Boy by Taika Waititi
Boy, directed by Taika Waititi, isn’t exactly a comedy, even though it will make you laugh, and it isn’t a feel good film. It’s a film about crushing failure, personal identity, and the possibility of hope as experienced by a young lad from a Maori family, in 1984.
Boy’s a young boy who lives on the rural East Coast of New Zealand with this Nan, a handful of cousins and his younger brother Rocky (who thinks he has superpowers). Boy believes he will get the girl of his dreams – Chardonnay. He also believes his dad, Alamein, is somewhat perfect. Although he thinks this, in reality, his dad is behind bars in jail for theft. Once he gets out of jail, Alamein and his son Boy spend time together because they had never met before. Boy is then forced to face reality and realize his dad is not the dad who he imagined him to be.
Alamein’s son, Boy, highlights the theme of imagination. He highlights the theme of imagination because he imagines his dad to be perfect and talented, viewers learn this through character dialogue, especially when boy says his dad is a “master carver, deep sea treasure diver, soldier, captain of the rugby team and he also holds the record for punching out the most people with one hand.”
Viewers learn about the theme of imagination through character dialogue and production techniques. One of the major techniques that I thought helped the viewers’ learn about the theme of imagination the use of flashbacks. Flashbacks are used to show to viewers’ a preview of event(s) that have happened in the past. This was used to show Boy, his brother Rocky and Alamein back in time to show viewers the stress and pain suffered my Alamein at that time. Another technique that I found interesting was used was the frequent use of non-diegetic sound (sound that only the viewers can hear/sound that’s not created in the film). The non-diegetic sounds create an atmosphere which creates the feeling of being in a dream or imagination as experienced by viewers a small
Boy’s a young boy who lives on the rural East Coast of New Zealand with this Nan, a handful of cousins and his younger brother Rocky (who thinks he has superpowers). Boy believes he will get the girl of his dreams – Chardonnay. He also believes his dad, Alamein, is somewhat perfect. Although he thinks this, in reality, his dad is behind bars in jail for theft. Once he gets out of jail, Alamein and his son Boy spend time together because they had never met before. Boy is then forced to face reality and realize his dad is not the dad who he imagined him to be.
Alamein’s son, Boy, highlights the theme of imagination. He highlights the theme of imagination because he imagines his dad to be perfect and talented, viewers learn this through character dialogue, especially when boy says his dad is a “master carver, deep sea treasure diver, soldier, captain of the rugby team and he also holds the record for punching out the most people with one hand.”
Viewers learn about the theme of imagination through character dialogue and production techniques. One of the major techniques that I thought helped the viewers’ learn about the theme of imagination the use of flashbacks. Flashbacks are used to show to viewers’ a preview of event(s) that have happened in the past. This was used to show Boy, his brother Rocky and Alamein back in time to show viewers the stress and pain suffered my Alamein at that time. Another technique that I found interesting was used was the frequent use of non-diegetic sound (sound that only the viewers can hear/sound that’s not created in the film). The non-diegetic sounds create an atmosphere which creates the feeling of being in a dream or imagination as experienced by viewers a small