This Way of LIfe

Hard Joyful Tragic Soaringly Free Living In Paradise
If you are fortunate enough to experience "This Way of Life" you will understand the clunky title of this little review. Paying attention is a constant problem for me, but this film of a real life couple struggling to live free and raise their six spirited children with love, freedom and responsibility riveted me. It moved me so I watched it again that same night and was equally absorbed. Days later my wife and I watched it together. She was equally enthralled.

The New Zealand scenery is spectacular though the living conditions are sometimes gritty. Peter and Colleen Karena are unassuming yet frequently appear heroic whether confronting serious challenges or carrying out everyday chores. They speak eloquently of their lives. The children are a delight. For me the beauty, tension and wonder of this film is summed up when the smallest rider is suddenly thrown from his Large racing horse. The camera films from a distance but you clearly see the boy immediately rebounding from...

Simply beautiful!
Peter & his wife Colleen live simply & raise their 6 kids without TV's or electronics but give them so much love. This movie was beautifully shot & shows what a family should be.

Must See!
This film is both complex and beautifully simple. Summed up in one sequence "What do you do for a living?" "I live for a living"... It's a story of family, relationships, life and living it for one extraordinary family. Finding what's important and what's not. This film raises intelligent questions about the nature of living and working in this modern world, raising a family, and others' expectations. It would be very easy to label this family in a number of ways, but looking closely none of those labels really apply. For horse lovers of course, the central tenant of 'this way of life' is that it intertwined with the horses; in fact horses are integral to this family's life.

Brilliant. Watch it.

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