Lily is the kind of wallflower that for some reason remains faithful to the indifferent world around her. Nothing about her is quite right. Wrong dress, wrong walk, wrong words. The high point of her monotonous days behind the counter in a fast-food restaurant is the daily order by Jarrod also socially awkward, but a born salesman. Just like her, he has a little mole above his top lip and Lily is convinced that this gives them a special bond. While Jarrod is not interested in the timid Lily, she ends up in his life after all when she is willing to take him back to his birthplace. When he arrives, Jarrod only wants to get back at the kids who used to bully him.
Eagle vs Shark is a dry comedy that leans successfully on New Zealand understatement and restrained yet refined acting. The director developed the plot filled with familiar adolescent problems based on his own childhood experiences and those of his protagonists. Yet Lily and Jarrod never become ordinary kids and it is that offbeat quality that turns the film into an intriguing love drama. (EH)
- Director
- Taika Waititi
- Premiere
- European premiere
- Country of production
- New Zealand
- Year
- 2007
- Festival Edition
- IFFR 2007
- Length
- 87'
- Medium
- 35mm
- Language
- English
- Producers
- Ainsley Gardiner, Cliff Curtis, Emanuel Michael
- Production Company
- Whenua Films Limited
- Sales
- New Zealand Film Commission
- Screenplay
- Taika Waititi
- Cinematography
- Adam Clark
- Editor
- Jono Woodford-Robinson
- Production Design
- Joe Bleakley
- Music
- The Phoenix Foundation
- Cast
- Loren Horsley, Rachel House, Jemaine Clement