Hunt for the Wilderpeople - Freedom for Misfits of Society

Hunt for the Wilderpeople movie poster from IMDb

Hands down one of my favourite films thus far. Hunt for the Wilderpeople is hard to dislike; from the casts to the cinematography to the underlying messages behind the story, the movie was really enjoyable to watch. To start things off, the movie, Taika Waititi did an excellent job in bringing out the true untouched beauty of the New Zealand bush. Bringing through mossy forests and lakes high above in the mountains. **SPOILER ALERT!!** Bella did mention to Ricky at one point, that when she died, she will return to the lake that touches the sky, in the end, her ashes were scattered by her husband, Hec, on top on a waterfall that is located near the peak of a mountain, and that scene was a sight to behold for its virgin, untouched natural beauty.

What I also particularly liked about Hunt for the Wilderpeople is the symbolic meaning of surviving in the bush away from normal society. Even before Ricky's arrival, both Hec and Bella were cut off from the outside world, as the police car and Child Protection Services had to traverse far away from the nearest town and through unpaved roads to get to Bella and Hec's home. With the addition of Ricky to the family, the family became a group who is physically separated from normal society. As the movie progresses, we can see that the three of them are deemed as misfits to normal society, as all three of them are abandoned by their parents since young with no place to go. For Ricky, staying in Bella's and Hec's home is a welcoming reprieve to the challenges he has to endure back in modern civilization, as he fears being wound up in juvenile prison if he returns to town with Paula, the Child Protection Services Agent. Upon Bella's death, Child Protection Services sent Hec a letter demanding Ricky's return to them, hence Ricky decides to run away into the bush. Before he ran away, he lit a dummy of himself on fire, and saying "Goodbye, Ricky", he is essentially announcing his separation from society and to roam as a free man in the bush who is not tied down to societal standards.

When Hec joined Ricky on his adventure, he fractured his ankle and had to stay in the bush for three weeks, and at that time, newspapers were reporting about the two's disappearance, as well as accusing Hec for kidnapping Ricky. He is deemed as dangerous by the public for a manslaughter case and abandoned childhood back in his youth, so the both of them began to go on the run from authorities by surviving in the bush. To me, this situation is rather ironic because for two people who were initially outcasted by society at first, all eyes were suddenly on them when they were deemed as fugitives from hiding in the bush. It is as if the whole of society cannot stand when they see people who are living beyond the system of their own society and are free to do whatever they please, and they immediately launched a manhunt to get the both of them back to be judged by societal rules. And it was interesting to note that the both of them, who essentially had nothing to do with the outside world, was suddenly described as armed and dangerous because of their past that society judges them to be an undesired fit within their community. Hence, it was irony at its best when modern society wants two people who were initially outcasted by them back, where the point was made all the more emphasised and dramatic when a platoon of police vehicles, helicopters and tanks were chasing them on the open plains.

The growth of a relationship between two misfits was also heartwarming to watch as Hec, who was cold towards Ricky at first, becomes more open and nice towards Ricky as they spent more of their days in the bush together. The bond between the both of them are strikingly similar to the relationship between the old man and Russell in the Pixar movie, Up.

Eeriely similar, isn't it? (Movie poster from IMDb)

Both told the tale of how an old man who was quiet and cold at first showed a more human side of himself with the presence of his wife, and returned to his cold, quiet self upon the death of his wife. Both these stories were also about how a small, chubby, talkative boy who knows nothing about nature and real adventure coming into the lives of the old man and going on adventures with him before he begins to open up and showed his warm, caring side to the boy again. Both films showed the relationship between man and dog on their adventures together and how dogs can help man out of sticky situations at most times. Finally, both films also showed how the both of them stumbled upon a bird who was thought to be extinct at first by society. The similarities are so strikingly similar in my opinion that Hunt for the Wilderpeople just seemed like a more gory and explicit version of Up, with their bloody animal murdering scenes and dirty jokes (Hint: Ricky using finger gestures to describe Lord of the Rings to Hec) But nevertheless, this is a film of adventure and relationships, and it's a film I would recommend for people who love adventures and wit to watch.

Grace is Gone - A Painful Process of Grieving

Going through a loss of a father is never easy; what more when you are a father who is obliged to break the news to their own children that their mother has died. The hardest thing about this death is that Grace, Stanley's wife and Heidi and Dawn's mother, died thousands of miles away in a war torn country. It is rather symbolic, albeit its dark nature, as for someone who is loved by their lived ones dying in a nation that is void of love. Even as they were far apart, the power of love can travel across the world, even in a country filled with nothing but hate and despair.

It was interesting to see how Stanley struggles with telling his and Grace's two daughters on the demise of their mother. It was sort of like a leverage system to balance the happy emotions with the incoming tsunami of emotions such despair and grief. He tries his best to make sure his daughters are having the time of their lives such as bringing them to the Enchanted Garden and going out for meals together, as a means to avoid his own pain and sparing his daughters the pain. Going to places far from home is as if he was running away from the hard reality of his wife's death, and he wants to take his kids along too. But eventually, truth will catch up, and no matter how unpleasant or sad the news is, they have the right to know about their mother's death, and because they are dealing with death together, they will find solidarity and support to grow out of this pain together, and despite of the loss of a loved one, their love amongst the three of them will grow even stronger. It's like a balance of the universe; when there is loss, more love will grow from it.

This movie reminds me alot about my own experience, as my mum has the burden of informing my grandmother that her son has died from cancer. But in the end, she chose not to tell my grandmother because she is worried that my grandmother will not be able to take it. There is a Chinese saying about the tragic scene where 'a white haired person has to send off a black haired person', which means the tragic scene of parents having to conduct the final rights of their kids. Hence, relating to this movie, breaking the news of a death is contextual, it is easier to break the news to someone who is of a young age as they are more mentally and physically resilient, opposed to an elderly who may not be able to accept the tragic news of death, because it is possible for someone to 'die of a broken heart'.

Experimenter (2015) - A Film of Experimentation

Experimenter (2015) poster from IMDb

This film directed by Michael Almereyda is an interesting take on telling a true story of a famous individual. While it does hold true to Stanley Milgram's life, the way that Michael has filmed the movie made it beyond a dull, boring one-sided biography of a person. Instead, it became a very interactive film as Stanley Milgram is always engaging with the audience in the movie by looking directly at the camera, as if he was talking to the audience himself to narrate his own story. During scenes where he is narrating what happens to him in certain situations, such as his life after his paper on his obedience experiment is announced to the public, he tells the audience what happens to him from a first-person point of view, instead of communicating to the audience in a third-person point of view.

Michael Almereyda has also recreated Stanley Milgram's story in such a way that the audience can relate to Stanley Milgram on a more personal level. As a psychology student, I know Stanley Milgram as just a researcher who became famous the controversial study that he has conducted in the past. But upon watching this movie, I've realised that there is a more human side to him, as I am able to somewhat relate to his 'human' side by watching the hardships that he has to endure when his obedience study came under attack by the academic community and society in general. Despite the fame that he is getting for his breakthrough study, with the book of his obedience study translated into countless languages, Experimenter (2015) allowed me to watch as Stanley faces public scorn and pressure from the ethics board, as well as the strain in his relationship with his wife, Sasha. Even as the obedience study was ongoing, I get to witness the long hours and patience that he and his research team have to endure in order to get data from over thousands of individuals, with the numbers increasing even more as he carries out his study with different variables. In short, the movie has allowed me to feel empathy for Stanley Milgram for all the sacrifices that he has to make, in terms of his personal life and career, just to discover the more about the human kind.

Finally, the film is also symbolic in a way as it brings out knowledge about humans through the eyes of Stanley Milgram, which also gives us the audience a food for thought at the end of the movie. There were so many quotes by Stanley but this quote impacted me the most:

"I believe we are puppets with perception, with awareness. Sometimes we can see the strings. And perhaps our awareness is the first step in our liberation."

-Stanley Milgram, Experimenter (2015)

Even though this is just a film about Stanley Milgram's life during and after the obedience experiment, it does give me the impression that the film is also trying to teach us something from Stanley's own findings. The quote above is about how we, despite being aware of us adhering to orders from a superior, we still obey these orders even as these orders are harmful to other people. But through Stanley's eyes in this film, he is trying to teach us that if we are aware that we are aware, we can improve the quality of our lives.

At some scenes involving the experiment lab, Stanley is followed by a large elephant in the hallway while he narrates about himself to the audience. The fact that everyone else in the room is ignoring the elephant as it walks is a literal depiction of the 'elephant in the room' phrase. Having an elephant in the room means people are oblivious to an obvious issue, which is especially prevalent in groups where groupthink happens. I think Stanley is trying to imply here that this is the reason why he is carrying out the study in the first place; he wants to tell the world that if we obey our superiors all the time, we won't even notice an obvious problem that is happening. Hence, this serves as a life lesson as well, to speak up and stand firm to what you believe in, despite oppression from your group or superior, for the greater good of the group and perhaps, society at large.

Amadeus - Passion with a Price

Amadeus movie poster from IMDb

  For a 3-hour movie, it was really worth the watch. Amadeus has caught my attention in many ways, but one thing about Amadeus has really captured my interest is the way the characters were brought to life on screen.

  Let's start with Mozart. Tom Hulce, the actor of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, has certainly brought out the defining features of Mozart on screen. **SPOILER ALERT!!** It was brilliant to see Mozart with his rather unique demeanor; from his quirky and annoying laughter to his fascination for oddities such as being involved in a theatrical masquerade parties. For someone who is already placed on the far right o the normal distribution of society back then, in terms of musical talent, it was interesting to watch how Mozart's attitude and social skills were well beyond the normal Viennese society as well. He was obnoxious towards women and he is unable to observe basic etiquette in a high society such as behaving in the presence of royalty. In a way, Mozart's extraordinary gift in music came at the price of unable to adapt to societal norms back then, which ultimately led to his downfall as his snobbishness for his talent made him unable to teach pupils. As a result, he regretted when he was in a serious financial constraint as his poor reputation was spread throughout the high society, which made him an unfavourable teacher among the high society. But bad qualities aside, I've also observed that Mozart is actually one who can remain committed to things. In all obviousness he is devoted to his music and can go on for hours composing an opera in his room, but he also shows dedication and commitment when he is stuck in a rut between famous soprano singer Katerina Cavalieri and his future wife, Constanze Mozart. If Mozart were to marry Katerina, his financial status would be somewhat settled as he will be marrying someone from a high end society, but he was adamant in choosing to remain by Constanze's side, even though she was just a commoner. Hence, Mozart was still respectable in some ways to me due to his ability to remain committed and loyal to the things (and people) he loves.

  Now for the antagonist, Salieri. Salieri to me seemed like Mozart on the other side of the mirror. He was all the things that Mozart wasn't on the outside. Salieri was a man who played by society's rules, and became a respectable court composer with mannerism to the German emperor back then, Emperor Joseph II. Even his clothes were the total opposite of Mozart as he was always wearing, dark and dull coloured clothes compared to Mozart who prefers to wear colourful and eye-catching clothing. But when it comes to their personalities, Salieri is strikingly similar to Mozart due to his own show of commitment to things. For starters, he is a man who is committed to God in the beginning, as he was always praying to God for spiritual guidance in helping him through his journey to become a famous musician. Salieri is also passionate about music as much as, or even more than Mozart, as he began to develop a love for music himself despite his father's disapproval, and not forced like how Mozart was by his father. What makes this comparison even more obvious is how at the end, they both eventually succumb to their passion for music. Mozart destroyed himself because of his undying love for music (which ultimately made him die, oh the irony), while Salieri destroyed his sanity because of his obsession for good music, which eventually led him to be obsessed with Mozart's musical masterpieces, even though he says that he hated him. Hence, Salieri to me is like an alter ego of Mozart and vice versa.

  Another character that deserves an honourable mention would be Emperor Joseph II, the emperor of Germany back then. Jeffrey Jones did a fantastic job at bringing out the character of Emperor Joseph II, as he portrayed a strong, powerful, and intimidating character, like how an emperor should be. There was something about Emperor Joseph II's character that made it really entertaining to watch him. One would be his powerful demeanor that commands the loyalty of his subjects, apart from his very humourous effort in learning music despite being deemed as tone deaf by Salieri. His powerful presence as an emperor also brought out the responsible and just values in him in order to keep his country safe. During the scene where he confronted Mozart on his upcoming opera, the emperor had to make an immediate action to ban Mozart's upcoming opera as it was based on the French work of Figaro which celebrated status inequality and oppression. As a ruler responsible of his subjects' safety and wellbeing, Emperor Joseph II had to ban Figaro and also question Mozart as soon as he found out about Mozart's plan, as he had the duty to protect his people. I can definitely see that he is a wise ruler respected by many. Hence, Emperor Joseph II became one of my favourite characters in the movie.