Taika Waititi: The Auteur You’ve Never Heard About
Taika Waititi is a New Zealand comedian, actor, and movie director with a growing repertoire. After several successful short films, he began simultaneously directing while acting in several notable films. Waititi found his first success on the international stage with his film Boy in 2010, followed up with What We Do in the Shadows in 2014, and then finding huge international success with his 2016 film Hunt for the Wilderpeople. He is the director of the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok which comes out in November of this year. His films Boy and Hunt for the Wilderpeople particularly fall into a category of comedy-drama or dramedy. Dramedies combine elements of drama and comedy in a way that can provide lightness without mockery and understanding without sentimentalism. Waititi specifically focuses on people on the margins of society and uses father-son relationships to balance the delicate nature of the genre, the success of which has proven his status as a new auteur in this golden age of dramedy.
Dramedy is a relatively new genre, and with the exception of a few outliers, most of the films have been made in the last 20 years. Some early examples of this genre are Forrest Gump and The Truman Show, both of which are excellent examples for the tone of a dramedy. Both films portray serious subjects, a primary characteristic of dramedies. Topics like war, relationships, ethical dilemmas, mental illness etc. can all be covered giving the genre a wide range of topics. Underlying in them all is a lens of humor in the midst of the situation. If it’s too comedic, the effect is lost and the issue becomes whimsical or subsidiary to the humor. Dramedies work best when at least one of three things takes place: a traditionally comedic actor playing the main role (Truman Show), when the main character has some type of comedic trait about them (Forrest Gump), or the protagonists find themselves in humorous situations a result of the darker situation around them.
Now back to Mr. Waititi. In describing his most recent film, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Waititi states the film, “was about people who were on the margins and people who don’t feel like they’re a part of society.” This takes the front seat in Boy and Hunt for the Wilderpeople. In the realm of dramedy, Waititi focuses his films on social rejects, letting the audience step into the shoes of the individuals of the films, not only for empathy, but for examining their own biases towards people like this.
Waititi has also stated, “One of the things I strive for in my work is to… take a little snapshot of the human condition or human nature, just to say, ‘This is what life is like.’” This quote answers why he chooses to produce dramedies. Focusing on people in the margins of society is how he does so. Specifically, in Boy and Hunt for the Wilder people, Waititi chooses a dysfunctional father-son relationship as a more specific lens through which to approach the marginal characters. In looking at both films as a case study, key aspects of dramedies come out. Boy makes use of all three key aspects. Waititi casts himself as the father, fulfilling the need for a traditionally comedic actor in the film. He also has several quirks that allow for comedic treatment. Lastly, he and his son find themselves in a multitude of humorous situation. Boy uses dry comedy and a bizarre story line similar to Napoleon Dynamite or Nacho Libre.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople also uses a father-son type relationship to narrate the struggles on the margins of the society. With regard to the three aspects of dramedy, the film does not have a traditionally humorous character as the main character. Sam Neill, traditionally the Wildman in films, plays Hector, the father figure. The son figure, played by Jullian Dennsion, is a comedic young actor, although he is relatively new to New Zealand film, thus not satisfying the requirement. Neither character has any outstanding characteristics that are inherently funny. The film’s dramedy comes from the last key aspect, that the two protagonists find themselves in amusing situations. This movie follows a more Hollywood-style plot with more common archetypes than Boy. In both films, this sort of father-son relationship takes the spotlight for the serious issues. Waititi does this for several reasons. Having a male relationship at the center opens up the opportunity for more comedy because that’s what father-son relationships are like. They are a little chaotic and lots of crazy things happen, though at the heart of them are deep seeded human needs and emotions.
Waititi’s success and ability to draw upon marginal characters, and specifically these patriarchal relationships are enough to call him an auteur in the field of dramedy. He is a director whose, “film(s) is more than likely to be the expression of his individual personality; and that this personality can be traced in a thematic and/or stylistic consistency overall (or almost all) the director’s films” (Caughie 9). His films balance humor with serious content, the balance of which should prove to be a standard for dramedies and provide case studies of how to approach the genre.
