''Broken English'' is a 1996

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

romantic drama film. Directed by Gregor Nicholas, it stars Aleksandra Vujčić,

Julian Arahanga Julian Arahanga (born 18 December 1972) is a New Zealand film and television actor. Biography Arahanga was born Julian Sonny Arahanga in Raetihi, Manawatū-Whanganui, New Zealand. Married to director Becs Arahanga https://www.imdb.com/name/nm88 ...

Marton Csokas Marton Paul Csokas (, hu, Csókás Márton Pál; born 30 June 1966) is a Hungarian-New Zealand actor of film, stage, and television. A graduate of the Toi Whakaari drama school, he has worked extensively in Australia and Hollywood, along with ...

, and

Rade Šerbedžija Rade Šerbedžija ( sr-Cyrl, Раде Шербеџија, ; born 27 July 1946) is a Croatian actor, director and musician. He is known for his portrayals of imposing figures on both sides of the law. He was one of the best known Yugoslav actors i ...

Synopsis

Nina is the daughter of Ivan, a fierce Croatian patriarch whose family immigrated to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, 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 *

as Eddie *

as Ivan *

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 The Motion Picture Association film rating system is used in the United States and its territories to rate a motion picture's suitability for certain audiences based on its content. The system and the ratings applied to individual motion pictures ...

from the

Motion Picture Association of America The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...

. 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:

Reception

''Broken English'' received generally positive reviews, currently holding an 82% 'fresh' rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 17 reviews, with a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

of 6.83/10.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Broken English (1996 Film) 1996 films 1996 romantic drama films 1990s English-language films 1990s Croatian-language films Māori-language films 1990s Japanese-language films Films set in Auckland Films shot in New Zealand New Zealand independent films Sony Pictures Classics films 1996 independent films 1996 multilingual films New Zealand multilingual films New Zealand romantic drama films