Emilia Ashby
taika waititi
two cars, one night
Two Cars, One Night features twin young brothers and a young girl. It explores a potential first love between the girl (Polly) and the older boy (Romeo). It takes place in the car park outside a pub in Te Kaha in the North Island of New Zealand where the children wait for their parents and have to pass the time in the car.
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It starts with the boys waiting in the front seat of their parents' car with a time lapse of all the cars coming and going showing the passing of time. After a while a car pulls up next to them. This is Polly’s parents' car and she goes onto the front seat as they go into the pub.
The way kids deal with this sort of boredom specific to childhood is what propels the events of their evening: the games, flights of fancy and bits of role play that can help get through those long stretches of time spent waiting for adults. They start with juvenile jokes and then pass the time together beginning a sort of friendship. Romeo pretends he can drive and is 16. He also claims that his brother will grow up to be a rich, gay lawyer. These ideas of the future are similar to the roles they play in the film with strangely adult dialogue.
Polly holds a ring which she claims is made with diamonds and asks what Romeo would do if he had a diamond ring. He says he would keep it but Polly believes he would sell it . Romeo responds that he would keep it and when she asks why he simply responds “cause then I wouldn’t have a diamond ring”. For me this is the most striking line in the film because it shows not a desire for the ring for its monetary value but for its value as an object itself. The diamond ring is another hint towards a possible future of marriage and growing up.
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We see a car drive by with a man covered in tribal tattoos who Romeo nods at and he nods back which could be an indication of who Romeo is to become and shows him in a very mature and masculine light for a 9 year old boy. It also draws the viewer's attention back to the comings and goings of the pub showing they are waiting for quite a considerable amount of time.
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The film ends with Polly revealing the ring was plastic as her parents come back for her and she goes into the back seat and the ruse is over, they are children again. They agree they will probably meet again. She leaves in slow motion signalling the importance of this memory as she is driven away perhaps Romeo trying to remember her.
Taika has created a film filled with anticipation out of a long and boring evening. This film feels very nostalgic with the black and white and is apparently a nod to his childhood when he would often be waiting outside of pubs in New Zealand. For Polly and Romeo, and the viewer, this is a fleeting experience, yet intense. Before we know it, it’s in the past and becomes a memory.