Mikes Film Talk

Hunt for the Wilderpeople feels like Up meets The Fugitive. It is a glorious tale that touches the heart. Great stuff this.

Adapted from Barry Crump’s 1997 book “Wild Pork and Watercress” by Taika Waititi (Boy, Green Lantern), who not only wrote the screenplay but directed the feature as well, The Hunt of the Wilderpeople is a funny and touching “buddy film” between two generations and races. The film is, in essence, Disney’s  Up meets The Fugitive, meets Thelma and Louise and is quite easily the best film of 2016.

The story

Ricki (Julian Dennison) is a 12 year old Maori boy who has been shuffled from foster home to foster home. Finally, he is sent to live with Bella (Rima Te Wiata) and her husband Hec (Sam Neill). His new home is right near the Bush and it seems, at long last, that Ricki has found his place in life.

Unfortunately fate has other plans as Bella dies right after Ricki’s 13th birthday. Ricki wants to stay with the curmudgeonly, and illiterate, Hec. Child Services agent Paula (Rachel House) is against leaving Ricki there. She fights to find the young juvenile delinquent a new home.

Hec and Ricki go on the run. The unlikely duo lead the police on a merry chase. They head through the New Zealand bush and the film follows their adventures. We also get to see their bonding process.

The Hunt for the Wilderpeople is, quite simply, the best film to come out of 2016. Sadly, as it is a “foreign film” it cannot compete for the category of Best Movie when the Oscars roll around. Regardless of this fact, the film should pull in best film in the World Cinema category.

At first glance, Waititi, who has a cameo role as the minister, has given us a splendid buddy film where two similar but different characters learn from one another as they flee the authorities. Delving deeper, however, reveals a coming of age film as well.

In the film, Ricki is not the only person who grows,  his “uncle” Hec also changes from a monosyllabic grumpy loner to a caring parent to a boy who has, until now, identified more with the “gangster” life than that of a “normal” child.

Hunt Vs UP

Not having read the book that the film is based upon, it is not clear whether the elements from the Disney film are there or not.  There are direct correlations between the two movies though.

Hec, takes the part of Carl Fredricksen, is lumbered with Ricki. The lad is Russell in this scenario. Hec loses his wife, like Carl, and he too is reluctant, initially, to travel with Ricki (Russell.)

There is a rare bird in both films, although in Waititi’s film the creature is not a form of comic relief, and the two males bond through their experiences out in the bush (jungle).

There are many parallels between the two films. Waititi, or Crump, have also interwoven the Child Services Agency official Paula into the tale. A comic Samuel Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones) is also added to the mix.

Despite her cry of “No child left behind,” Paula really seems to have it in for Ricki, who she describes as a delinquent. Every time the official talks about the Maori boy she references his crimes and not his many foster home moves.

The chase scenes in the film almost seem to be a nod to Thelma and Louise. The last minute dodge by Ricki, who is driving could be lifted from Kim Jee-Woon’s 2009  The Good, The Bad, The Weird.

It all works

Waititi makes the most of his material and gives us a nigh on perfect film.  Hunt for the Wilderpeople is comedy with a touch of pathos. At least two scenes require tissues to stem the unexpected flow of tears. Ricki’s constant quest for toilet paper is very funny.

The director manages to produce more laughs per square inch of film than any other movie on offer in 2016.

Neill and Dennison have a brilliant onscreen chemistry. Together they are beyond brilliant. House is spot on as the OTT officer who chases the two men across the country. Te Wiata is excellent as the loving and slightly eccentric Bella. The entire cast bring something to the table in this New Zealand offering.

The scenery is breathtaking. Of course it is. The Lord of the Rings was filmed here, after all. (One comic moment has Ricki alluding to the film.) Cinematographer Lachlan Milne makes every frame count.

The Hunt for the Wilderpeople has a message that equates to love being the answer to helping kids on the wrong path to get straight. Whether this is true or not, it should be, and by the end of the film, we believe it.

the verdict

This is a full 5 star film.  It may sound somewhat trite and be a bit cliche, but  Hunt for the Wilderpeople hits every single mark. It will make you laugh, think and cry. It is streaming on a number of free platforms.

Taika Waititi has given us an example of New Zealand cinema at its finest, do not miss this one.

The trailer