Ricky has a background of being a relentless trouble maker, stealing, spitting, disobedience, running away, throwing rocks, kicking stuff, defacing stuff, burning stuff, littering and graffiti. From Ricky’s conversation with Kahu and Hector in Psycho Sam’s home, we can tell that Ricky doesn’t know who his father is and that his mum possibly abandoned him when he was little, because she was too young to take care of him. He has dealt with sorrow because he tells Hector that his best friend Amber died and he had to process that for a while.

 

Ricky seems to be a very introverted character, but over the duration of the film we see himself and his personality grow. He expresses his feelings in peculiar ways like writing haiku's, showing he is not always the quiet type he usually is. He is also an extremely determined person, as throughout the movie he goes through all the trouble and lives the tough life out in the bush and runs from the police, all just so that he doesn’t go back to juvenile prison. He says this aloud to Paula in the bush; 
“I’m not going back. I’m not going back to juvie.” And “I’ll never stop running.”

At the start of the film we instantly see Ricky has no relationship with anyone. He didn't want to be loved by anyone he just wanted to be on the run constantly.  But once he is welcomed into his new home he finds a sense of belonging. This seems to have some effect on him, and Ricky starts to feel more at home and grows a stronger bond with his “Aunty”, Bella. The bond does not seem awfully strong, however, as Ricky does not appear to show any emotion after finding out that Bella died.  Ricky’s relationship with Hector changes considerably throughout the course of the movie. At the start neither of them really cared much for the other, and in Hector’s case, didn’t want the other there in the first place.
 This is shown by interactions such as:

Ricky: “Is there anything you want me to do?”

Hector: “Yeah… Leave me alone.”

 

Ricky starts off as a senseless individual who doesn’t say or do much. But as he explores the wilderness with Hector he starts to come of age. Before he meets Bella and Hector, it seems as if he doesn’t care about family. But as the story progresses Ricky starts to become attached to Hector and learns the importance of family, for example when he says: 
“You don’t trade family for anything.”

 

-“But I live here now. This is my home!” This is significant because it shows us that Ricky has finally found a place where he feels like he belongs, a place that feels like home. Ricky has probably never felt like that for many other places, as he is a foster child.

-“This is the best birthday I’ve ever had! I think it’s the only birthday I’ve ever had.” This is significant because it tells us a little more about Ricky’s background. This implies that even at his foster homes his birthday was not celebrated, showing that people did not really care about him, as once quoted: “They don’t care about kids like me.”

-“I didn’t choose the skux life, the skux life chose me.” This is significant because it tells us that Ricky thinks he is ‘skux’. Along with him saying to Kahu “…we’re like, equal best bushman in the country.” This shows Ricky is very confident in himself. On a few occasions Ricky referred to himself as ‘gangster’, which means he clearly does not see the risk in the life he is leading, only the exciting parts.

-'That's not very fair. Some people can't even have babies, and the ones who can, they don't even want them.' This quote is important as Ricky does show a sense of perplexity.

At the start of the movie, Ricky’s clothes contrast with the environment around him.The camera angles used to portray Ricky may not seem important, but the fact that early in the movie we don’t see many close-ups is important because it shows us that Ricky doesn’t seem very emotional. The first time we clear emotion is when Bella kills a pig with a knife, it zooms in on Ricky’s face to show shock and a sense of horror.

 

Ricky baker is a dynamic character as he has undergone many changes internally and externally during the course of the film. 

 

Hector is and introverted character, he keeps his problems to himself and would rather be by himself, which he says to Ricky once; “… Leave me alone.” He seemed to be having a good life with just him and Bella and was not keen to adopt Ricky, which he demonstrated when he said: “Just get this into your head, boy… It was Bella that wanted you here, not me.” Through this he shows he is not open to new experiences. He also seems to have a very short temper. For someone who seemed emotionless, he got angry very quickly when Ricky started making fun of him because he couldn’t read.

 

We are told a fair bit about Hector’s background through direct and indirect quotes. At the start of the movie Bella says he was “Just a scruffy white drifter who smelled like methylated spirits.” A drifter is someone who moves from one place to another without one consistent job. Hector probably kept moving because he didn’t have enough money and he couldn’t get a job either due to his alcohol addiction (methylated spirits), or because he is cannot read (or presumably write, because they go hand in hand). He has been to prison for manslaughter because he was young and “It was a drunken fight.” This may have been a gang fight, as Hector says to Ricky “Because I’ve known real gangsters, and they’re a lot tougher than you are.” It is also hinted at that Hector is infertile because when Ricky asked him why he and Bella couldn’t have any kids, Hector said: “Well, I couldn’t.”

 

Hector’s strongest relationship seems to be the one with Bella, as that is the only character he shows deep emotions to. He cries hard when she dies. The only other character he has a decent relationship with is Ricky, for all the same reasons as Ricky’s relationship with Hector. Their relationship becomes so much stronger as the weeks go on in the film. 

 

 

-“So, she’s been with us the whole time, eh? … Thanks for bringing her mate.” This shows that even though Hector always tried to avoid conversation about Bella as it was a sensitive subject, he appreciates Ricky bringing her ashes, as Bella would have wanted.

-“No, he can’t.” This is at the start of the movie when Hector says Ricky can’t call him Uncle. This shows that Hector won’t even let Ricky call him something less formal and that Hector really does not want Ricky there.

-“You’re pretty likeable.” This is something that Hector says to Ricky in Psycho Sam’s house. It shows that even though Hector may have shown many different signs of dislike towards Ricky, he still has a strong bond.

-“Me and this fat kid / We ran, we ate, and read books / And it was the best.” This is Hector’s haiku at the end of the movie and it shows that even after all the time where Hector was in jail and in the rehab centre, it shows that Hector enjoyed the time with Ricky and that he does, in fact, like Ricky.

 

Due to himself and Ricky been hunted down they are forced to work together to find a solution to there problems. At the start of the movie Hector acts like a very tough man who shows no emotion or wants anything to do with Ricky. But he starts to cry when he sees that Bella is dead, showing that under that tough, grumpy exterior, there is a man with deep emotions. Hector starts out with wanting to send Ricky back to Child Welfare, where he thinks Ricky belongs. But as they venture in the bush together and end up running from the police, Hector starts to warm to Ricky. We see that at the start of the movie when Ricky making fun of Hector for not being able to read, he gets very angry, quickly. But he didn’t get angry after they started to connect, like when Ricky couldn’t catch any food, or stayed at Kahu’s for too long and almost got them both arrested.

 

Like Ricky Hec has undergone changes throughout the film making himself a dynamic character in the film. 

 

Paula is a woman supposedly from New Zealand. Throughout most of the movie she is seen wearing a black blazer with a white shirt, black trousers and black shoes. The only time she is seen wearing something different is in the forest, when she is wearing a high-visibility jacket and when she is in a tank wearing a black army vest.

 

 

Paula is a determined and strict woman who somewhat wants the best for Ricky, although she is quite dumb she doesn't seem to see what the benefits of Ricky living with Hec are. She doesn't know that Hec and Ricky have made quite a strong and special bond. 

 

We can see that Paula's strongest bonds are with Ricky and her cop partner Andy. But we can infer that her bond with Ricky at the start of the film is weak. “Apparently he’s a bit of a handful, a real bad egg.”. Because she says apparently, this implies that she does not know this for a fact. The relationship with Andy is one where they seem to be partners on the case, because when one is there, the other one is usually there too. The bond between the two is very peculiar as they don't seem to have many similar traits apart from been narrow headed. 

 

 

Paula’s character does not change very much throughout the movie, mostly just her opinion on other characters. After Ricky goes missing she seems a lot more concerned about him and his welfare and just becoming more attached to him in general. Her opinion on Hector goes from being simply Bella Faulkner’s husband (who has a gun) to being some kind of sick, child-kidnapping pedophile.

 

-“No child left behind.” This quote is significant because it shows us how dedicated Paula is to make a better life for children, or in this case, Ricky.

-“He’s a spanner in the works, and I’m the mechanic who’s gonna take that spanner and put him back in the toolbox. Where he belongs.” This is significant because it tells us that even if Paula wants to make children’s lives better, she thinks there must be structure and order to everything.

-“Yeah, and I’ll never stop chasing you. I’m relentless. I’m like the Terminator.” This confirms the thought that Paula is determined to get Ricky and will never stop. In the junkyard scene, Hector also says “They’re never gonna stop chasing, ever.”

 

Paula is a static character as she doesn't undergo many personality or internal changes over the course of the movie. 

Unfortunately we are unable to grasp much of Bella's background as she was only alive for such a short amount of time in the film. But we can assume that Bella didn't have any family. “Mate, Bella didn’t know where she was from.” And “Bella didn’t have any family.”, making her very similar to Hector and Ricky.

 

Bella is a very outgoing, kind-hearted individual who is willing to show Ricky unconditional love during the time she was alive. She is determined to make lives better for people, which is why she helped Hector and Ricky.

 

Bella acts as a motherly like figure to Ricky and somewhat understands what he is going through. She does not overwhelm Ricky at the start of the film. She lets him do his own thing, but shows him enough affection to make him feel loved, like giving him books because she knew he liked them. In the film we do not see Bella and Hec interact to much but we know they are married that there relationship must be quite strong. 

 

-“Why can’t they just eat grass and be horses and leave it at that?” This quote shows how Bella cares not only for nature, but also for freedom for each living thing. She gives Ricky so much freedom and believes that horses should have it too.

-“Feed him, clean up after him. He’s yours. You’re responsible.” This quote is significant because along with the freedom she gives him, she gives him a big responsibility, treating him like an adult.

-“Come on. Have some breakfast, then you can run away.” Once again, this quote shows how much freedom she gives Ricky.

 

The choice of clothing that Bella wears is all very optimistic, along with her dialogue makes her a very happy and outgoing character. The camera angles used to film Bella are mainly eye level to show that Bella is equal, but some are shot with Bella higher, to symbolise her as an adult.

 

Bella is a static character. As we see from the start she is always buzzing with personality and is always showing some love to Ricky. 

Hunt For The Wilder People Character Analysis n.d., Home, viewed 20 May 2020, <https://industrialscripts.com/ricky-baker/>.

 

 

Hunt For The Wilder People Character Analysis n.d., Home, viewed 21 May 2020, <https://education.burnsfilmcenter.org/education/visual-glossary/hunt-for-the-wilderpeople>.

 

Hunt For The Wilder People Character Analysis n.d., Home, viewed 23 May 2020, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunt_for_the_Wilderpeople>.

 

 

Hunt For The Wilder People Character Analysis n.d., Home, viewed 23 May 2020, <https://narrativefirst.com/analysis/hunt-for-the-wilderpeople/>.

 

 

Hunt For The Wilder People 2016, DVD, Madman Entertainment and Piki Films, Australia & New Zealand. Starring Julian Dennison and Sam Neill.