|
 It
would be a fairly safe guess that a semi-autobiographical movie based on
the childhood of Taika Waititi, writer/director of the off-the-wall HBO
series, Flight of the Conchords, might itself be somewhat offbeat. What
one might not expect from that film, simply titled Boy, is how
refreshingly original, charming and surprisingly emotional it is.
New
Zealand, 1984; even in the boondocks, the Kiwis are all atwitter about
the ensuing world domination of American pop star, Michael Jackson.
Boy, a young Maori lad idolises the singer and pastes drawings of his
hero’s likeness all around the home he shares with his little brother,
Rocky, and assorted cousins. The house is full of children without a
mother or father in sight, only an elderly grandmother long past the
years when she should be raising anyone’s kids. Boy’s mother passed
away while giving birth to Rocky and their father may or may not be in
jail. Boy’s imaginative version of his father’s fate as a dashing
outlaw on the lam is far more exciting than the all-too mundane reality
that he, like so many other Maori fathers, is absent from his children’s
lives because he is locked up. Both brothers find their fantasy worlds
far more engaging places than their dreary, rural small town where
everyone’s dirt poor and seems to be distantly related to everyone
else. Boy awaits the day his dad, Alamein will return; he’s got a sign
ready and everything. He can’t know how Alamein’s unexpected homecoming
will turn his world upside down as his father arrives with two prison
mates in tow to dig up his old mum’s field for a sack of money he hid
years ago. At first, Boy is thrilled to have Alamein back, and
encourages the introspective Rocky to interact with the dad he never
knew. Rocky is hesitant because Alamein is a virtual stranger and the
child fears his father blames him for his mother’s death. Not quite as
beguiled by Alamein’s flamboyant return, the younger son is a bit more
suspect of his dad’s activities, including his continual drug use and
offhand treatment of Boy, who worships the prodigal dad. Alamein has
managed to convince Boy that as soon as the money is discovered, they
will live in a mansion with a swimming pool and have monkeys and llamas
like Michael Jackson. In return, Boy will do anything to please his
father, including betraying a friend which brings about unexpectedly
painful results for Alamein and his “gang” of two mates, who quickly
abandon their “leader” and show him up as a powerless fool in front of
his children.
If Boy
had been a documentary, it would bring its viewers to tears. The story
of young, underprivileged children left to run wild all over an
impoverished town, without a parent in sight could be potentially
heartbreaking. Some kids harvest marijuana to make a living, some are
in lingering pain over the loss of a deceased mother with only a
deadbeat dad out in the world somewhere and there’s at least one whose
best friend is a goat. In Taika Waititi’s deft hands, these melancholy
ingredients become the basis for a gently rendered, genuinely touching
and inconceivably hilarious film about growing up. Waititi balances
broad humour as with the many disgraces of Alamein {Played by Waititi}
and his moronic mates; his attempt to defend his son against bullies and
s demonstration of how to enter a car the “cool” way. There’s the
bittersweet laughs of Boy’s drawings that come to life onscreen of his
fantasy dad and the amazing life they’ll be living once the money’s
found, complete with tuxedos, mansions and swimming pools. Waititi
gives us the cruelty of dawning pubescence as Boy blindly ignores the
adoring Dynasty (often seen with her sister, Falcon Crest),
cruelly favouring the more mature, Chardonnay. We simultaneously laugh
and cringe as Boy tries and fails to impress his crush at school with
some Michael Jackson dance moves that could use a bit more practice.
The director also hints at how Boy will grow up to be many times the man
his father is by showing us the child’s real concern for his withdrawn
little brother, who spends most of his free time at their mother’s grave
and later with the local scary guy, who, in his way, is just as isolated
as Rocky. The shattering of Boy’s illusions about his father is
inevitable because Alamein is purely a loser. Alamein is an
irresponsible manchild who never took the reins of being a real parent
to his sons after his wife’s death. Even after returning home from
prison, he doesn’t want his boys to call him “Dad,” preferring the name
“Shogun” after finding a dusty copy of the James Clavell novel in the
garage. Being so absent from their lives, there was no solid foundation
on which Boy could build the image of his dad, so why not make him a
superhero? Alamein is as far from a hero as one can get and a continual
source of disappointment to his kids from the moment of his arrival.
When Boy does finally see his father for what he is, it’s dramatic and
cathartic.
No
aspect of the film works without its two amazing leads; James Rolleston
as Boy and Te Aho Eketone-Whitu, as thoughtful little bro, Rocky. The
performances of these boys in this film are awards-worthy; so rare and
flawlessly natural that I can’t imagine what this movie would’ve been
without them. There is never a precocious or false note to their acting
and it’s particularly significant with Eketone-Whitu, whose Rocky is
drenched in a sadness beyond his years and says very little, but is
completely sweet and genuine. When I asked director Waititi about
casting the boys, he said neither child had ever acted before. I‘m
convinced their vibrance and authenticity is something he could never
have found with professional child actors. All the children in the film
have an unspoiled quality that suits the hardscrabble characters they
have to play. Understanding their roles might not have been a
particular stretch as all the kids grew up in the same town as Waititi,
and according to him, there’s not terribly much of a difference in the
living conditions there now as from nearly thirty years ago. That
unfortunate fact works in the movie’s favour as it’s exactly the
children’s realness and innate charm, combined with Waititi’s wonderful
script that strikes the perfect balance of pathos, ingenuity and
hilarity that makes Boy so original and such a delight.
~ The
Lady Miz Diva
March
2nd, 2012
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