This movie is a waste of money and time. I spent $45 for a VHS copy on Amazon - yikes. With the exception of the talented actor Marton Csokas this flick has horrible acting, directing, editing, etc. In the beginning credits Marton is listed at #2 yet is hardly in it - too bad his talents were wasted. Being the main character's brother 'Darko's character could have been explored more in depth. This is an old story of girl meets boy each from a different 'world', cultures clash, dad has an unhealthy obsession with his daughter, mother is weak and afraid of her husband, husband is paranoid, racist and tyrannical. Everyone does not know the difference between love and lust - well so what else is new?

I found 'Broken English' one night at the video store when I was bored and couldn't find anything else to rent. I read the caption and that was enough to perk up interest. I have to say I thought the movie was pretty cool, although I agree that there are major gaps in what makes people like Ivan and his son Darko tick. The racism of Ivan, of course, is just ridiculous. Not that they used it in the film, but that he should have the gall to treat the Maori culture so shabbily (what is that black child doing in the family if he doesn't like black people??). After all, his family came to NZ fleeing war, not the other way around. The Maori were happily (hopefully so)going about their business long before the Croats showed up (probably the same could be said for the English, the Scots, the Irish and all the other Euro-peans arriving on boats to lord and rule for all these years). At least the film gives people, particularly American audiences, a glimpse into a little known culture like New Zealand (kiwi fruit and Russell Crowe, that's about it--and he gets tagged as Aussie most of the time). A shame is that Marton Csokas only gets to give himself to us as a straight-up meat head (a very good portrayal, but a meat head nonetheless) because he's a talented fellow. Ah, well, such is life.Tee

The plot of "Broken English" is easy to summarize:Boy and girl meet. Boy and girl like each other. Girl's father is violent and jealous. Father hates boy. Boy must subdue father. Boy fights father and wins. (Unfortunately, boy accidently runs over father's vicious but hapless dog in the process.) Boy and girl live happily ever after.The video jacket says "Broken English" was made by the producers of "Once Were Warriors." Many of the two movies' elements are similar (notably the primitive father in each), though this one has only about one-fifth the quantity of stomach-churning violence of the greatly overrated "Once Were Warriors." But in both movies, the father exhibits much violently stupid behavior, and midway through this one I wondered, "Why don't the police just lock the guy up?" I gave "Broken English" a rating of six.

Nina, young, beautiful and sexy, driven out from war-torn Croatia, has emigrated with her family to Auckland, New Zealand. Why New Zealand? Well it seems Mum was born there (there is an old established "Dalmatian" community in the region famously associated with the wine industry). Dad has quickly found work as a building contractor and seems to be doing well. Ironically, having been driven out of his own country by Serbian ethnic cleansing, he finds NZ's mild multi-racial society impossible to tolerate, at least when his gorgeous daughter falls seriously in lust with Eddie, a handsome Maori, in the kitchen of the Chinese restaurant where they both work. Being a fairly typical NZ movie, the theme is played for comedy rather than tragedy, though there is plenty of tension. An erotic scene early on dissolves into a minor domestic mishap. Cars get their windows smashed but no-one gets their head smashed in. The real tragedy is back home in Croatia via home videos from remaining relatives. The young couple progress from 90% lust /10% affection to about 50/50, though it's a rocky road. Dad however just can't adjust. Civil enough with his Tongan ("coconut") neighbours, the idea of his little girl having it off with any Maori sends him ballistic (it could have been worse - the lover might have been Serbian). With his knucklehead son, he attempts to break them up, with predictable lack of success. It's a great sketch of a tough, admirable (in some ways) but unadaptable man. Why is he like that? At the end we're none the wiser. Nor do we get to understand Mum's position, which seems to be total submission. She may be NZ born but she isn't a typical post 1960 NZ wife. There's a mildly amusing sub-plot regarding an immigration scam run by Nina and Eddies's employer, with the characters involved verging on caricature. But the main theme is that youth will do what it's going to do (sex, mostly) for good or ill and the oldies might as well stand clear. A nicely made and well paced light piece from the producers of the rather more serious "Once Were Warriors."