Boy
Cinema Nova, 25/09/2010
Status: Behind by 5 films
I think the New Zealand accent is adorable. It makes me smile involuntarily and widely. Add to that the dead-pan New Zealand sense of humour and I’m smiling even wider.
Writer/director/actor TAIKA WAITITI (Eagle versus Shark) made me smile very wide indeed with Boy, the story of an 11 year old Maori kid (JAMES ROLLESTON) who is more the head of his family than his big-kid petty-crook dad (WAITITI), who has just returned home from gaol.
Reflecting on the plot, it’s actually quite bleak - Boy’s Gran looks after him, his brother Rocky (TE AHO AHO EKETONE-WHITU) - who is clearly effected by the fact that his mother died when he was born - and a number of young cousins. Boy’s Gran leaves Boy to cook and care for the brood for a week when she has to attend a funeral. Boy lies and fantasizes a lot about his father and, when he shows up, denies away the obvious truths about how crap he is.
But somehow - somehow - Waititi’s affection for his characters and the performances (especially from the kids) add a sheen of harmlessness to the potential awfulness and turns Boy into something charming, funny, moving and, ultimately joyful. The accents help this along considerably, no doubt.
