Movie Squad - Tomorrow When The War Began, Boy

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Breakfast with Barr,

Presenter

Peter Barr

Published

Friday 3rd September

I can-neh hold it cap’n! Paul ‘Scotty’ Grace can hold the awesome power that is SS Movie Squad alone. He needs the help of Anita ‘Uhura’ Walker. Together with Peter ‘Bones’ Barr they’ll continue to soar across the universe, leaving movies reviewed in their wake.

First movie smashed by Scotty…

‘Tomorrow When The War Began’ – directed by Stuart Beattie. Starring Caitlin Stasey, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Lincoln Lewis, Deniz Akdeniz, Phoebe Tonkin, Chris Pang, Ashleigh Cummings, Andrew Ryan, Colin Friels.

Synopsis: Based on the first of seven books by acclaimed Australian author, John Marsden, the film is the story of seven teenagers who return from a week-long camping trip to find that Australia has been invaded by a foreign power.

Banding together to fight guerilla-style against the enemy, this is not a typical heroic war movie – it is a terrifying situation where they must sometimes use little more than a knife or a belt to murder a soldier in cold blood. It’s a graphic tale of the violence, the blood, the fear, and the insanity of war.

These kids are underdogs, they’re not going to win the war, they’re more likely to end up dead in a ditch than send the enemy retreating, but it’s their land, their parents and friends in prison camps. They give a damn and they’d rather die fighting than give up.

Review: It’s not ‘Lord of the Flies’. Some of the acting is questionable and there’s a bit of clunky exposition, but once the invasion happens and the story gets going it’s really good. The film had a $25 million budget, amongst the biggest for an Australian made feature. It’s a polished first director effort by Stuart Beattie. Just as in the books, the film doesn’t shy away from depicting teen issues. There’s realistic violence with emotional consequences. It’s aimed at the teenager but it treats the audience like adults. I was really impressed.

Second Movie smashed by Uhura…

‘Boy’ – directed by Taika Waititi. Starring James Rolleston, Te Aho Aho Eketone-Whitu, Taika Waititi.

Synopsis: It’s 1984, and Michael Jackson is king – even in Waihau Bay, New Zealand. Here we meet Boy, an 11-year-old who lives on a farm with his gran, a goat called Leif, and his younger brother, Rocky (who thinks he has magic powers) and several cousins. Shortly after Gran leaves for a week, Boy’s father, Alamein, appears out of the blue. Having imagined a heroic version of his father during his absence, Boy comes face to face with the real version – an incompetent hoodlum who has returned to find a bag of money he buried years before.

Review: This is one of New Zealand’s top grossing films ever. It’s based on an Oscar nominated short film by Taika Waititi. The film’s got a touch of ‘The Castle’ about it – ever so slightly overplayed but 100% charming. You really feel these family’s do exist. The kiddy drawings interspersed throughout the movie to explain things get a little annoying. It’s a lovely story but it’s not too warm and fuzzy – it’s real and that’s why I liked it.