TWO CARS, ONE NIGHT – Zwei Autos, eine Nacht

Taika Waititi
New Zealand 2003 | 11 Min. | 35 mm, OmU

TWO CARS, ONE NIGHT is a tale of first love. Romeo and his broth­er, Ed, sit in the car wait­ing for their par­ents to come out of the pub. This is their world, a place inhab­it­ed by adults and alco­hol. Polly, an eleven-year-old girl arrives with her par­ents. She too is made to wait in the car while they go into the pub, maybe even to drink with Romeo and Ed’s mum and dad. Romeo, rest­less and bored, decides to make con­tact with the girl. Like any nine-year-old male, he uses his wit and charm to impress and get to know her. “The story, or rather the sit­u­a­tion, has some per­son­al sig­nif­i­cance for me”, Taika Wait­i­ti notes. “I have spent many nights as a child in the con­fines of a large Holden out­side var­i­ous pubs, wait­ing for adults to finish their business.”