face your audience. Yeah.
Yes!
Yes!
Yeah, this is the story.
This is the story.
Just this old tohunga
that lives up on this cliff.
Do you want to tell the story?
I don't know.
Is it hard?
No, no, you just read it off the paper.
Who's the tohunga?
- You're the tohunga.
- Yeah, bro, I'm the wisest.
So, I'll be the little Maori boy.
Just kicking back while my whole
village is getting smashed.
We got to step up our game right now.
The battle's not far away.
So, 10 rules.
- Control the centre!
- Right on the centre.
- Rip!
- I can't remember.
- Rusty? Rusty?
- Connect the rooks.
Connect the rooks.
Two rooks together are
stronger than one.
Leave no one behind.
All together, that's where we create the
net. That's how Maui caught the sun.
Okay? Coordinate.
- Rip?
- I still can't remember.
Come on, just like a little preview.
- Nah.
- That's just mean.
Rangimarie, give me the coordinates
for the Spanish Square.
CA.
- C4.
- Who told her?
- The Italian Square.
- B5.
- Stand up when you say it.
Stand up, Grumpy.
- The Italian Square.
- B5.
Awesome!
You need to show me
how to beat Michael.
He's very good is Michael.
- Who wants to play some blind chess?
- Yeah!
Cover your eyes.
Now, Jedi.
E2 to E4.
Bishop to D6.
Queen to E4. Checkmate.
Murray, did you fall asleep? Murray!
Murray.
Give us the coordinates.
Knight to B6.
Knight to B6.
Genius.
You can't put him there
unless he's protected.
Now, we've gone over this.
See?
Free.
You're not listening.
I'm just gonna keep on
taking your pieces.
Have you ever been pissed on?
It was in front of all of them.
I just sat there. Couldn't do anything.
Listened to him laughing.
I just want to fuckin' kill him.
Why are you sleeping here?
Why aren't you fuckin' sleeping
in a house like everyone else?
Is there something wrong with you,
holding on to all those old clippings?
Are you crazy?
Is that why you need those pills?
Just fuckin' tell me!
Or are you too scared?
When I was a boy...
I was taken to a hospital.
Mental hospital,
'cause they thought there was
something wrong with me.
And the doctors,
they looked at me for a while
and told my family I was sick.
I had to stay.
I didn't see your dad for a long time.
But I kept playing-
Play every day,
dreaming of the day
I'd meet him again and thrash him.
I got out,
won a few local games, tournaments,
beat a few good fellas.
That's when they made
those clippings that you found.
But the stress...
I'd just get sick again.
I had to take those pills
to stop me from getting sick.
Have you thrashed Dad yet?
Not yet.
But you have played
against him though, eh?
Yeah.
He taught me.
Mafia.
You are not what they're
making you think you are.
Here.
King for a king.
A couple of you have come and told me
that you don't think you're gonna be
able to make it up to Auckland.
Now, if your parents
really don't want you to come,
we can't make them.
I'm really sorry, but we can't.
Just keep trying, yeah?
That's all I can say, all right?
The tournament is in a week.
We want as many of you up there
as possible.
A week? What day?
Next weekend.
Okay, so, we got to
knuckle in here, yeah?
Be strong... Be courageous...
Get out there and do your best.
Be strong... Be courageous...
Get out there and do your best.
Get into it.
Mana, where you going?
You should have fuckin' told me.
What?
That's my fuckin' birthday.
That's when I'm getting
fuckin' patched!
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
It's okay. Carry on.
It's fine.
Okay, let's give her
another little clap.
Good girl. Now take a bow.
You go sit down. Good girl.
Who's gonna come up next?
Yeah?
'Bout time you came
round for a visit, eh?
I was havin' this dream.
You and I were playing
down by the creek like we used to.
You were drowning.
And I'd reach out.
And then you'd jump up,
and I'd realise you were
playing a joke on me.
What you lookin' so serious about?
Nothing.
Ward called.
I told 'em you're so healthy,
they must have got the wrong fella
in the first place.
They liked that.
Thank you, my bro.
Was I wrong?
No.
No.
I need to talk to you
about something, Ariki.
You in trouble?
No.
When I got out of the ward,
they told me I have to find
something positive to focus on,
and, well, I found something.
It's a club. Chess club.
For kids. And...
I'm taking them to this tournament
in Auckland.
They might lose,
but at least it's something
I can do for them, eh?
Something different, positive.
I was thinking maybe...
Maybe Mana could come, too.
Maybe he'd enjoy it.
Pretty hard
if he doesn't know how to play, eh?
He does.
I'm not saying he's gonna win
or nothing, but...
It's next weekend.
The tournament, it's next weekend.
Get out.
Wait. Wait a minute.
Behind my back, both of youse,
after I asked you.
No, it wasn't like that, bro.
I wanted to tell you about it.
- I wanted to ask you...
- About what?
About you knowing
what's best for my boy?
'Cause you got some fuckin' chess club?
Fuck up his chances with the brothers?
No, it wasn't like that.
You think some kids' game's
gonna solve all his problems?
Off to some weekend tournament.
And what, happy endings?
And then what?
You gonna raise him, feed him,
stay out of your nuthouse
long enough for that?
'Course you fuckin' ain't.
Dump him right back here, and then
fuck off back where you came from.
Wait, wait. Stop, please.
Just stop a second.
I don't want take him from you. Okay?
I just want to give him a chance to
see something out there in the world.
There ain't nothing out there for him!
World don't want him.
Didn't want me, and sure as
fuck didn't want you, did it?
He lives in my world,
the real fuckin' world.
Look, I didn't want this. I'm sorry.
I didn't want it to be like this.
Come here telling me fuckin' stories.
Remember my hand on your shoulder,
do you?
Telling you things will be all right?
Well, nobody had theirfuckin' hand
on mine, bro.
No one told me shit'd be all right.
I've been alone with nothing.
But I stayed fuckin' standing.
When you fell all apart,
I stayed fuckin' standing,
and so will he.
And I ain't gonna let you fuck that up.
I don't want to fuck anything up, bro.
But he is being pissed on.
Pissed on and beat up by Mutt.
And you're his father.
You should be protecting him.
Damn fuckin' right I'm his father!
You think I don't know?
You think I didn't go
through the same fuckin' shit?
That's the real world.
That's the shit
the rest of us have to deal with
while you just take your fuckin' pills.
Ariki, please.
- Get out.
- Please, just listen to me. Just...
You got 10 fuckin' seconds.
No, please, listen to me. Just...
No, just listen to...
I'm just asking you for a week.
- Five!
- No, it doesn't make any sense, man.
Why can't you just give him a week, eh?
- Two!
- That's all I'm asking is just one week.
A week!
I'm just asking, why can't you give him
one more week?
'Cause I ain't got one
more fuckin' week!
You fuckin' blind, bro?
What are you talking about?
Just get out.
'There's nothing for him out there.
They have nothing for him out there.
The world doesn't want you.
It doesn't want me.
You gonna raise him?
You gonna feed him?
That's what you gonna do?
'Cause I haven't got a week."
Why can't you give him a week?"
"I haven't got a week."
Why can't you just give him one week?
We're just talking about a week."
"Yeah, just go on. Get out. Get out.
Told ya to just get out. Just get out."
Got to stay positive.
Got to stay positive.
Just get it together.
Say something.
Say something positive.
There is nothing positive.
Only positive.
Get it together, boy.
Positive.
Come on, now. Come on.
You can do this. You got it.
You got it. You got it.
You can do it.
You can.
Think of something positive.
Into the darkness. It's
just the darkness.
When the darkness comes the light,
then there's another.
There's another day.
There's another day every day.
Every day's a learning day, boy.
Every day's a teaming day.
Where is everyone?
Where you been sleeping, Gen?
Rip's been pulled out.
Rip's mum said you'd been sleeping
up at the monument.
Gen!
Kia or a. Are you Rip's mother?
Hi, my name is Genesis Potini.
I'm his chess coach.
And I implore you to allow him
to stay in the club, please.
Don't make him leave the club.
- Just let him stay...
- I've seen you.
You've been sleeping up on Kaiti Hill.
You just got out of a mental home,
didn't you?
Well, yes,
but please don't do this to him.
You shouldn't be anywhere
near those kids.
Come on. "You shouldn't be anywhere
near those kids.
Shouldn't be anywhere
near those kids," eh?
You shouldn't be.
Shouldn't be anywhere
near those kids."
No, you shouldn't be any...
"You shouldn't be
anywhere near those kids."
Hey, you want to play?
Want to play a game? Come on.
Come on, play a game.
Yeah. Let's have a game. Come on.
You want to...
Don't be frightened of me. Come on.
You can play. You can all play.
Everybody's welcome to play.
Doesn't matter what they tell you.
You're all welcome.
Everybody's welcome here.
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah, doesn't matter if you're a pawn or a
king or a queen or a knight or a bishop.
You're all welcome to
play on this board.
Come on, I can teach
you a thing or two.
Don't be frightened of me.
I'm not gonna bite you.
Look, it's a beautiful day.
It's a beautiful learning day.
We can all learn, can't we?
Every day's a learning day.
Come on. Come down here.
Come on, here.
You want a game?
What's your name? You want to play?
You fellas, too, come on.
Doesn't matter how old you are,
how young you are,
who you are, where you're from.
It doesn't matter what they tell you.
Jesus!
What a Pi!-
Sorry, Gen.
My friend, who is also the most disgusting
person on the Earth, lives here.
He's working in Christchurch
for the next three months,
so you can have it till then.
It's better than a hill, right?
There's a key to a van out the back.
It doesn't have a warrant,
but he said that you can use it
as long as you don't get it ticketed.
My number.
There's milk, eggs, bread.
This is the best thing
that has ever happened to those kids.
I better get you cleaned up
for this fundraiser tomorrow, yeah?
Kia or a, everyone.
My name's Michael Manihera.
This is my family, the Eastern Knights.
We're fundraising here today
for our chess club
so we can go to Auckland
and compete in the national champs.
We've got our bucket down here,
so put money in it if you can.
And if you can't, then
you can just fuck off.
Hey, Michael!
Nah, just kidding.
Is Mana coming?
I don't know.
Kia or a.
This is something I learned
with my friends, Rip and Mana.
Nana chose it (or
Genesis, our chess coach.
They were gonna act it out,
but they couldn't make it.
It's called The tohunga and the boy."
Once there was a
tohunga, an old priest,
"who lived up on a cliff.
"In the past, his village
had gone to him for guidance.
"But now they just thought
he was old and crazy.
"One night, he had a dream
of a huge taniwha coming
and destroying everything
and only one boy
being able to stand up to it.
"He tried to warn everyone,
but they wouldn't listen.
Then he saw the boy from his dream.
"He convinced him to be brave enough
to talk to them all.
"That night, the boy nervously stood
in front of the whole village,
"told them that once
the tohunga had been respected,
"and they should listen to him now.
Feeling bad,
the people decided
to bring the tohunga some food
up on his cliff.
Like the old days, he was happy again.
Then the earthquake hit.
"As they all watched,
the entire village was flattened,
ail their houses destroyed.
"But because they was up
on the tohungis cliff,
not one of them was hurt.
They hailed the boy and the tohunga
for saving them.
"The boy became their leader,
helping them rebuild the village.
"And when the tohunga
finally left to the spirit world,
"his wisdom and magic remained alive
through the boy
"to be carried on in the future
for the village."
Thank you.
Fuck that guy, bro.
Tried to get up on my way out the door.
You fuckin' stay down,
you motherfucker."
We are the descendants
of Maui Tikitiki a Taranga
The descendants of Porourangi
Porouariki
Maui's Canoe
The East Coast
The rising of the sun
We're going to Auckland!
Left-hand drive. Awesome!
You good?
You bunch of screaming midgets!
We're going to Auckland!
Bye, Gisborne.
We'll be back soon!
- Bye, Rachel!
- Bye, Brendan!
- Bye, Dave!
- Look, there's Rachel!
- Bye!
- I see Jenny, too!
- Bye!
'BYE. Mom!
BYE, Dad!
Nobes, we need to make a stop.
What? Gen, what?
We need to make a stop.
Nana'?
Nana'?
I was trying to think
what Maui would do if he was me.
But I couldn't remember.
Couldn't remember
what you told me any more.
It's all right. It's all right.
I talked to Ariki.
He wants you to come with us now.
Come on.
We need our king.
Come on.
- Where did you go, Gen?
- Where did you go?
- Come on, hop in, boy.
- Hi, Mana.
- 'Sup, Mana?
- Hey, Mana.
Let's hit the road!
Yup?
Yup.
Wake up!
We're nearly there. Look!
Come on. Rangimarie, come on.
- What's that?
- Rusty, Rusty, come on. Quick, quick!
Look-see, look-see! Over there.
Look at all the lights.
Come on, Piripi.
Come on.
Just stand on top of Jedi.
That's the way.
We're here.
Come on, come on!
Inside, inside. We're late.
Murray! Murray!
Hello. We are the Eastern Knights.
- Eastern Knights.
- Yes.
Well, they need to wear these
while competing.
- Great.
- Mana.
Yeah, Murray, that's yours.
You got yours, as well?
Who's got Piripi?
I've got Piripi here.
Thank you.
I'll go check it out. Bring the kids.
All right, Piripi, table three.
Mana, table 10.
Michael Manihera, 13. Rangimarie, 19.
Murray, 21.
All in.
Long live Eastern Knights.
Long live the king!
Go get 'em. Go on.
Go on, go!
Not you. You can stay.
You stay here.
Go, Eastern Knights!
Check.
Mate.
Good game.
Fuck!
Rangi.
They're dropping like flies, Gen.
Yeah, we're not out yet.
Yeah. Yo!
Yo!
yo!
Yes!
Shut up, Gen.
There are still games going
on, all right? Thank you.
Check.
Mana, come on.
Just win one game.
One game, please. Just one game.
Check.
Check...
Mate. Checkmate. That's checkmate.
- Yep.
- it is?
I won.
Gen, I won!
Okay, we're gonna take a break for
the day and commence tomorrow.
All right, now,
congratulations to all those players
that managed to gel through.
See you tomorrow.
There ya go.
Get ya the other bag tomorrow, eh?
These are all good kids.
You did awesome today, Mana.
I beat that fella, eh?
Nah.
You thrashed that fella.
No one ever thought I'd do that.
Gen...
I know Dad said I couldn't come.
I know you made that up.
When we go back,
don't do anything, okay?
Promise?
What if you didn't go back?
That's where I belong.
He's dying.
Did you know that?
Promise you won't do anything.
I seen you steal that poster.
Watching everything, ain't ya?
You should do it.
You could win.
Become The Dark Horse again.
Guys, come out here!
I've got something to show you!
Okay, is everyone here?
Is everyone here?
'A.
What are you doing down the back?
I got this for you
because I want you all
to look awesome tomorrow.
- Are you ready?
- Yup.
- Ready?
- Yup.
Hey, don't snatch.
It's got your name on it.
- Hey, that's mine!
- Rusty, that's yours.
Come on, Rusty.
Good morning, everybody. Welcome back.
Before we begin,
just a polite reminder.
Could we please have silence
during the games?
Right. Please wait for the buzzer.
What's he doing, the Sicilian?
Yep.
Yes!
Please, Mana. Please, Mana.
No!
It's a gambit.
- Good game.
- Good game.
It's all good, Gen. It's all good.
It's all good.
Now go straight to the left.
Keep it on the left.
Control the centre.
Control the centre!
- Excuse me, sir.
- Eh?
Please don't yell out at the players
during the game.
Sorry, sorry, 570'-
Welcome back to this year's
New Zealand
Junior Chess Championship Final.
Michael Manihera, Tom Davis,
please take your seats.
Yo, Gen, what do you do
when you're really fuckin' nervous?
Michael Manihera.
I just remember that deep down
we're all the same.
Michael Manihera.
That fella over there,
he's just as scared as you are.
Michael Manihera, it's your last call.
- Good luck.
- You too, bro.
No.
Come on, Michael.
Coordinate, coordinate.
Coordinate the play, come on.
Take it. Take it, take it.
Make the trade.
Make the trade!
I'm so sorry.
I'm sorry, yeah.
This is your last warning, then I
have to ask you to leave the hall.
I understand, yes. I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry.
Just, please.
Don't fall for that.
Don't fall for that.
Don't fall for it. Don't fall for it!
Gen, please!
Burn the school down, Manihera!
That's it, sir.
Please, you're gonna have to leave.
I'm so sorry. I'm gone.
I'm sorry. I'm gone.
You're the king, okay?
Give him your energy.
I'm sorry.
Develop, coordinate.
Coordinate all your pieces.
Just look for the combos.
Combinations, combinations.
That's right, get a flow, active flow.
Don't leave anyone behind.
You need everybody.
A net. You catch the sun.
That's how you catch the sun.
You get a net. And you...
Keep it positive, positive, positive.
- Gen!
.What? what? what, '
What?
He won! He won!
Eastern Knights! Eastern Knights!
- Long live Eastern Knights!
- Long live the king!
- Gen!
- Burn the school...
Get in the car.
Move, boy!
- Where's Gen going?
- Just get your stuff, eh?
Get your bags, your jackets,
and we'll meet in the car.
- Get your trophy.
- Yeah.
Meet in the van.
Why don't you crash
at mine tonight, cuz?
No, I'll be all right.
But I'll come over first thing
in the morning, then, my brother.
All good.
Thank you.
Proud of you. Proud.
Hey, Gen.
Stability, eh?
Mam Get up.
Mana, it's time to go.
Come on, get up. Get up, get up.
Boy's been fuckin' patched now.
Too fuckin' late, eh, cuz?
Take it off. Get it off.
What, are you fuckin' kidding me?
Stop it, Mutt!
Go easy, cuz.
What, you got something
you wanna fuckin' say, bro?
How many times you been pissed on?
How many times before
you stopped crying?
Fuck you!
Fuck you!
Mum
Fuck you, motherfucker.
Mafia.
Come on.
It's gonna be all right.
What the fuck are you doing?
Your boy was fuckin' given to me.
You ain't callin' fuckin'
shit around here.
Shut up, Mutt!
Shut the fuck up. Just
shut the fuck up!
Fuckin' get back here,
you fuckin' hear me?
Keep walking.
Think you can fuckin'
walk off like that, boy?
You fuckin' belong to me now, boy.
- You're fuckin' mine.
- Hey!
Don't look back.