Jason KingBoy (7/10)
August 28th 2010 22:04
:
NZ Rocks
Category: No Category
BOY (7/10)
Taika Waititi's second feature film (after Eagle vs. Shark and episodes of TV's Flight of the Conchords), is a coming-of-age comedy/ drama set in the '80s, East Coast, New Zealand.
Boy (James Rolleston) is obsessed with Michael Jackson - in particular, his dance moves - and his little brother Rocky (Te Aho Eketone-Whitu) possibly possesses 'powers'. The pair are trying to find their potential (and the meaning of the word "potential") while living in the shadow of their larger-than-life dad, Alamein (Waititi).
In Boy's eyes, his dad is a hero: a deep-sea diver, war veteran, rugby captain, world record holder for beating up the most amount of people with one hand and close relation of Michael Jackson. But in reality Alamein is doing seven years in jail and is a member of the three-man Crazy Horses gang. Now out of the can, Dad returns home and Boy is confronted with the man he thought he remembered.
This is a beautiful looking rural family tale with superb acting but overall it falls a bit short of the mark or the brilliance of Whale Rider, which I have already heard it compared to. It has won the "Best Feature Film award at the Berlin International Film Festival and nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.
It is being marketed as a comedy but in reality this is a fairly deep emotional drama about child abandonment and bad parenting. The first words out of my mouth after the screening were "it's very quaint". This isn't really the marketing tagline you want for a film. I was expecting more. I found most of the comedy was seen in the trailer and the rest of it is good drama.
Waititi's direction is great and reflects the rural life and hard times that must be faced by a lot of young teenagers in these remote areas who are just discovering there is a much larger world out there. And deep down he really captures the realisation of discovering your parental figure is not the epitomy of cool you have dreamed they would be. He delivers a heartfelt film that begins as a comedy but gradually pulls back curtains and shows you a very sad tale of parental neglect and highlights that a lot of men should really wear condoms and should never become parents.
What makes this film is the casting and acting. James Rolleston is just superb as BOY - for someone who has never acted before and was cast three days before shooting he really makes this film. Listening to a radio interview with Rolleston and Waititi this week he says he just "wanted to try something different" and that he was told what to do and placed in front of the camera where he "just did it". Now that is acting for you - way to go James!!! Te Aho Eketone-Whitu (try saying that a few times) as Rocky is just as good, he carries a deep hurt that he killed his mother during child birth and you can see every emotion through his eyes, it is great to watch him onscreen. Without a care in the world or even realising it these two boys deliver a very powerful performance that is very sad and told through a cloud of humour. And, of course, Waititi plays the asshole father perfectly. I believe I told my viewing partner, Glen, during the film that he deserved to have his head kicked in - so I believe this means he did his job well.
Another thing this film achieved was making me fall in love with NZ all over again - god I love that place, it is so beautiful. BOY is out now on a limited release and it is a pretty decent family film to watch. Worth 7/10.
Taika Waititi's second feature film (after Eagle vs. Shark and episodes of TV's Flight of the Conchords), is a coming-of-age comedy/ drama set in the '80s, East Coast, New Zealand.
Boy (James Rolleston) is obsessed with Michael Jackson - in particular, his dance moves - and his little brother Rocky (Te Aho Eketone-Whitu) possibly possesses 'powers'. The pair are trying to find their potential (and the meaning of the word "potential") while living in the shadow of their larger-than-life dad, Alamein (Waititi).
In Boy's eyes, his dad is a hero: a deep-sea diver, war veteran, rugby captain, world record holder for beating up the most amount of people with one hand and close relation of Michael Jackson. But in reality Alamein is doing seven years in jail and is a member of the three-man Crazy Horses gang. Now out of the can, Dad returns home and Boy is confronted with the man he thought he remembered.
This is a beautiful looking rural family tale with superb acting but overall it falls a bit short of the mark or the brilliance of Whale Rider, which I have already heard it compared to. It has won the "Best Feature Film award at the Berlin International Film Festival and nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.
It is being marketed as a comedy but in reality this is a fairly deep emotional drama about child abandonment and bad parenting. The first words out of my mouth after the screening were "it's very quaint". This isn't really the marketing tagline you want for a film. I was expecting more. I found most of the comedy was seen in the trailer and the rest of it is good drama.
Waititi's direction is great and reflects the rural life and hard times that must be faced by a lot of young teenagers in these remote areas who are just discovering there is a much larger world out there. And deep down he really captures the realisation of discovering your parental figure is not the epitomy of cool you have dreamed they would be. He delivers a heartfelt film that begins as a comedy but gradually pulls back curtains and shows you a very sad tale of parental neglect and highlights that a lot of men should really wear condoms and should never become parents.
What makes this film is the casting and acting. James Rolleston is just superb as BOY - for someone who has never acted before and was cast three days before shooting he really makes this film. Listening to a radio interview with Rolleston and Waititi this week he says he just "wanted to try something different" and that he was told what to do and placed in front of the camera where he "just did it". Now that is acting for you - way to go James!!! Te Aho Eketone-Whitu (try saying that a few times) as Rocky is just as good, he carries a deep hurt that he killed his mother during child birth and you can see every emotion through his eyes, it is great to watch him onscreen. Without a care in the world or even realising it these two boys deliver a very powerful performance that is very sad and told through a cloud of humour. And, of course, Waititi plays the asshole father perfectly. I believe I told my viewing partner, Glen, during the film that he deserved to have his head kicked in - so I believe this means he did his job well.
Another thing this film achieved was making me fall in love with NZ all over again - god I love that place, it is so beautiful. BOY is out now on a limited release and it is a pretty decent family film to watch. Worth 7/10.
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Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
A delicate balance between comedy and drama.
I know Taika, he went to my high school and was friends with my younger brother.
Good review Jason.
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness