Given its Romeo and Juliet plotting and the
NC-17 question, moviegoers might expect this
New Zealand film's "broken english" to
consist of moans and exaltations. Instead, it
refers to the second language spoken by the
film's three main characters: a sultry Croatian
immigrant, Nina (newcomer Aleksandra
Vujcic); her angry and domineering father, Ivan
("The Saint's" Rade Serbedzija); and the
robust Eddie ("Once Were Warriors'" Julian
Arahanga), a Maori local who falls in love with
Nina and over whom daughter and dad come
to savage contretemps.
The setting is exotic, but the story is familiar: Disadvantaged natives and poor newcomers strike up conflict over the little that they have. And that conflict here is almost offputtingly real: "Broken English" doesn't take a comfortable dad-will-be-won-over approach. Ivan's idea of settling a debate is to wield a baseball bat (as he does with Eddie) or hold someone under a violent form of house arrest (as he does with Nina). Although the movie indicates the reason for the Croat's fury is the deadly treatment of his people in the much-missed homeland he had to flee (Ivan watches tapes of atrocities as he drinks beer), ultimately Serbedzija's character proves to be just as racist as the Serbs.
That truncates the film's effectiveness as political oratory, making that distant-carnage element almost unnecessary, and the father's rage burns out of audiences whatever feeling of romance the lusty assignations of Eddie and Nina engender. Not "Romeo and Juliet,"not "Before the Rain," not "Once Were Warriors," although there are elements of each, in the end what "Broken English" becomes is a Down Under "Ghosts of Mississippi": a look into a heart of darkness. As such, the Communicado/Village Roadshow production leaves audiences speaking their own broken english: "yipes." Starring Rade Serbedzija, Aleksandra Vujcic and Julian Arahanga. Directed by Gregor Nicholas. Written by Gregor Nicholas, Johanna Pigott and Jim Salter. Produced by Robin Scholes. A Sony Classics release. Drama. Rated NC-17 for explicit sexuality (being appealed). Running time: 91 min
The setting is exotic, but the story is familiar: Disadvantaged natives and poor newcomers strike up conflict over the little that they have. And that conflict here is almost offputtingly real: "Broken English" doesn't take a comfortable dad-will-be-won-over approach. Ivan's idea of settling a debate is to wield a baseball bat (as he does with Eddie) or hold someone under a violent form of house arrest (as he does with Nina). Although the movie indicates the reason for the Croat's fury is the deadly treatment of his people in the much-missed homeland he had to flee (Ivan watches tapes of atrocities as he drinks beer), ultimately Serbedzija's character proves to be just as racist as the Serbs.
That truncates the film's effectiveness as political oratory, making that distant-carnage element almost unnecessary, and the father's rage burns out of audiences whatever feeling of romance the lusty assignations of Eddie and Nina engender. Not "Romeo and Juliet,"not "Before the Rain," not "Once Were Warriors," although there are elements of each, in the end what "Broken English" becomes is a Down Under "Ghosts of Mississippi": a look into a heart of darkness. As such, the Communicado/Village Roadshow production leaves audiences speaking their own broken english: "yipes." Starring Rade Serbedzija, Aleksandra Vujcic and Julian Arahanga. Directed by Gregor Nicholas. Written by Gregor Nicholas, Johanna Pigott and Jim Salter. Produced by Robin Scholes. A Sony Classics release. Drama. Rated NC-17 for explicit sexuality (being appealed). Running time: 91 min
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