Boy (2010)

Introspective narrative can work profound change, and this is a good example.

The story is simple enough: New Zealand native village; extreme poverty; passel of young kids establishing the world of the narrative.

One of these is our narrator, the Boy, about ten. His primary concern is how he appears to his mates and the local girls. Various comic devices set the tone before his father arrives back from prison. We then see some endearing shared fantasies, before Boy gets the truth about his Dad as selfishly irresponsible. The shape is generally called "coming of age." Thousands of these have been made. They have a built in minimal appeal, and great constraints on the ability to say anything new.

But this does have something new, thanks to the apparently limitless gateway of self- reference. We watch the movie that includes an inner movie of the boy's life, composed of fragments of other movies. We've had this since "Breathless," of course. The fragments have to do with roles associated with the father, mostly war movies, and about Boy, mostly Michael Jackson videos.

Here's something new: after we get all that settled, there is a second inner movie fold that appears, the Dad and his cohorts. He brings his own inner movie, different than Boy's. It is one of a rebel gang: James Dean, Marlon Brando. Boy tries to adapt his inner movie to his dad's and in the process breaks both.

Along the way, there is a spectrum of what we see: the narrator in the film, his ordinary life, his fantasies as he sees them. His fantasies as we see them. His dad's fantasies as he, we and Boy sees them.

Taika Cohen wrote, directed and stars as the dad. It is good, very good.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

Fmovies: Hubby and I went to see this movie last Friday and unfortunately missed the first 10 minutes as we were given the tickets by friends. We sat in a movie theatre with at least 40 people- something quite rare.

The movie drew me in straight away to the rural 80s where young Boy and his brother were growing up and meeting their father for the first time.

As the movie explored their relationship it was bitter-sweet and very humorous. All the leads acted beautifully and the story, directing and settings were very well done. It was honest, funny, compassionate, heart-wrenching, powerful and life-affirming. I'm still thinking about it days later with a grin.

I take my hat off to Mr Waititi for writing, directing and acting in this movie- its a wonderful film. Can't wait to see your next one.

All the actors were fantastic but I must mention the young Maori leads who were brilliant.

I came across this movie purely by chance whilst following links across the internet & boy am I glad I did! (If you'll excuse the pun). I've never been to NZ but have worked & socialised with plenty of Kiwis over the years & a bit of basic awareness of NZ culture (Long live the Dog!) is certainly an advantage in getting the most out of this film. However, do not despair ye of limited knowledge for there is a veritable cornucopia of every human emotion served up for your delectation that will appeal to all regardless of class, creed, health, wealth or beauty. And when the latest blockbuster rom-com/superhero/zombie/action-or- whatever flick has faded to a bland, slightly recalled, insignificance 'Boy' will still be with you. A line of dialogue, a cheeky face, a child's drawing, something will surface at the most unexpected moment that will induce a warm cosiness, a feeling of everything is going to be OK & a slightly stupid grin will probably slip onto your face. But there's the rub folks, because your chances of seeing it in your local multiplex are non-existent. TV can re-run 40 year old James Bond movies ad infinitum whilst neglecting gems like this & you will probably only be reading this review if you've already seen the film & are checking out previous work by those involved. So in the end we all lose, such a shame as, now more than ever, we need movies like these that rise above our petty daily grievances and give us all a feeling of wanting to belong to a more generous, carefree & happy society.

Boy fmovies. Boy is a simple but emotionally powerful story about growing up, relationships, following your head over your heart and drawing the line between right and wrong. It's easily one of the best New Zealand films ever made. It's Rich characters and humorous dialogue, entailed by the occasional light-hearted hand drawn animations delivered a hugely entertaining blend of culture, comedy and drama.

The story started on a perfect note with Boy played by James Rolleston giving his show and tell speech in the classroom. It introduced the character, his background and set the atmosphere, mood and setting all in one go without being a dull lead up. Taika Waititi (who also plays the dead beat father) did an amazing job in setting out each detailed scene with the occasional Michael Jackson tributes giving the film an even disperse of light-hearted laughs at the same time appropriately moving the plot along.

The film gave a heart aching recount on every boy's natural instinct to worship their father, whether they deserve it or not. The growth and resilience of each character portrayed superbly by every single actor from the child stars to the minor adult characters was a pleasure to watch. It still brings a smile to my face today. Pure brilliance...

http://musingsandmorsels.weebly.com/film.html

Beautiful, funny at times, never maudlin, coming of age for the children and adults in the film. Shot in a small town that is genuinely the town that the author/actor (father) actually grew up in. He spoke after our screening, and it was a 30 kid school house, which it still is. Actually the film is a huge success in NZ and the little community gets a small percentage of the gross, so the community is benefiting from this film.

The film captures a time and place in history and culture. It is slow and yet the story develops and covers a lot of ground. What I especially loved is that the camera doesn't jump around like Hollywood movies, changing every 5 seconds. It stays with the character.

Put on your list!

I'll start, unfairly perhaps for any new movie, by comparing it with thoughts that other NZ movies have left me with - only to explain how it left me feeling. I am smiling as I recall the movie and type this. A good sign! So, Eagle v Shark's quirkiness. Whale Rider's pathos & culture. Bro Town's language skills (who'd have thought "Egg" would be so eloquent a derogatory remark!) Second Hand Wedding's humanity, commentary on relationships & our overall resilience. Good things will happen. Every Boy's natural instinct to worship their father - irrespective of whether he's earned it or not - is shown against the halcyon backdrop of an east coast life in Godzone. I laughed out loud at Rockys apology for abuse of his special powers to knock an old fella over. I ached when Boy's Dad returned and the interactions between them - the hero worship meeting with reality; a coming of age. Taika's now customary expansion of characters was excellent - flawed, bravado filled fragile wee worlds we all build up. I have not served Boy adequately in this random review - its an amazing film. 9/10. Made me feel happy & glad to be alive and living in NZ.