The highest grossing New Zealand film of all time ‘Hunt For The Wilderpeople’ (2016) is set for release in Australia on the 26 May 2016 in more than 75 theatres nationwide. The film, directed by Taika Waititi of Boy fame, and starring Sam Neil (Hec Faulkner) and Julian Dennison (Ricky Morehu Baker) is based on Barry Crump’s (1935-1996) classic novel WILD PORK AND WATERCRESS.
The novel was recently republished by Penguin for
spin-off sales to coincide with the anticipated success of the film and
includes 24 full page colour photographs of scenes from the film. Ricky is a 12
year-old disadvantaged city Mauri boy who commits a series of misdemeanours (stealing
a packet of chips and caught riding a stolen bicycle) and is given “one last
chance to straighten” himself out. He is offered to be fostered on a trial
basis at his Uncle Hec and Aunty Bella’s farm on the East Cape of New Zealand.
Uncle Hec is a tough, grouchy fifty-three old
bushman who eventually warms to Ricky and teaches him how to hunt and survive
in the bush. When Aunt Bella dies from a sudden stroke, social welfare plan to
place Ricky in another foster home. They take to the bush and disappear in the
dense Urewera region of the North Island, tramping and hunting and staying a
few days at a time in the dozens of forester’s huts scattered in the remote,
heavily mountain ridged area. The authorities wrongly surmise that Ricky has
been abducted by his uncle and a search by forestry workers and police ensues.
The rest of the novel follows the duo’s journey and their struggle for survival
over the next nineteen months through a variety of humorous and sometimes tragic
anecdotes. The writing is simple and sparkingly clear.
Crump uses his vast knowledge of the New
Zealand bush and his practical bush skills to add considerable credibility and
interest in his narrative. On several occasions I have gone pig hunting with
the locals in the heavily forested area south of Opotiki and stayed in the forester’s
huts and Crump brings this way of living alive with zest and colour through his
wonderful descriptions of the bush and its wildlife. Consider this amazing
description of the land:
“All this bush- there was so much of it. You
could stand on a high ridge and as far as you could see in every direction rose
other high ridges of bush, disappearing into the distance, split by slips and
creeks and bluffs, but always with the bush growing in and on and around
everything. There were times when I really didn’t think I’d ever see open land
again. Sometimes the country we travelled through was so steep and broken up
you noticed every flat area, even if it was only big enough to put your foot
on. In other places the ridges were long and easy and open under the trees, and
the rivers wide and flat, but I soon found out that you never travel far in the
Urewera without coming across rough going.”
Crump is at his best when he describes the rush
of the hunt and its dangers and the triumphs or failures. In chapter 4 ‘A Tin
of Peaches’ he describes a fascinating encounter with a fierce boar. The
language has a spontaneous, immediate sense to it and we tremble in Ricky’s
worn boots.
“I was going to yell out to Uncle Hec when
something came crashing down like a falling boulder through a ferny vine-filled
gully and out through a stony place to the riverbed where it suddenly stopped,
right under the bank I’d just slid down. It was a huge grey boar, like a big
piece of elephant, with pricked-up hairy ears and dark sullen tufts for eyes.
Its mouth was frothing and chomping on its big white tusks and its tail was
slapping from side to side while it stood there.
“ If you’d never heard or seen a pig before
you’d know this one was definitely dangerous. And there I was standing right
out in the open, thirty feet away from it, and I couldn’t tell if it had seen
me or not. We stood like that forever, then suddenly this great big thing let
out a WHOOF and ran downstream, bigger than ever, through the creek with a
shower of water and round the corner, heading up into the bush on the other
side.”
The story is told from 12-13 year-old Ricky’s
point of view and he often directly addresses the reader to create a greater
sense of intimacy with his audience. The last chapter ‘Epitaph’ is written by
Robby Barton, a friend of Hec and Ricky’s, who has “found Ricky’s story”,
amongst scattered papers and has decided to edit and publish it.
The novel Wild
Pork and Watercress is an enjoyable and highly engaging read. Crump is a
smart and insightful writer who knows how to keep his reader entertained.
Although he has sold more than a million of his books in New Zealand, he has
never been able to translate his sales overseas. It should be
interesting how director Taika Waititi’s vision of Crump’s world 30 years on is
accepted outside NZ and how it may evoke future sales of Crump’s bush tales.
UPDATE
See my recent review of the
film: http://georgedanderson.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/new-film-release-hunt-for-wilder-people.html
Resources:
The Official Barry Crump website: http://barrycrump.com/
The Official Trailer for the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8Xvsjy57X0
Facebook hype: https://www.facebook.com/huntforthewilderpeople/
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