NZ on Screen: Best on-screen bogans

Antonia Prebble and Frank Whitten in Outrageous Fortune.

Opinion

As the Outrageous Fortune prequel series Westside Story goes into production, NZ On Screen Content Director Irene Gardiner looks back at some of our favourite screen bogans.

Outrageous Fortune ran for a record-breaking six series, as New Zealanders took the West family and their bogan goings on to their hearts. But there was actually an earlier Westie screen family - the Savages, of the local movie Savage Honeymoon, which was the debut feature film from director Mark Beesley (who later worked on Outrageous Fortune).
The film came out in 2000, and featured a working class West Auckland family who liked drinking, wearing leather pants, and living by their own rules.

You can see an excerpt from Savage Honeymoon here:

A more recent NZ feature film featuring bogans is Robert Sarkies' Two Little Boys, starring Australian comedian Hamish Blake and Flight of the Conchords star Bret McKenzie. The 2012 black comedy told of the misadventures of two Invercargill bogans by the name of Nige and Deano.

You can see the trailer here:

New Zealand even has a film called Bogans - a short made by Grant Lahood in 2004. The film follows three bogans on a mission to join the world of movies. After hearing that Peter Jackson is putting Lord of the Rings on film, they set off from West Auckland to Wellington, hoping against the odds to score acting roles as hobbits. Sir Peter himself makes a brief cameo appearance towards the end of the film.

View Bogans here:

Our music video makers have also taken inspiration from bogans and their imagery from time to time. One of the most striking examples is Steriogram's White Trash clip, made by Adam Jones in 2000. The video helped Steriogram get discovered by Capitol Records, and was a nod to all things bogan from mullets to fluffy dice to line dancing. Westie comedian the late Ewen Gilmour makes a cameo appearance.

Watch White Trash by Steriogram here:

And what salute to screen bogans would be complete without something from Ewen the Westie himself. Gilmour, who passed away in October, went to Peru in 2004 for an episode of the popular travel series Intrepid Journeys. His warm Westie wit charmed the locals and made him an amiable tour guide for viewers.

View an excerpt from Intrepid Journeys - Ewen Gilmour in Peru here:

You can see a more comprehensive look at NZ screen bogans here.

- nzherald.co.nz