Hunt for the Wilderpeople- A Heartfelt and Whimsical Exploration of Loneliness
I simply adore Taika Waititi as a filmmaker, I think his
short series of projects prove that he has this fascinating ability to create a
certain brand of comedy that is full of character and humanity, which is
nothing short of refreshing in a genre that has been diluted by an Adam Sandler
flick every year. His ‘big break’ of sorts before he was scooped up by Marvel
was the fantastic ‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’ starring Sam Neill and Julian
Dennison. In many ways, this is a spiritual sequel to ‘Boy’ exploring an element
of growing up through the vice of New Zealand culture in all its spectacular beauty,
Waititi creates a melancholic romp, full of contradictory ideas and scenes that
shouldn’t work but they leave an incredible impact on the audience.
‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’ follows the life of a foster child
Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison) and his introduction to his new family who live in
a rural cottage on the outsides of the bush, his adopted parents which he calls
Auntie Bella (Rima Te Wiata) and Uncle Hec (Sam Neill) introduce him to life in
the bush. I can’t say anymore for spoiler reasons, the plot moves along at
this pace where you aren’t sure what the concept quite is, what Wilderpeople wants to
spend its time with is what it spends its time with, and I think that’s why it
really hits in its ending. Waititi creates patterns in characters and situations,
understanding the pacing of equilibrium and subverting the equilibrium for
emotional or comedic effect, this never gets tedious or repetitive because of
the scope of the thematic ideas he puts in the film. He structures jokes in the
same way he structures characters, with set up and pay off but utilising
character traits for emotional significance or comedic significance. Every plot
beat could turn into a punchline or a punch to the gut and that is just
outstanding writing. Really it is a film about Hec and Ricky’s relationship and
the unconventionality of their partnership but exploring the bond of feeling
alienated in a society and not knowing your place.
I said in my ‘Boy’ review that Waititi is a writer that
understands the complexity of human beings, and I think this is the height of
his ability to pin that down, with his stellar writing of the two titular
characters being complex and realised. Sam Neill pulls out the performance of his career, without a doubt,
the character of Hec is a sympathetic and sheltered person, Waititi never lets
on to the feelings of this character through the words he says, instead it is the
nuances in Neil’s performance that land the emotional weight as the gruff
exterior is established so well that Neill can really show the cracks when Hec is
cracking. I can’t stress this enough but there are several moments where Neill
will blow anyone away but also several moments where he will make you cry with laughter,
mostly due to the chemistry he has with Dennison’s Ricky Baker.
The supporting cast in ‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’ might be my favourite collection of side characters in a film ever. Rima Te Wiata as Auntie
Bella is endearing and hilariously obtuse, her care and love are infectious, and
she really sells the honesty in her character. Rachel House returns and once
again proves why she is such an incredible overlooked comedic actress, her
performance as Paula is hilariously over the top and her physical comedy is
outstanding. There are small cameos from Waititi’s previous collaborators such
as Cohen Holloway and Rhys Darby which are hilarious highlights of the film, as
well as Waititi himself in a tiny cameo which is by far the funniest scene in
the film. The film also boasts an amazing soundtrack by Moniker, combining
traditional New Zealand melodies with modern musical ideas creates an
outstanding atmosphere that resonates with every scene and idea.
When you have a setting like the New Zealand countryside
there is absolutely no doubt that you have to make the most of the beauty and scope
of it and Wilderpeople is just downright beautiful with its landscape. Through
several sweeping drone shots or panoramic wide shots, we experience every part
of Ricky Baker’s amazement, there is a specific moment revolving around a
stream that has this unique and special feeling through a combination of the
shot composition and score that Waititi needs very little dialogue to create an
emotionally beautiful moment and one of those special scenes that stay with the
viewer. He does this a lot, creating moments that have such specific feelings to
them, it could be an extravagant action scene or just a conversation, but you
can tell Waititi knew what he wanted to evoke with this moment. This has a lot
to do with an amount of care and specificity in the writing, the way it is
paced is gloriously clever, a three-act structure with an adventure of a second
act and a subtler more emotional focus for the other two.
I simply can’t fault ‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’ there are
very minor editing decisions that I could think of an alternative to I’m not as
talented as Waititi and I honestly don’t think any part of this film was committed
without every ounce of his creative authenticity put into it. It’s been a pleasure
watching Taika reach the heights of his career and I am more than excited to
see what he has in store in the future.
Thanks for reading.