Broken English (1996 film)

Broken English
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Gregor Nicholas
Written by	Gregor Nicholas Johanna Pigott
Produced by	Robin Scholes Timothy White Janet McIver
Starring	Aleksandra Vujčić Julian Arahanga Rade Šerbedžija Marton Csokas
Cinematography	John Toon
Edited by	David Coulson
Music by	Murray Grindlay Murray McNabb
Production companies	Village Roadshow Pictures New Zealand Film Commission
Distributed by	Roadshow Film Distributors Ltd.
Release dates	19 September 1996 (1996-09-19) (NZ) 2 May 1997 (1997-05-02) (US)
Running time	92 minutes
Country	New Zealand
Languages	English Croatian Māori Japanese
Box office	$541,377

Broken English is a 1996 New Zealand romantic drama film. Directed by Gregor Nicholas, it stars Aleksandra Vujčić, Julian Arahanga, Marton Csokas, and Rade Šerbedžija.

Synopsis

Nina is the daughter of Ivan, a fierce Croatian patriarch whose family immigrated to Auckland, New Zealand to escape the war. She works as a waitress in a restaurant and falls in love with Eddie, a Māori chef, despite her father's objections. For a price, she agrees to marry a Chinese co-worker so that he (and his Chinese wife) 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 realises the depth of her father's fury and the strength of Nina's family ties.

Cast

• Aleksandra Vujčić as Nina
• Julian Arahanga as Eddie
• Rade Šerbedžija as Ivan
• Marton Csokas as Darko
• Madeline McNamara as Mira
• Jing Zhao as Clara
• Li Yang as Wu
• Elizabeth Mavric as Vanya

Production

Aleksandra Vujčić had never acted before and was discovered in an Auckland bar.

NC-17 rating

On September 20, 1996, Broken English received an NC-17 rating from the Motion Picture Association of America. Sony Pictures Classics attempted to appeal the rating to R, but the original rating was upheld. An edited R-rated version was released alongside the unedited NC-17 cut.

In response to the MPAA's decision, Nicholas released an official statement detailing his experience with their Appeals Board:

My encounter with the MPAA Appeals Board made it very clear to me that there is a perception in this country that a depiction of an intimate expression of love--or in this case "buttock thrusting," as it was described by one board member--is more dangerous to the youth of America than graphic scenes of violence, torture, rape and murder which they can see in any number of mainstream movies.

To me, there is something wrong with the system which tells us that exposure to acts of violence will leave young audiences untainted while exposure to acts of love will somehow corrupt them.

At the appeal, I sat in a kind of incredulous daze as I heard apparently educated people comment soberly that I "could have shot it another way, like from the waist up" and that "we've got to draw the line somewhere." I looked around the room and realized I was seriously outnumbered. Then came the clincher: "We can't expose the youth of America to buttock thrusting of this type." Clutching at straws I quickly speculated to myself as to what other kinds of buttock thrusting there were and whether or not they might be more acceptable. Was it the speed that was a problem? Was the thrusting too slow, too fast? I looked around again and it dawned on me: the thrusting was too real! These people were used to watching love scenes in which the actors looked like they were pretending to make love whereas we, in striving for realism, had created a scene in which two people appeared to be actually making love.

Whether they were or not will remain our secret...

Reception

Broken English received generally positive reviews, currently holding an 82% 'fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 17 reviews, with a weighted average of 6.83/10.

External links

• Broken English at IMDb
• Broken English at Box Office Mojo
• Broken English at Rotten Tomatoes