Ivan is the fierce patriarch of a family of Croatian refugees living in Auckland during the Yugoslav wars. Nina is his daughter, ready to live on her own, despite his angry objections. Eddie is the Maori she takes as her lover. Nina works at the restaurant where Eddie cooks. For a price, she agrees to marry another restaurant employee, a Chinese man, so that he can establish permanent residency. The money gives her the independence she needs to leave her parents' house and move in with Eddie. Complications arise when Eddie realizes the depth of her father's fury and the strength of Nina's family ties.
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Reviews
Excellent but underrated film
Absolutely the worst movie.
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
This movie is a waste of money and time. I spent $45 for a VHS copy on Amazon - yikes. With the exception of the talented actor Marton Csokas this flick has horrible acting, directing, editing, etc. In the beginning credits Marton is listed at #2 yet is hardly in it - too bad his talents were wasted. Being the main character's brother 'Darko's character could have been explored more in depth. This is an old story of girl meets boy each from a different 'world', cultures clash, dad has an unhealthy obsession with his daughter, mother is weak and afraid of her husband, husband is paranoid, racist and tyrannical. Everyone does not know the difference between love and lust - well so what else is new?
It looks as if I am among the few who found the directing and production to be flawless. Janet McIver was also the production manager of Whale Rider and Once Were Warriors. Broken English is a delicate movie where the father tries to balance self-control and the love for his family. It is a harsh look at bigotry, and the ramifications of such behavior. Unlike Once Were Warriors, Broken English scores with great acting and has a much better script. True to life, the movie doesn't offer simple answers for the problems the cast deal with. If you're a fan of viewing different cultures, you will most likely enjoy this movie. I enjoyed this movie much more than the other two listed above.
The plot of "Broken English" is easy to summarize:Boy and girl meet. Boy and girl like each other. Girl's father is violent and jealous. Father hates boy. Boy must subdue father. Boy fights father and wins. (Unfortunately, boy accidently runs over father's vicious but hapless dog in the process.) Boy and girl live happily ever after.The video jacket says "Broken English" was made by the producers of "Once Were Warriors." Many of the two movies' elements are similar (notably the primitive father in each), though this one has only about one-fifth the quantity of stomach-churning violence of the greatly overrated "Once Were Warriors." But in both movies, the father exhibits much violently stupid behavior, and midway through this one I wondered, "Why don't the police just lock the guy up?" I gave "Broken English" a rating of six.
A disappointing film to say the least. Characters were stereotypically portrayed. Doesn't surprise me if this was directed by a Englishman who wanted to update Griffith's Broken Blossom. Avoid.
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