''The Wog Boy'' is a 2000 Australian

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by Aleksi Vellis and starring

Nick Giannopoulos Nicholas Giannopoulos (born 1 July 1963) is an Australian stand-up comedian, film and TV actor and film director. He is best known for his comedy stage show '' Wogs Out of Work'' alongside George Kapiniaris, the television sitcom ''Acropolis ...

Vince Colosimo Vincenzo Colosimo (born 11 November 1966) is an Australian AFI Award winning stage, television and screen actor. He has worked in both Australia and the United States. He is of Italian descent and lives in Melbourne, Australia. He was previousl ...

, Lucy Bell, Abi Tucker, Stephen Curry, Tony Nikolakopoulos and

Derryn Hinch Derryn Nigel Hinch (born 9 February 1944) is a New Zealand-born media personality, politician, actor, journalist and published author. He is best known for his career in Australia, on Melbourne radio and television. He served as a Senator for V ...

. At the

ARIA Music Awards of 2000 The 14th Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as the ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAS) was held on 24 October 2000 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. Presenters distributed 28 awards with the big win ...

the soundtrack was nominated for Best Original Soundtrack Album.ARIA Award previous winners. It is the first part of Giannopoulous's eponymous ''Wog Boys Trilogy'' (aka "The Blue Valiant Trilogy") preceding '' Wog Boy 2: Kings of Mykonos'', ''and'' the 2022 released final installment in the series, ''

Wog Boys Forever ''Wog Boys Forever'' is a 2022 Australian comedy film and the third installment in the ''Wog Boy'' trilogy. The film is written by the franchise creator Nick Giannopoulos, and directed by Frank Lotito. The film was preceded by two movies in the ...

.''

Plot

Steve (Nick Giannopoulos) is a first-generation

Greek Australian Greek Australians ( el, Ελληνοαυστραλοί, ) are Australians of Greek ancestry. Greek Australians are one of the largest groups within the global Greek diaspora. As per the 2021 census, 424,750 people stated that they had Greek an ...

. Steve is unemployed, but manages to get by, helping out here and there. His pride and joy is his VF Valiant Pacer. Whilst helping out a compensation-oriented neighbour, Steve has a minor car accident involving the Minister for Employment, vampily played by Geraldine Turner. The net result of this encounter is twofold: Steve gets to meet Celia ( Lucy Bell) whom he is instantly attracted to but who initially hates him, and Steve gets outed on national television by

as the worst dole-bludger in Australia. Steve manages to turn this around to his advantage, and becomes famous as The Wog Boy, spearheading a campaign to improve the employment status of the country. In the interim, he makes variable progress with Celia.

Car

Steve (Nick Giannopoulos) is seen driving a dark blue 1969 VF Valiant hardtop during the movie, which was allegedly given to him by his father. During the film, it is said that the car's original engine was a 245-cubic-inch (4.0 L) 6-cylinder hemi, which was later replaced with an 8-cylinder engine. The Australian Chrysler Valiant range of cars were often and sometimes still referred to as "Wog Chariots" or "The Greek Mercedes."

Soundtrack

A soundtrack was released, composed by

Cezary Skubiszewski Cezary Skubiszewski is a Polish-born Australian film and television composer. Among others, he has composed film scores for '' Red Dog'', '' Two Hands'', '' The Sapphires'', and TV series '' Picnic at Hanging Rock''. Career Skubiszewski first m ...

. It featured the single " Breakin'... There's No Stoppin' Us" by

Ilanda Ilanda were an Australian-based vocal harmony and dance group which formed in 1991 as Past to Present. Initially a four-piece, with Leighton Hema, Frank Laga'aia, Lennie Keller and his brother, Norman Keller. They are all New Zealand-born, thou ...

, which was used to promote the film. The track "Get Tzatziki With It" was also in the film's promotional campaign, and is played in the actual movie itself. It was written by John Von Ahlen, Jaime Jimenez and Nick Giannopoulos and recorded at Subterrane Recording Studio.

Songs

# "

Pull Up to the Bumper "Pull Up to the Bumper" is a 1981 song by Jamaican singer Grace Jones, released as the third single from her fifth album, '' Nightclubbing'' (1981). Sonically, it is an uptempo electro- disco, post-punk, dance-pop and reggae-disco song with ...

" -

Deni Hines Dohnyale "Deni" Sharon Hines (born 4 September 1970) is an Australian singer who has been releasing music since the early 1990s, with chart success in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Europe. She is the daughter of American-Australian singer M ...

# " Breakin'... There's No Stopping Us" -

& Joanne # " (She's got that) Vibe" - Redzone # " Shine" -

Vanessa Amorosi Vanessa Joy AmorosiSharon Verghis"Back on track" ''The Sun-Herald'', 18 October 2009, Archived fro''the original''on 6 March 2016. (born 8 August 1981) is an Australian singer-songwriter and recording artist. Her combined album and single sales ...

# " Somebody Like You" - Jimmy Christo # "Am I Sexy?" - The Lords of Acid # "

You Should Be Dancing "You Should Be Dancing" is a song by the Bee Gees, from the album ''Children of the World'', released in 1976. It hit No. 1 for one week on the American ''Billboard'' Hot 100, No. 1 for seven weeks on the US Hot Dance Club Play chart, and in S ...

" - Blockster # "

Born to Be Alive ''Born to Be Alive'' is the first studio album by Patrick Hernandez, released internationally in 1978 and in the US in 1979. It features the eponymous disco hit "Born to Be Alive" as well as a less-successful single, "Disco Queen". Background W ...

" -

Patrick Hernandez Patrick Pierre Hernandez (born 6 April 1949) is a French singer who had a worldwide hit with "Born to Be Alive" in 1979. Biography Born to a Spanish father and an Italian mother in Le Blanc-Mesnil, Seine-Saint-Denis, Hernandez grew up in the 1 ...

# " Love Lies Bleeding" -

Sonic Animation Sonic Animation (stylised as sonicanimation) are an Australian dance and techno musical group which was formed by Adrian Cartwright on keyboards, drums and programming and Rupert Keiller on lead vocals and programming in 1994. The group disbande ...

# " Bang-A-Boomerang" -

The Mavis's The Mavis's were an Australian rock band formed in Ballarat, Victoria, in 1987. Founding mainstays are Becky Thomas (a.k.a. Beki Thomas, Beki Colada) on vocals and keyboards, her brother Matt Thomas on guitar and vocals, and Andrea Vendy on dru ...

# "Love Theme From 'The Wog Boy' " -

# " Get Tzatziki With It" - Planet J ft Nicky GiO # "Pull Up to the Bumper (Club Mix)" -

Sequels

A sequel, '' Wog Boy 2: Kings of Mykonos'', began production in October 2009 with

and

returning in the cast. The sequel was released in Australia on 20 May 2010. In June 2021, a third film ''

'' was released in October 2022.

Box office

''The Wog Boy'' grossed $11,449,799 at the box office in Australia.''Film Victoria - Australian Films at the Australian Box Office''

Cast

as Steve Karamitsis *

as Frank * Lucy Bell as Celia O'Brien * John Barresi as Domenic * Stephen Curry as Nathan * Geraldine Turner as Raelene Beagle-Thorpe * Abi Tucker as Annie O'Brien * Tony Nikolakopoulos as Theo *

as Self * Costas Kilias as Tony * Vince D'Amico as Mario *

Kim Gyngell Kym Gyngell (born 15 April 1952), sometimes also credited as Kim Gyngell, is an Australian comedian and film, television and stage actor. Gyngell won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1988 for his role as ...

as The Supervisor * Trent Huen as Van * Hung Le as Tran * Peter Hosking as Bazza * Lucy Taylor as Shazza * Vincent Gara as Young Steve * Peter Stefanou as Fulvio *

Bud Tingwell Charles William Tingwell AM (3 January 1923 – 15 May 2009), known professionally as Bud Tingwell or Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, was an Australian film, television, theatre and radio actor. One of the veterans of Australian film, he acted in his ...

as Walker * Robert Ratti as Andy *

Robert Rabiah Robert Rabiah is an Australian film actor best known for his roles as Hakim in ''Face to Face (2011 film), Face to Face'' for which he was nominated for a AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Film and Best Actor at the Inside Film Awards ...

as Pietro * Dino Marnika as Reporter

References

External links

*
The Wogboy
at Oz Movies
The Wog Boy at the National Film and Sound Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wog Boy, The 2000 films 2000s English-language films Australian comedy films Films set in Melbourne Films shot in Melbourne 2000 comedy films Films set in Greece Films shot in Greece