Broken English

This movie was hard to track down. Living as I do in America, I had to order a VHS copy. I saw the NC-17 version, by the way, which I didn't find to be too graphic. The sex scene was extremely sexy and I thought the actors playing Nina and Eddie, the young couple at the center of the movie, had a ton of chemistry. You could believe they were attracted to each other. Nina, the Croation daughter of Ivan, was an interesting character: a wild rebel and a scared child eager to remain her father's favorite all in one. The actor who played Ivan did the best job, as a man who fled his homeland due to ethnic cleansing and finds himself obsessed with race and dissatisfied with his new life in New Zealand. The beginning half of this movie was more enjoyable than the latter half, when the story devolves into a slightly predictable romantic comedy and none of the interesting implications about class, race, and family are dealt with in a serious way. However, a lot of romantic movies never even ask the audience to think about anything greater at all, so Broken English still comes out ahead of more traditional movie fare. Perhaps it's because this movie comes from the producers of "Once Were Warriors" which is one of my favorite dramas of all time. Watch for the romance between Nina and Eddie (played by Julien Arahanga from "Once Were Warriors",) Ivan, and Martin Csokas' portrayal of Ivan's menacing son.

Nina, young, beautiful and sexy, driven out from war-torn Croatia, has emigrated with her family to Auckland, New Zealand. Why New Zealand? Well it seems Mum was born there (there is an old established "Dalmatian" community in the region famously associated with the wine industry). Dad has quickly found work as a building contractor and seems to be doing well. Ironically, having been driven out of his own country by Serbian ethnic cleansing, he finds NZ's mild multi-racial society impossible to tolerate, at least when his gorgeous daughter falls seriously in lust with Eddie, a handsome Maori, in the kitchen of the Chinese restaurant where they both work. Being a fairly typical NZ movie, the theme is played for comedy rather than tragedy, though there is plenty of tension. An erotic scene early on dissolves into a minor domestic mishap. Cars get their windows smashed but no-one gets their head smashed in. The real tragedy is back home in Croatia via home videos from remaining relatives. The young couple progress from 90% lust /10% affection to about 50/50, though it's a rocky road. Dad however just can't adjust. Civil enough with his Tongan ("coconut") neighbours, the idea of his little girl having it off with any Maori sends him ballistic (it could have been worse - the lover might have been Serbian). With his knucklehead son, he attempts to break them up, with predictable lack of success. It's a great sketch of a tough, admirable (in some ways) but unadaptable man. Why is he like that? At the end we're none the wiser. Nor do we get to understand Mum's position, which seems to be total submission. She may be NZ born but she isn't a typical post 1960 NZ wife. There's a mildly amusing sub-plot regarding an immigration scam run by Nina and Eddies's employer, with the characters involved verging on caricature. But the main theme is that youth will do what it's going to do (sex, mostly) for good or ill and the oldies might as well stand clear. A nicely made and well paced light piece from the producers of the rather more serious "Once Were Warriors."

In a nutshell, this is a romance story that involves a culture clashes between New Zealanders, Chinese and Bosnians. Since the characters were unappealing, I found it impossible to get "involved" in their romances and problems.

I don't understand the NC-17 rating, either. The sex scenes weren't anything that strong to warrant that rating, nor is the movie filled with just sex. The language isn't the best with a lot of f-words, but that doesn't warrant a NC-17 rating, either.

It was a modern-day Romeo and Juliet story with a lot lower morals that what you would have seen in the real Romeo and Juliet days. Frankly, I found the movie boring, but women would probably like this movie a lot more than men, if the language didn't turn them off.

The scenery was nice but I wasn't surprised at that. I have yet to see something filmed in New Zealand that wasn't beautiful. That must be a great-looking country.

I really liked this film. It was a love story like West Side Story. It has probably been 7 or 8 years since I last saw this film. I think a film is especially meaningful when it is related to some real crisis or event. In the case it was the migration of Croatian refugees to New Zealand and their conflicts with the Maori which said a lot about the issues of race, class and ethnicity.

But what has really stuck with me was the music. The recurring gypsy/tango musical interlude made the film for me. It is in my ears right now sort of like the theme for "Last Tango in Paris". I thought there was no published soundtrack made for this film. Please if you are aware of where to obtain a copy of this soundtrack, please let me know.

It looks as if I am among the few who found the directing and production to be flawless. Janet McIver was also the production manager of Whale Rider and Once Were Warriors. Broken English is a delicate movie where the father tries to balance self-control and the love for his family. It is a harsh look at bigotry, and the ramifications of such behavior. Unlike Once Were Warriors, Broken English scores with great acting and has a much better script. True to life, the movie doesn't offer simple answers for the problems the cast deal with. If you're a fan of viewing different cultures, you will most likely enjoy this movie. I enjoyed this movie much more than the other two listed above.