You can take the juvenile delinquent out of the city, but can you take the city out of the juvenile delinquent?
Let’s go to New Zealand and find out. Out in the bush as it were.
This is one of those films [and there are lots and lots of them] that is bursting with humor and yet we know that underneath all the chuckles is some serious shit.
In other words [as they say], “it has a heart”.
But that can get tricky. After all, if the dots you connect between the grins and the groans aren’t just right, it doesn’t ring true. On the other hand, where you would connect the dots between them isn’t necessarily where others would connect them . So [as with most things in life] your reaction to this particular take on the human condition will say as much about you as it does about them.
Here they take a “young, overweight, orphaned juvenile offender that idealizes hip hop” and figure out a way to dump him “on a rotting farm somewhere in the rural back blocks with foster parents”.
Cue Uncle Hec.
All Hector basically wants from life is to be left alone. And all Ricky basically wants from life is, well, that remains to be seen.
In part it all unfolds rather tongue and cheek. Like reading a comic book. And yet other parts seem to be almost believeable. You keep going back and forth trying to make up your mind. Is it just an “adventure flick” for kids, or is there really something there for all the rest of us.
IMDb
[b]In the birthday scene, the cast and crew filmed ten takes singing the normal “Happy Birthday” song before finding out they didn’t have the rights to use it. So the song “Ricky Baker, It’s your Birthday” was created on the spot by the actors.
All of the news presenters in the film were all actual news presenters on New Zealand TV at the time of filming.
An open casting call was held for a 12 to 15 year-old Maori girl to play the role of Kahu, with Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne selected out of 150 applicants. Ngatai-Melbourne auditioned after her friends thought the character description of Kahu sounded like her.
The Uncle portrayed as someone illiterate. But in real life Sam Neill has a BA in English Literature. [/b]
at wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunt_for_the_Wilderpeople
trailer: youtu.be/n8Xvsjy57X0
HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE [2016]
Written and directed by Taika Waititi
[b]Paula [child welfare lady]: Now, uh, obviously we’ve got a couple of things to talk through, Bella. Clearly you’ve been briefed about his, uh, background and also his foster care history. Apparently he’s a bit of a handful, a real bad egg. I mean, if you look at his file, you’ll see that for yourself. We’re talking disobedience, stealing, spitting, running away, throwing rocks, kicking stuff, defacing stuff, burning stuff, loitering and graffiti. And that’s just the stuff we know about.
…
Paula: Ricky! There’s no one else who wants you, OK? And you know what the alternative is, don’t you? Eh? Think you can make it work?
Bella: 'Course we can. We’ll make it work.
…
Paula [watching Hec approach them with a dead boar on his back]: Who’s that Crocodile Dundee guy over there?
Bella: Oh, that’s my husband, Hector.
Paula: Well, I see he has a rifle. Just keep it away from this little guy. God knows what he’s capable of.
…
Bella: Ricky, this is Hec. You can call him Uncle, if you like.
Hec [gruffily]: No, he can’t.
…
Bella: Jeez, boy, it’s a miracle we found you! You made it all of 200 meters.
Ricky: I was just taking a break.
Bella: Hec’s cooking breakfast. Eggs, bacon, a few sossies on the side…pancakes. Come on. Have some breakfast, then you can run away.
…
Ricky: Bella told me to tell you that you should give me something to do. Is there anything you want me to do?
Hec: Yeah… leave me alone.
Ricky: Cool.
…
Bella: What are you gonna call your dog?
Ricky: Um, still thinking. Something fierce to reflect its true nature. Either Psycho, Megatron…or Tupac.
Bella: What’s a Tupac?
Ricky: It’s just my…this really cool rapper, and he’s, like, my best friend.
Bella: Are you gonna run away tonight?
Ricky: Not sure.
…
Minister [after Bella dies]: You know, sometimes in life it seems like there’s no way out. Like a sheep trapped in a maze designed by wolves. And you know that if you’re ever in that situation, there are always two doors to choose from. And through the first door- oh, it’s easy to get through that door- and on the other side waiting for you are all the nummiest treats you can imagine…Fanta, Doritos, L&P, Burger Rings, Coke Zero. But you know what? There’s also another door, not the Burger Ring door, not the Fanta door; another door that’s harder to get through. Guess what’s on the other side? Anyone want to take a guess?
Ricky: Vegetables?
Minister: N-No, not vegeta…No.
Woman: Jesus?
Minister: You would think Jesus. I thought Jesus the first time I-I-I-I came across that door. It’s not Jesus. It’s another door. And guess what’s on the other side of that door?
Woman: Jesus.
Minister: Jesus. Yeah, Jesus. He’s tricky like that, Jesus.
…
Ricky [after reading a letter from the Child Welfare Ministry]: But I live here now. It’s my home!
Hec: Not any more, it isn’t. Not in their eyes. Not without a woman to run the show.
Ricky: Why don’t we just get you a new wife? There’s plenty of ladies on the internet, I heard.
…
Ricky: Hey, you can’t put Auntie in a box.
Hec: Give it a rest, boy.
Ricky: But she wanted to go to the sky place.
Hec: She’s gone, OK? That’s life…one day you’re here, and the next you’re in a bloody box. Just get this into your head, boy—it was Bella that wanted you here, not me. I know you think this can work, but it can’t. So the welfare people are coming on Friday. They’re coming to get you.
Ricky: That’s that, then?
Hec: Yep… that’s that.
…
Ricky: I ran out of toilet paper, give me some of yours.
Hec: Eh?
Ricky: I’ve gotta poop. I need to poop, you need to poop, we all poop.
Hec: Use a leaf.
…
Paula: This ain’t no charred foster kid.
Andy: How can you tell, Paula?
Paula [flinging a paper plate at him]: Does this look like a human head to you, Andy?
Andy: Hey, I reckon the old man chopped him up, buried him somewhere. Or ate him.
…
Ricky [reading wanted poster]: “Faulkner is cauc-asian”. Well, they got that wrong because you’re obviously white.
…
Ricky: Uncle, you’re basically a criminal now. But on the bright side, you’re famous.
…
Hec: You can take him, but I’m staying here.
Hugh: Like hell. People want answers.
Ron: Yeah, answers.
Hec: Look, we got lost, I got injured, he’s fine, it was basically a holiday.
Ricky: Not a real holiday because he made me do stuff.
Hugh: Like what?
Ricky: Just stuff. He had a sore leg so he made me do things for him. It was hard at first because my hands are so soft, but I got used to it. I didn’t really wanna do it, but it was the only way to survive. It wasn’t always hard, sometimes I got to do my own thing. He pretty much never joined in with me though. I asked if he wanted to play with me, but he would just make me play with myself.
Ron: I feel sick, Hugh.
Hec: Well…Hang on. He doesn’t know what he means.
Ron: You’re a bloody pervert!!
…
Ricky [firing his rifle]: Shit just got real! Back up, homies, and let go of my uncle!
…
Ricky: We’ll just tell them you were looking after me.
Hec: Doesn’t matter what you tell them, they won’t believe you. They’ll think I made you do it. I’m not going back to jail, I’m better off up here. This is no place for a kid. You’re gonna have to go back, Ricky.
Ricky: To what?
Hec: To the welfare people.
Ricky: No!
…
Hec: Pretty majestical, aye?
Ricky: I don’t think that’s a word.
Hec: Majestical? Sure it is.
Ricky: Nah, it’s not real.
Hec: What would you know?
Ricky: It’s majestic.
Hec: That doesn’t sound very special, majestical’s way better.
…
Ricky: Auntie Bella said she was from up here…from this special lake that almost touches the sky.
Hec: Bella didn’t know where she was from.
Ricky: Nah, she said…
Hec: No. She was making it up. Look, Bella didn’t have any family. Like you. Like me. That’s why she wanted to look after you…and took pity on me. She wanted to save us poor wretches when no one else wanted us.
…
Newsman [to the camera]: Ricky Baker and Hector Faulkner, two renegade outlaws on the run for four months now, and fast becoming legends here in New Zealand…Faulkner and Baker’s popularity is on the rise after a valiant effort to save a critically ill park ranger. The forces are circling against them, and I am reminded of “First Blood”. John Rambo, a man alone…obviously they’re two men alone here…out there somewhere beyond the cutty grass in this dense, thick bush…They are fighting for freedom. And we believe in freedom in New Zealand. It is a marvellous thing.
…
Ricky: I’ll never stop running!
Paula: Yeah, and I’ll never stop chasing you. I’m relentless. I’m like the Terminator.
Ricky: I’m more like the Terminator than you!
Paula: I said it first, you’re more like Sarah Connor, and in the first movie too, before she could do chinups.
…
Hugh: There’s a reward for your capture.
Hec: How much? 10 grand.
Ricky: Tell us when it gets to 20.
…
Hec: You can’t keep on the run forever. You’ve got to go back to society, you know that.
Ricky: I’m a menace to society.
…
Hec: You’re not a bloody gangster.
Ricky: How would you know?
Hec: Because I’ve known real gangsters, and they’re a lot tougher than you are.
Ricky: Yeah, but were they skux, though?
Hec: Skux? What the hell does that mean?
Ricky: You know…skux.
Hec: Yeah, but what does it mean?
Ricky: Everything. It’s cool, spunky, brainy, good-looking, you know, gangster.
Hec: Oh, for God’s sake. You’re not a bloody gangster!!!
…
Hec: So, she’s been with us the whole time, eh?
Ricky: Yeah.
Hec: Well, pretty close to the sky up here. Thanks for bringing her, mate.
…
Ricky [whispering]: Why do you reckon he calls himself Psycho Sam?
Psycho Sam [putting pots on their head]: Here you go. Put these on. Stop the Government from tracking you.
Ricky: Never mind.
…
Psycho Sam: That’s the typical government. Always trying to step on the little guy just for living his life. It never stops either. That’s why I can’t go back. Not going to be part of the machine. Form fillers.
Hec: Form fillers?
Psycho Sam: That’s how they get you. Anything you want to do in life, you got to fill out a form. And they’ve got forms for everything. You fill it out, it goes upstairs, and then they make you fill out a new form, just to confirm it was you that filled out the first form. And if ever you want to stop filling out forms, well, there’s about five different forms for that.
…
Hec: How did you get this thing started?
Ricky: The knack.
…
Hec [with the cops, the hunters, the army and Paula closing in]: May as well play it to the end. What do you reckon?
Ricky: You mean have a shoot out, and then when we’ve got no bullets, run out and say, “Freedom!” And then die in a blaze of glory?
Hec: No. I meant till we run out of petrol.
…
Hec: OK. Stop the truck, Ricky. I just- stop the truck. I want to get out now.
Ricky [aiming for a metal fence]: I didn’t choose the skux life; the skux life chose me.
Hec: Ricky, stop!! Stop!!!
Ricky [pedal to the metal]: FREEDOM!!!
…
Ricky [to Hec]: How was jail? Did you shank anyone?
…
Ricky: Here we go. Reckon you can handle it?
Hec: What do you think? Reckon you can find that bird?
Ricky: Yeah, I think I know where it is.
Hec: Seem to remember it was a pretty beautiful place.
Ricky: Yeah, majestical. [/b]