Boy : What do non New Zealanders think of this movie?

As a Kiwi, I really liked it but not sure if a lot of the '80's New Zealand' humour would translate too well. Interested to know what any non-locals think.

I'm from the U.S., and sadly this movie is pretty impossible to see here. I have siblings in New York and San Fransisco, and both said it hasn't shown there. I was lucky enough to see it when I was working in Wellington for two months.

To answer your question though, I'm sure there are plenty of jokes that went over my head, but I loved it all the same. And I think that for someone who has never been to New Zealand, there are going to be even more things that they won't understand (the majority of my friends don't know what a haka is, for example), but I think the terrific characters and fantastical moments would make it charming for anyone to watch.


For in these once-familiar streets I feel the chill of ghostly shadows everywhere.

There's a lot of great Kiwi references, but I'm sure non New Zealanders can catch the humor and understand the drama. I really enjoyed this film, hope it gains more speed overseas.

I'm Australian and saw this when i was visiting a week ago, and I loved it. Maybe a few things here and there that went over my head but I recall getting most of the jokes, there was an excellent balance of humour and drama and just overall a really well thought out film. Its dissapointing that it won't see a wider release overseas

Dude it's on previewing screening 16th August in Australia, just organised tickets to catch it in Newcastle. The upshot is most if not all Aussies haven't had a chance to check it out just yet. Being an expat kiwi I'm really looking forward to it.

American - loved it :)


Welcome to Costco, I love you

Australian and also loved it!

The kids in it were just fantastic and what a brilliant story. Best film I have seen in a long time.

Australians are certainly loving it. Any of the NZ-centric jokes that go over our heads are probably compensated for by the fact that we find the NZ accent itself kinda funny. (Is that immature?)

;-)

We find your accent funnier. ;-)

I am a Kiwi, and I was wondering how much would translate outside NZ, but I do think there is lots of humour that would, such as the l'il kid saying Sorry, I did that when the guy falls over by the river - all that kind of humour is so universal.

Serbian, loved it.

american- loved it! I studied abroad in NZ for a month and my entire group went to see this and every single one of us loved it! There were only a few things that went over our heads but our teachers eplained it to us. But

"Choose NOT to be a d!ck." - Silas Botwin

What's not to love? The humor, at both its silliest and most subtle, is deeply human and speaks of the longing every human harbors for a connection to the world.

Boy and Rocky want somethingor someoneto believe in, whether it's a father, a rock idol, a girlfriend or a special power. Alamein wants and needs somewhere to stand, refusing to admit how much he misses his lost wife and abandoned children (and, through them, his birth culture), using the Crazy Horse gang as a juvenile, macho substitute.

This film, though beautifully told through the specific lives of a Maori family, is completely, wonderfully universal.

We don't get that here. People ski topless smoking dope, so irony's not a high priority.

Just saw the film in New York City and really enjoyed it

Just watched; Non-Kiwi; absolutely LOVED IT!!! I've purchased online, "Whale Rider," "Sione's Wedding," "Once Were Warriors," "Goodbye Pork Pie" and one of my favourites, "Out of the Blue" (based on true events), so I have seen quite a few of their films before and definitely have a soft spot for N.Z. movies as; they're raw, honest and aren't afraid of poking fun at themselves regularly!! That's guts AND class in one! I noticed Cliff Curtis produced this also and he's now quite big here in the US!

Excellent movie - 10/10


Other recently purchased and recommended viewing would be; "No. 2," "Second Hand Wedding," "Rain" and the compelling documentary, "This Way of Life!"


~ My Voting History ~ http://tinyit.info/602

I'm Australian and I ADORE this film. I saw it last week here in Aus and I am very tempted to see it again ^^
I've been to New Zealand and have a lot of friends from there so I got a lot of the jokes. In fact my family have taken to calling each other 'egg' (with a kiwi accent :P)
I imagine in some places the humour will be lost on some people, but I think the majority of people will love this film just for it's heart.
It's such a lovely film, and if you haven't seen it yet - find a way because you will love it! ^^

A bit late replying as have only just seen it in the UK. Stunning! if some humour went over my head I certainly did not miss it, there were great laugh-out-loud moments (Boy dancing for Chardonnay) and superb acting - Boy and Rocky (aaaaw) plus Dad (Alamein), who was such a real character that I sort of fell in love-hate with him as the film progressed.
I found out after watching that Alamein - Taika Waititi - also directed and produced the movie - totally amazing. It really touched me and actually made me cry at the end. In short, one of the best movies I've ever seen I'll definitely be thinking and talking about it for a while to come.
Great dance sequence at the end too!

American

Loved it. Charming, humorous, and no ulterior motive other than to appreciate the human existence.

I'm Dutch and I loved it too!
An amazing actor that little kid, all of them actually. The story is universal, the 80's references are great for thirty-something's like me and everybody finds out their that is not the hero they thought he was at some age

Loved it.

Canadian, and if there was humour I missed it didn't matter, because I loved it anyway.

*SPOILER FOR EVERYTHING BELOW*
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusory_superiority

Argentinian, loved it (I have lived in NZ though)

Im Australian, loved every second of it, even better than his last feature (eagle vs shark) . Most of the humour was pretty universal (the teacher smoking a ciggarette out the window in class killed me), but im lucky enough to have a maori girlfriend (coincidentally from the same part of nz) who filled me in on some of the more kiwi-80s-orientated material.
Everyone should see this film, it is really phenomenal. New Zealand certainly makes much better films than Australians do.

I'm english and spent some time in Australia. Wait.
Whilst in Oz I was very much acquainted with a number of Kiwi's.
I've been a big fan of Once Were Warriors and it's sequal since being introduced to it by a Kiwi.
I'm also an 80's child.

Liked the film.




http://www.imdb.com/user/ur11529350/boards/profile/"]My TV, Films, Stand-Up & Music - http://www.imdb.com/user/ur11529350/boards/profile/

Indie theater her in Philadelphia.. very good, translated well, typical Kiwi moviequirky, funny, sad, deep, worth a look!

Saw this at Sundance and LOVED it! It was my favorite movie of the festival that year. I really hope it gets a further US release. TELL YOUR FRIENDS!!!!!

p.s. Watch for a Flight of the Concords joke!

Am a Malaysian living in Australia, saw it and loved it.

Irish, and loved it!

I'm sure the makers wanted it to be easily understood by all. It's got universal appeal. I'm Irish btw.

Can i ask what references are there which people from other countries might not fully understand? This would only add to my enjoyment of this movie.

Hi ya. I dont think there's anything major just little things like calling everyone an 'egg' would bring back fond memories to kiwis (and therefore make the film funnier) but it probably wasnt a universal thing.

I am an american who spent two weeks in NZ last year with my father and husband. We were lucky enough to see this movie while we were there and we absolutely loved it! Like others have said, I'm sure there are some things that went right over our heads, but it was so smart, so funny and had so much heart. Definitely one of my favorite films of 2010! I can't wait for it to be available here in the states!

"with my father and husband."

Isn't that illegal or something?






(sorry, couldn't resist LOL)

American. Saw the movie loved it.

But what are the humors parts people are saying might not translate well?? like i think i got most of everything.

The only thing i didnt know was the 'egg' ("igg" lol) But the context it was used in i kind of understood.

I'm Spaniard and I loved it! I think I understand most of kiwi humor I've seen in the film and I love it, it's very funny.

Well, in fact I watched many films from New Zealand and I love all of them. But most of films from NZ never come to Spain. Some of the films were released in Spain from NZ that I remember in the last 10 years: River Queen, The Lovely Bones, Black Sheep, Whale Riderand I think that's all.

I feel there would be several things that would go over non-kiwis heads. Indeed, even kiwis who weren't alive during the 1980s and have no idea just how massive the social upheavals were that occurred during that decade in NZ.

There's some things that may seem odd to a non-kiwi; like Boy and his brother and cousins all living with their nana. However, in Maori culture this is very normal. I taught at a school with ~70% Maori: out of a class of 30, around 20 would be Maori and perhaps 4 or 5 of them would be living with their grandparents not parents. It's not unusual.

They're mostly little things, but perhaps they add up to a greater message.
For example, the only two times the TV is shown (iirc) is first a clip from a comedy show of a Maori bloke in a dress: said Maori bloke was Billy T James, a great NZ comedian. Not only was he hilarious (though very NZ-oriented, so perhaps much of his humour would be lost on non-kiwis), he was really the first Maori comedian to make it big in NZ - he had his own TV show for several years.
That Taika showed a Billy T James clip perhaps was a nod towards a great comedian who undoubtedly influenced Taika, as well showing us just how much change was occurring in NZ to Maori at that time. Billy T James did pioneer Maori becoming more acceptable on TV.

The 2nd clip was the 'Goodnight Kiwi' which was an animation TVNZ showed at the end of programming each night. Back then, there was just 2 TV stations - both govt owned - and they stopped broadcasting at midnight. The 'Goodnight Kiwi' was something of an institution, which would bring back nostalgic memories for those of us old enough to remember him (and his cat). I still remember the first time I was allowed to stay up to watch kiwi - I was really excited. Literally, people would write into TVNZ to request they show the clip earlier just so their kids could see it!
Perhaps Taika was giving those of us who lived through those times a nostalgic trip as well as reminding us how different and simpler that era was, despite being just 25 years ago. To give another example of how different NZ was back then: in 1984 there was still no weekend trading. Late night was Friday (by 'late' I mean up to 6, sometimes 7(!), pm) and no shops allowed open on the weekend. When the govt first introduced legislation to allow Saturday morning trading, there were huge protests. Now of course we have 50+ TV channels and shops open to all hours, everyday. The Past is truly a different country.


The Thriller-haka at the end had 'Poi E' as its song. This is a song which would mean nothing to anyone who didn't grow up in NZ in the 1980s. It was a #1 hit in NZ - using this song in the movie again, like Billy T, showed how Maori were becoming more accepted and mainstream by the 1980s.

There's more to it than just this though. The song itself was written as a protest against the economic policies of the time. Up until the early 1980s, most small towns, like Waihau, survived on usually just one major industry - usually either forestry or the freezing works (abattoir). You didn't need much education to work in either which meant, as Maori were invariably at the bottom of the education scrapheap, these were Maori-dominated industry. It wasn't uncommon to have entire whanau (extended family) working there; even 3 generations of the same family. These were jobs for life.
Unfortunately the new government at the time decided these were uneconomical to continue operation and suddenly shut most down (a la Thatcher and the mines in Britain around the same time). Result was those small towns died. The town that 'Poi E' came from used to have a Freezing works but by 1984 had something like 90% unemployment (and 90% Maori).
The govt policies of the 1980s disproportionately affected Maori, and not for the good. They destroyed small towns where most Maori lived, driving them from their roots into town (which is something touched upon in 'Boy'), creating intergenerational unemployment and poverty, drove them into gangs and cut their link to their ancestral lands. Those policies created Jack the Muss in the 'Once were Warriors' (which if you haven't watched you really should: be warned it's not a comedy like 'Boy' though it could be viewed as a very sad sequel to 'Boy': Jake could well be what Boy grew up into.)
Having 'Poi E' on the soundtrack would not mean anything to a non-kiwi but you can see it has a lot of meaning to a kiwi, and it's no accident it was included. Taika was definitely saying something there. 1984 could be seen as the turning point for Maori and NZ in a lot of ways; some positive, some negative.

I could go on, but I guess you get the picture and most of you have probably been bored to tears/sleep by now anyway!

This post needs some sort of recognition.

Good stuff bud.

I'm a kiwi and even i learnt stuff from that.

miyaichi
Tue Nov 29 2011 05:04
IMDb member since November 2011

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This post needs some sort of recognition.

Good stuff bud.

I'm a kiwi and even i learnt stuff from that.

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I second that. Thank you Smoogster.

New Yorker here:-) just watched it, and I thought it was BRILLIANT!

Hi, I'm from Spain and I loved it (and all my teen students as well)

I'm from England and I thought this movie was amazing. It had a nice feel to it, a very nice look and the soundtrack worked well. It was my kind of humour. I came away thinking it had a bit of a Wes Anderson feel to it but was different enough to make me want to see more from Taika Waititi. I am gutted it's so difficult to buy as I can't seem to see a UK release for a DVD/Blu-ray!




- We are all entitled to our own oppinions.This is mine. -http://paulgambrill.blogspot.com/ -

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I came away thinking it had a bit of a Wes Anderson feel to it

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One of Taika's biggest influences is Wes Anderson. He's his favourite director.


Torolf entered her like she was the lottery.
Gale is a Hawthorne tree

American living in Australia-Loved it.

Bitch get out of my way!

I'm excited to see it! I loved Eagle Vs. Shark, and have slowly become a fan of Cohen Holloway, "Good for Nothing" looks amazing, and it's supposed to be a brilliant Kiwi satire of the American Western. Being from the states I figure we'll get more of it's humour than say "Boy". http://bitly.com/A2LajO

I'm from Jordan (middle east).. saw it, loved it, picked up on a lot of the jokes.. my buddy rory (kiwi) grew up around that area and he gave me some insights into the jokes, but most of it was pretty self explanatory.. cast was wonderful too.. taika is really stepping up his game, this was boatloads better than eagle vs shark, and i freakin loved that film.

I did a study abroad in New Zealand when this came out. I'm from the US. I heard great things about it. I was on vacation in the South Island before exams and saw this movie at an aquarium that had two small movie screen rooms above it. It basically was a private screening for just me.

Anyways, I really enjoyed the movie. I thought it was hilarious! There were some things I did not get but I think non-New Zealand people would still enjoy this movie.

eh by any chance was that in Picton we watched Slumdog Millionaire there :D

Yes. It was Picton. Right before I got to Nelson. I don't think there are too many theater aquariums around the South Island. But I could be wrong! Haha

I love it - I love New Zealand the country having spent 2 years there and the films, everything about NZ wish we could live there - maybe one day we will :D