In a right and just world, writer-director Taika Waititi’s HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE would be one of the biggest hits of 2016. I don’t put much stock in Rotten Tomatoes scores, but WILDERPEOPLE is currents tracking at 100 percent fresh among critics with nearly 100 reviews counted. That’s simply unheard of, and it’s a true shame that film quality so rarely translates into box office, but to hell with that. I’ve seen it twice and I’d see it a dozen more times in a heartbeat.
For those pour souls who have no idea what movie I’m talking about, WILDERPEOPLE is the latest from the creator of (and performer in) such exquisitely strange, moving and often quite funny films and TV series from his native New Zealand, such as EAGLE VS. SHARK, BOY, “Flight of the Conchords,” “The Inbetweeners,” and one of the most beloved and hilarious films of the last couple of years, WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, a fake documentary about a group of vampires from different eras, living as roommates, “Real World” style. Waititi has promised us a werewolf-centered sequel at some point, WE’RE WOLVES, but before that can happen, he’s got a little film called THOR: RAGNAROK that he’s just started shooting, and that’s likely going to take up a few weeks of his life until it opens in November 2017.
In the meantime, WILDERPEOPLE (based on the book “Wild Pork and Watercress” by Barry Crump) is opening wider this weekend, after its triumphant debut at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, where I first caught it and did this interview the day after the world premiere. The film involves a pair of unlikely friends—a weathered older man, living on the edge of the bush in New Zealand, and his new foster child, a streetwise (or so he likes to think) boy who has been kicked out of more foster homes than his age. These two go on the run into the bush when the local authorities come to remove the boy after a tragedy at the household, and the film becomes of the most touching action-adventure stories you’ll likely ever see. That 100 percent rating may seem crazy, at least until you see the film.
As I mentioned, I sat down with Waititi the day after the film’s debut, and not long after it was announced he would be at the helm of the new THOR film. Please enjoy my spirited conversation with Taika Waititi…
Capone: I could not stop talking about this movie yesterday. It’s so much fun and wildly subversive in a way, because it is about these people who are trying to get off everyone’s radar and just be left alone to live. What do you remember about your first exposure to this material and what did you respond to initially?
Taika Waititi: The thing I responded to most was this idea that, as human beings, it’s pretty weird that when we’re born, we’re immediately subjected to rules and regulations. Our fucking footprint is taken, our fingerprints; we’re given a name and a number, there’s a contract signed, which is your birth certificate, and suddenly you’re part of society. I didn’t ask to be part of society, but you’re legally part of this now, and you now have to play by the rules. Eventually, you have to start paying taxes, and your realize this is like the Matrix. We’re like born into the Matrix, and as soon as you want to leave the Matrix and go live off in the wilderness and live off the grid, people start freaking out. Society doesn’t like it. They go, “Oh no, you’ve got to come back here and worry about rates and taxes and all that.” “But I just want to go hunt animals and eat them and live in the woods.” “That is illegal on this planet.” [laughs]
Capone: It is like you’re not a person unless you’re registered as one.
TW: Totally. It’s crazy. I’m not a conspiracy guy or anything like that. I personally love living in society. But I think it’s an interesting thing to think about. So there are a lot of people who don’t want to play by these rules.
Capone: You did respond to the subversive aspects.
TW: Totally. I love the idea that they just want to be free. The book is actually very poetic. It’s not very funny. It’s a beautiful, poetic, very simply told story. A lot of people read it when they’re a teenager and they’re figuring out their place in the world. So it’s almost like our Kerouac’s “On the Road.” I love the book. I’ve always loved the book. So what I did is I took that material and fucked it up and added car chases, because none of that stuff is in the book.
Capone: It’s got awesome action sequences too. You lead us to believe it’s going to be a small, personal story, then it like “Wait a minute, it’s an action movie too.”
TW: In 2005, I wrote the first adaptation of the book, and I hadn’t made anything before and I was it would have been my first serious film. There’s not that much comedy in it. The old man dies in the end. And thank god I didn’t make it then. Over the years, I’m becoming more and more aware that, for this industry to survive, we need to make things that people want to watch and we need to get audiences in. And it’s okay to celebrate shit like car chases, and the endurance of the renegade.
Because that’s stuff I grew up on, watching all of those films where people are on the run, and there’s nothing cooler than that when you’re a kid, seeing someone on the run, and how are they going to escape? So I started thinking, how can I make this the most entertaining and accessible film for every single person regardless of age? For a start, I can take out all the swearing that I usually put into films, so it doesn’t get a high rating. And then make it funny—add jokes but also keep the heart and keep the pathos. What I usually try to do with my films is have a balance. And make lovable characters that you’re rooting for the whole time.
Capone: You almost don’t realize until the very end how much you’ve grown to care about these two. Sam Neill’s character is not the most likable. And the kid, at the beginning at least, he’s a little punk-ass bitch.
[Both laugh]
Capone: And by the end, you want to see these two make it. I want to see them persevere. A lot of the characters in your films are these outsiders, whether they, in this case, want to be, or they just are because of who they are. Is that something you identify with?
TW: Totally. Absolutely. I’ve always loved stories of the underdog. DOG DAY AFTERNOON, the greatest thing about that is that Al Pacino is so out of his depth, and he lives on the margin. He’s one of the ones we don’t care about. Those are the most interesting people to me. Todd Solondz is here with [WIENER-DOG], the follow-up to one of my favorite films of all time [WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE], and that main character was a big inspiration for Lily in EAGLE VS. SHARK. So those are the characters I love following, because I love protecting people like that. I fucking hate bullies, and being at school, I was always drawn to the weird kids. I wasn’t bullied, but I would try to hang out with kids who were having a rough time. Those are the people in the world who interest me. [long pause] I hate cool people [laughs].
Capone: The locations here are so beautiful. I assume some of that is due to the book.
TW: Sort of. It’s unavoidable that you’re going to have to do some beautiful photography when you shoot in those locations. I didn’t want it to be like a postcard, tourism advertisemetn. LORD OF THE RINGS did that.
Capone: True enough. That’s what I was going to ask you: were you trying to be the counterpoint to that.
TW: [laughs] “Yeah, here are all the bad parts of New Zealand. This is what it’s like. It’s not like that other stuff that you think it’s like.” But yeah, we’ve got a very LORD OF THE RINGS shot with the helicopter going around the top with them running along the thing. We’ve got a very blatant reference to it. There are a lot of little references to New Zealand cinema in the film that you don’t need to get, but I think people back home will really love as well. When they crash the car, it hits a yellow mini, which if from GOODBYE PORK PIE. And that whole shootout takes place in the same location as the shootout at the end of SMASH PALACE, which is another classic New Zealand film. It’s ridiculous little nods to things, but also, I wanted to fill it with Peter Weir zooms and dissolves.
Capone: And Sam Neill.
TW: And Sam Neill.
Capone: Are there statues of him on every corner in New Zealand, or just certain corners?
TW: There should be. It was a running joke on set that I would hassle him about EVEN HORIZON. Because I’ve heard there’s a director’s cut that I’ve always wanted to see. I think it’s longer, even darker, and I’m like, “Have you seen that director’s cut? Can you get your hands on it?” Also, I was always quoting OMEN III, because he’s Damien in that OMEN movie.
Capone: That’s probably the first thing I ever saw him in as a kid was OMEN III: THE FINAL CONFLICT.
TW: Yeah, and at the end of the film, he’s in a church and he’s dying and he looks up at Jesus and is like, “Nazarene, you have won…nothing!” And then he dies.
[Both laugh]
TW: I think it was just my main thing was, in the ’80s, they really knew how to do the adventure film. They knew how to just go over the top. You didn’t need a reason to flip a police car. You just did it. It defies logic how police cars fly up in the air and flip over, but who cares?
Capone: Where did you find Julian Dennison [who plays the young boy, Ricky]?
TW: I made a commercial with him—an anti-drug commercial, which was based on my short film TWO CARS, ONE NIGHT. It was all shot in black and white. We did it pretty much in the same style of my film. It was him and another kid talking about what their dad’s are like when they’re stoned and driving. It was really funny and stupid. It was a PSA, I guess. He was so brilliant in that, and this was before I had rewritten the script, but I knew I was going to put him in a film one day, and when I got around to rewriting this thing, I had him in mind the whole time. So I didn’t audition anyone. I just gave it to him.
Capone: Since I didn’t get a chance to talk to you for SHADOWS, I wanted to ask: this was a film that showed up on quite a few Best of 2015 lists and considering how it was released, that’s quite an achievement. That has to be hugely satisfying, that the movie lasted a whole year practically in people’s minds.
TW: Totally. That’s a real honor for us. It’s not necessarily a quick flash in the pan hype thing, but the feeling that it’s going to be a film that, dare I say it, and we would be so honored if it even had the longevity that THIS IS SPINAL TAP had. I feel like over the years, it will reach a status like that.
Capone: To a degree, it already has in the horror-comedy genre. People are talking about it in the same breath as SHAUN OF THE DEAD.
TW: I know. What an honor for us to be mentioned in that company.
Capone: I don’t know what the timeline was. Did that coming together the way it did and being successful help get this made?
TW: You know what? Here’s the thing about New Zealand…I want to knock on some wood. So far, they’ve been really good to me. Making a film in New Zealand is great because I get final cut. I do what I want. No notes. No one breathing down my neck, no one standing over my shoulder. I’ve had none of that. It’s really great to have all that freedom, and I’m very, very happy about that. So it wasn’t really because of SHADOWS.
Capone: So the funding you’ve needed has always been there?
TW: Well, you’re always lacking because we don't have big budgets. You still have to go through the process. But with this one, my whole approach with this one was to make something affordable and fast. We wanted to get this one done fast. And that was how I sold it to them was like, “You guys will have a finished film by the end of the year, just give me the money now.” So we did it. We asked for the money in March and shot it in May, and that’s it.
Capone: I know it’s going to be different in different countries, but when are you hoping this will come out? This feels like a summer release.
TW: Feels like it should be, yeah. I don’t know really. Our summer is the opposite time of the year. It’s one of those ones that should happen on a school holiday, so everyone can go.
Capone: And kids can see it.
TW: That’s the cool thing: kids relate to Julian, older audiences relate to Sam, my audience relates to the ridiculous stuff and some of the jokes.
Capone: The relationship between the two was very similar to Pixar’s UP, and I think it had the broad appeal of that film as well.
TW: Absolutely. There’s UP, PAPER MOON, a little bit BADLANDS, but I always have BADLANDS with every film. Those are the three. And probably ROMANCING THE STONE
[Both laugh]
Capone: I’ve got to ask about THOR, which I know is in early stages now. But the fact that they hired you makes me think…
TW: Makes you think that they’ve lost their minds.
[Both laugh]
Capone: No, no. Are they looking for a little humor this time around? This is one of the grimmest tales in the THOR universe.
TW: I think, you wouldn’t be blamed for jumping to that conclusion, because them coming to me was based on SHADOWS and BOY. I think they very much love doing unconventional things, especially with the directors that they hire like we’ve seen with James [Gunn] and the Russos. To their credit, it’s paid off. They’ve made incredible films, and I think that’s how you do it. For me, I wanted to do something unconventional for myself, so I don’t get to comfortable and only do these films in New Zealand. I’ve got to shake it up. I was telling someone else that two of my favorite directors are George Miller and Hal Ashby, who pretty much never mad the same film twice. You can’t find a Hal Ashby film that’s like another Hal Ashby film.
Capone: That’s important to you, to switch things up?.
TW: Yeah. Picasso was changing all the time. I’ve got no style. It’s good to not concentrate on having the same style. And I just basically compared myself to Hal Ashby and Picasso, so I’m a wanker [laughs].
Capone: Alright, thank you so much. It was really great to meet you. Best of luck.
