War Stories Our Mothers Never Told Us

Gaylene Preston’s documentary deals with the personal experiences of seven women during WWII. Through interviews,... (more)

Gaylene Preston’s documentary deals with the personal experiences of seven women during WWII. Through interviews, archival footage, still photographs and popular songs of the time, she paints an absorbing and fascinating portrait of wartime New Zealand..The women’s experiences are all different, yet almost all involve romance. Several had passionate, last-minute unions as young men were called to go to war. Others were fleeting encounters with American GIs who were stationed here for a period of time. Some women lost their husbands to the war; others grew tired of waiting for them to return and found romance elsewhere. .One of the most touching stories is that of Tui, Preston’s mother, whose husband was held as a prisoner of war for so long that she started a relationship with another man. When her husband returned, she felt she had to go back to him despite her lover being the one she wanted to be with..The women are all articulate and tell their stories with passion and emotion despite being in their 70s or 80s now. While it sympathetically documents the New Zealand experience, the themes are so universal the film will touch the hearts of everyone. Initially conceived as a series of 5-minute vignettes to be screened on late-night television, the film still maintains an episodic structure. An outstanding soundtrack, made up primarily of local musicians, signed to the iconic Flying Nun label, gives this film an authentically Kiwi flavour. (less)