MovieChat Forums > Boy (2010) Discussion > Impressions of NZ

Impressions of NZ

posted 14 years ago by inspired-kiwi
6 replies | jump to latest

I absolutely loved this film.

I was, however, just on the Outrageous Fortune page and noticed a viewer from the US saying how he has learned a lot about NZ culture from watching OF. It made me think, I wonder with people overseas, if they have only seen OF, Once Were Warriors and Boy, what sort of an impression they get of NZ culture. Makes me smile. These three pieces of work certainly portray aspects of NZ culture, but I guess such a view would be like saying I learned about American culture through watching My Name is Earl - not invalid, but certainly limited.

[–] colt_89 14 years ago

Yeah it's kinda frustrating, kinda funny how some people view NZ. And certainly when they use these sorts of films as their basis. It's very unfair to judge an entire country on a one film that depict an aspect of NZ culture.

[–] zedkae 13 years ago

I'm not from New Zealand, but I didn't take the film as a complete portrayal of the country. I'm from a big city and I thought about how amazing it would be to be in that kind of scenery and have your kids run around and actually be active. But, this is a very small town from what I gathered, and I saw it as exactly that. A portrayal of the culture of a small town – a tiny part – of New Zealand. Unfortunately, there isn't a huge market in North America for foreign indie films, so I don't think anyone can get a real feel for the place through whatever movies they're able to get a hold of here. Better fly over there myself. :)

[–] billhk 13 years ago

As this topic has lurched back into life...
I live in the US. In general I would say very few people here get to see the smaller New Zealand movies such as 'Boy' or 'Once were Warriors'. I've never heard of 'Outragous Fortune'. For example in Portland Oregon 'Boy' screened at last year's film festival but did not get a theatrical release.
Most people here think of New Zealand as the Lord of the Rings' middle kingdom. And the Flight of the Conchord guys are well known.

[–] Nikkogino 13 years ago

I would agree with the last poster. Most Americans have never seen these movies, so they do not do much to shape America's perspective of NZ. I do know that the general belief by most Americans is:
"New Zealand is a beautiful place that is really far away that would be awesome to go to."
I know this because I had the opportunity to visit NZ for a month and this is what I heard from everyone before I left. New Zealand is a great county and as I got to drive around the north island, I did get to see little tiny towns like the one depicted in Boy. I would usually not see too many people walking around the towns, so I like to imagine Boy and Rocky running around dancing to "Mykil Jickson."

[–] cne-2 13 years ago

What I most enjoy about New Zealand is that it is enough like typical American culture that I do not feel out-of-place, but different enough to make my time there unique and adventurous. That goes for films as well, however you must remember that a feature film is fiction - it should not be viewed as a reflection of typical Kiwi culture. If you want that in film, look into documentaries, and there are some great documentaries available from and about New Zealand. By documentaries, I do not mean the tourist oriented travelogues. That said there are a few docu-dramas worth viewing; one available in the US I can recommend is 'An Angel at my Table', a biography of the writer, Janet Frame. Documentaries I can recommend, that can be purchased in the U.S. on DVD and streaming, is 'The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls'. Everyone seems to enjoy the original comedy of these yodeling, singing Lesbian sisters and the dvd covers details about them beyond their entertaining. If you really want to get a feel of New Zealand culture, go to nzonscreen.com You will have free access to film and television clips and even full shows on all kinds of topics - current and past. Wonderful site. BTW, if you want more details about NZ feature films go to: nzvideos.org

[–] krispier 13 years ago

I'm from NYC. I've only seen Whale Rider, We Once Were Warriors, and Boy. My impression from those films is that Maori dads are not portrayed in films as good fathers. They're either abusive, absent, or wanna-be gangsters but really goofy criminals. So far international cinema hasn't portrayed Maori men very well. Of course I know that there's more to Aotearoa than what's shown in these three movies, but that's all I've seen.

I was intrigued by the scene where the boy was speaking Maori before serving the crayfish. I assume he was saying grace. But, was he saying a Xtian prayer in Maori? I also noticed the school is designed to look like the traditional public meeting house. (I only know about that from Whale Rider and going to Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawai'i [which I regret doing].) I really find the mix of cultures interesting since most "New World" places the British colonized much more thoroughly erased the indigenous cultures and languages.

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