Hunt for the Wilderpeople

• Director - Taika Waititi
• Themes:

  • Identity and Belonging - the film revolves around Ricky and his past life experiences, in and out of foster care. He was a rebellious 'urban' delinquent, making him a social outlier to his foster parents; Bella and Hec. Overtime, Ricky is seen less as an outlier and his relationship with Hec strengthens.
  • Self-expression and creativity - throughout the film, we see many characters express themselves by using music, poetry and art. Waititi uses the protagonist duo to show that self-expression is important, as they are running from police and still find time to express themselves.
• Characters:

  • Ricky Baker - protagonist, delinquent, rebel, explorative
  • Hec - protagonist, elderly, illiterate but wise, no-nonsense
  • Paula - antagonist, determined, cold
• Film Techniques (1):

  • Cinematography / Camera Angles - Waititi uses wide angle shots and panoramic shots to capture the raw beauty of the New Zealand landscape, where Ricky and Hec work as a duo to run from the police.
  • Editing - Waititi uses editing and transitions to make the film more intense and exciting. We see this in the cabin scene, where Hec fights off the three men and the director uses quick transitions to make the fighting scene more intense.
• Film Techniques (2):

  • Music - Waititi utilises many types of music in different scenes, ex) intense music for the cabin fight scene, ex) ominous music in the beginning to showcase the New Zealand landscape. The director uses intense/fast paced music in the cabin scene, where Hec fights off the three men to make the scene more exciting. Ominous/eerie music is used in the opening scene of the film, to show the landscape Hec and Ricky explore while on the run.
• Key Scenes:

  • Ricky's birthday; it shows Ricky's growing relationship with Bella. He mentions how it's the best birthday he ever had, then followed by him saying it was the only birthday he ever had. This shows how catastrophic Bella's death will be on Ricky, as Hec was cold to him.
  • Cabin scene; Ricky and Hec realise they are being searched for by looking at the cabin wall. When the three hunters arrive at the cabin, they confront the two and start fighting Hec. Ricky aims a gun at them and they give up their resources to the two, who then run away to hide from the law.