Boy – Boy and Alamein (Shogun) - I'm your dad...

Boy – Boy and Alamein (Shogun)

Meeting people is hard. What’s harder you may ask? Meeting your dad after he has been gone a few years with nothing, not even a phone call. In the film Boy directed by Taika Waititi we are presented with a boy who idolises his father until he actually meets him and realises he wasn’t at all what he thought he was. Waititi uses sound to help portray to the audience the tension and differing view on a son and fathers first meeting and their alien relationship. It also helps pull the viewer into the world of Boy best described by Corrigan and White “Film sound, because it surrounds and permeates the body of the viewer in a way image alone cannot…” (Corrigan and White, 204)

Before even meeting his father yet, we are presented with a scene of Boy sitting in a broken down car. In the distance we can hear a diegetic ambient sound of dogs barking which prompts dialogue from boy “There’s a storm coming.” This foreshadowing creates an effective first impression of how destructive Alamein is going to be in Boy’s life. As though he were a storm. Waititi then presents a black car containing Alamein and his “mates”. He makes sure we hear the car first. This would be a sound effect of a car’s tyres on gravel. This naturalistic sound helps pull the viewer into the film and is able to make the viewer feel the curiosity of Boy and also his excitement to meet his dad.

But Waititi is able to warn us yet again from Alamein and the deep rumbling of the car gives off a dangerous vibe from the strange men in the car. This is a way of making them seem very alien from Boy. And also shows the present threat they are to him. Soon after the engine cuts and we are plunged into an effective awkward silence and father and son look upon each other for the first time. The audience is able to feel the tension build between the two and the silence goes on. Boy with much more excited that his deadbeat dad.

There is then and exchange of dialogue between Boy and his Father. This is able to show the carelessness of Alamein for his son but also shows Boy’s eagerness to have his father in his life. “Who are you?” This is a question for Boy from Alamein who cannot even recognises his own son.

“...Alamein.”

“Alamein… Oh yeah, I’m your dad.”

 This dialogue is deliver very casually from Alamein and his Vanity is shown through as he only recognises Boy because he carries his own name. There is no exchange of a hug or any affection during this moment. The only affection being the excited reaction from Boy “Whoa! Hey dad!” Because he craves an older male to guide him and to have idolised him for so long Boy is readily willing to accept Alamein into his life, despite his apparent distance.

Through sound we are able to distinguish that Alamein is a threat to Boy and has no enthusiasm towards being a father or any kind of role model for Boy. Waititi is also able to show us Boy’s desperate hunger for his own family relationship and specifically his thirst to have a male figure in his life even from someone who is now very alien to him.

Corrigan, Timothy and White, Patricia. The Film Experience: An Introduction. Third Edition. 2012. Boston, New York. Bedford/St. Martin’s. Textbook.

Boy. Dir. Taika Waititi. New Zealand Film Production Fund Trust. 2010. Film.