#which gave me some emotions

Thanks to @twocarsonenight (seriously, thank you!) I watched the commentary for Boy (2010) and that was the most fascinating bonus feature I’ve ever watched.

First of all, wow, that is the most unhinged way to do a commentary. The whole thing is one long conversation between Taika and Alamein, the character he plays in the movie. And it’s amazing. There were actually times when I forgot it was just Taika talking to himself, it felt so much like two people.

Anyways, not to get too analytical about a commentary, but he uses this in such a wonderful way: it’s clear he has a lot to say about so many aspects of the movie, and that way he can talk about Alamein’s perspective of events without sounding too pretentious (because he’s speaking as Alamein), and also it’s a way to cut a joke whenever he mentions something that he clearly put a lot of thought into but is obviously feeling self conscious about putting into words.

Also, you can see how very conscious he is about everything he knows people might find offensive - stuff like working with children near marijuana, not putting on a seat belt, the fact that the kids were left alone for a long period of time, stuff like that - and he tries to give some of it the appropriate cultural context.

There are a lot of interesting things about Maori culture, and although this is a very ‘small’ and personal story, when you hear the commentary it’s very obvious how much the political and social issues are important to it.

I usually don’t say things like that, but if you loved this movie, I very much recommend watching the commentary.