Whale Rider (Special Edition)
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Movie Reviews of Whale Rider (Special Edition)
Movie Review: The Human Cost When Ancient Cultures Die
Summary: 5 Stars
The Whale Rider is fundamentally a beautiful and sad rendition of what happens to men and women when their culture is overcome by a more complex and expanding new culture. What makes this film special is the certainty of the love among all the generations in the community and family, even when individuals are making bad mistakes in how they treat each other. No matter these mistakes, the deep love remains and somehow enriches everyone's lives.
There is a feminist message in the story, but not a bitter, 'men are the enemy' one. There is also a message of how destructive the decline of a traditional culture is to men, how it degrades them and leaves them struggling to maintain honor and decency. All of this is easily accessible to children and adults, and reinforced with magnificent Maori carvings and symbols.
The actors are so exceptional that they do not seem at any time to be actors. You expect that like neighbors they will come knock on your door for tea or coffee, or just to take a walk on the beautiful and yet often gray and cold beaches. You care what happens to these people who seem so real.
This is an international story, a common human story intermigled with the lives of whales in a spiritual and practical way. The resolution of the film is a bit too optimistic and sweet, and contrary to what is likely to happen. Still one hopes it will end that way. In reality, of course, the traditional culture will continue to be overwhelmed because it has not grown and developed, locked to the main islands of New Zealand and not wishing to engage the world any longer. And yet, the carving of the Whale Rider, and the inspiring art work of the canoe, bear testimony that once a very enterprising, adventurous and brave society set out across the uncharted ocean, like cosmonauts across the waters of space, and colonized new lands. The spirit was once there. It will need more than the little girl named after the first Whale Rider to fan its fires for another time. This film makes you wish it would light a fire against the watery fog of the ocean and bring Maoris back to the front lines of growth.
Movie Review: a deeply spiritual tale
Summary: 5 Stars
WHALE RIDER
Rare today, a deeply spiritual movie...I have not seen such a tour de fource since CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS.
A Maori girl, rejected by her Grandfather as a candidate as heir to the village headman, owing to her sex....feels a deep connection to the Gods of the Maori people, especially to "Whale Rider" whose totem stands out foremost in the village. The girl's faith in the spiritual power of her archetypal ancestry fills her with life, power, and an infusion of spirit.
She becomes almost a feminine Christ-figure, enduring a kind of death by spiritual crucifixion. In this instance, it is her own family and village who turn their backs upon her, reminding that Jesus said a prophet is not accepted in his own village. How poignantly true.
Oddly, I saw this reviewed as a "children's movie". I am hardly a child. Rather, it is a timeless tale of spirit, rejected by those of the world who expect people to be something other than what they actually are. The heroine is about the same age as the little boy, Harvey, in the movie "Captain's Courageous" which is another movie of great spiritual power, although not about divinity.
I rarely review movies, because there are so few good movies today. This one got its hooks in me, because of its power, it's inspiration, and the fine direction within the movie. The movie has potent imagery to show the clash of primitive culture with a modernized village life. A good example is when the little girl chants in the Maori language, and a boy, intent on making a farce of the tradition, loudly passes gas, causing a disrespectul eruption of laughter. By contrast, our little heroine is guileless, absorbed in the TRANSCENDANCE of her blood lineage to the great ancestor, and to the mythos of her people.
On occasion, I was reminded of the successful movie, "Smoke Signals" with fresh insight into an indigenous people. This is an uncommon movie.
This is powerful storytelling at it's best, and a very uplifting movie.
Movie Review: healing wounds
Summary: 5 Stars
A young Maori girl Paikea (newcomer Keisha Castle-Hughes) in New Zealand is reared by her grandparents. Her father (played by the excellent Cliff Curtis) leaves New Zealand after he loses both his wife and Paikea's twin brother in childbirth. Pai's grandfather is the strictly traditional Maori tribal chief whose hopes for the future of their tribe rested with and died with the birth of the baby boy. The grandfather is struggling against modernism, struggling to maintain tradition and to educate a new generation of young Maori men. He is resentful that the baby who was born to be leader of the tribe has been taken away; his own son cannot face the reality and runs away, leaving the resentful grandfather to rear Paikea. The son has not only shirked his family responsibilities and tribal responsibilities, he has left behind his useless daughter. The baby son had been "the chosen one", the grandfather believes, as the "whale rider" and uniter of the tribe must be male. Paikea, in stark contrast to her grandfather who barely tolerates her, loves and reveres her grandfather more than anything, but is strongly drawn to the Maori traditions and customs, constantly defying her grandfather's stubborn opposition to her learning or participating in men's Maori customs. When Pai's father returns from Europe, the grandfather sees a glimmer of hope, trying to unite him with a Maori woman- only to have his son Porourangi reveal that he has a pregnant German girlfriend back home. The grandfather is livid, and Paikea is going to leave to go to Germany to live with her father. New Zealand, though, mysteriously beckons her to stay. She continues to defy her grandfather, enlisting her uncle to teach her the warrior ways. Eventually her grandfather shuns her entirely; Pai is heartbroken. His stubbornness not only hurts Pai deeply, it stands in the way of progress, acceptance and the dreams he holds dearest for the future of his people. The storytelling in this film is subtle, beautiful and heartbreaking. The cinematography is grippingly beautiful, and the relationships between people ultimately heal all wounds.Movie Review: Epic, exciting and educational tale of a young girl's struggle for acceptance
Summary: 5 Stars
Two of 2003's best movies were filmed in New Zealand. Both featured great creatures and small heroes, and both ended with exotic ships sailing into the sea. But there the similarities end. For one was the grand, multiple-Oscar winning, special-effects laden, fantasy epic "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." The other was "Whale Rider," a relatively low-budget picture about a Maori girl coming of age. Both films are equally astonishing in their own ways.
Paikea (Keisha Castle-Hughes) is a girl who survives the deaths of both her mother and twin brother during childbirth. While the family grieves, Paikea's grandfather, Koro, suffers an additional loss, for Paikea's twin brother was the expected male heir to the family's noble line of prophets, who descended from a legendary "Whale Rider." The rest of the film deals with the complicated family dynamic between Paikea, Koro, and Paikea's father, Porourangi, who resents Koro's old-fashioned ways and flees to Germany to pursue a career as an artist. Paikea comes to realize the importance of her family's legacy, and struggles to achieve it while also striving for the affection and acceptance of her grandfather.
The driving force behind "Whale Rider" is a brilliant performance by first-time actress Keisha Castle-Hughes as Paikea. Before seeing "Whale Rider," I was astonished that she was nominated for an Oscar; after seeing it, I wished she would have won. The supporting cast is uniformly strong; special mention goes to Rawiri Paratene, who deftly navigates Koro's conflicting feelings for Paikea. The story is simple enough, but populated with profound themes on familial relationships, issues of gender equality, and environmental concerns. Director Niki Caro wisely avoids overindulging in location photography; she captures the Maori milieu as much from the faces of her actors as from their surroundings.
"Whale Rider" succeeds on many levels: it's epic and intimate, exciting and educational, humorous and heartbreaking. I can't think of anyone whom I wouldn't recommend it to.
Movie Review: Charming Keisha Castle-Hughes Will Steal Your Heart
Summary: 5 Stars
11 year-old newcomer Keisha Castle-Hughes literally shines in this endearing and moving tale about a Maori girl Pai, whose belief conquers every obstacle before her. You don't have to know the original book; you just have to see the radiating charm of Keisha as Pai.When Pai was born, her twin brother was dead. Though this misfortune didn't alienate the chief of the family Koro from his granddaughter, it is painfully obvious that he wanted a boy, not a girl. Among the male-donimating tradition, Koro still seeks for the one to inherit the tradition of the people among the local boys, and starts to teach it in school.
But it is Pai, now grown up a lovely girl, who thinks that she is Paikea, the decendent of the Whale Rider who arrived there from the sea a long time ago. Her zeal, however, unwittingly causes the wrath of her grandfather, who would not admit any female succeeding the name. But Pai knows that she is right, and we too.
The simplicity of the story does not damage the film; it rather enhances it to the level of myth, and with the director's skillful descriptions of the Maori society where not everybody is happy to live, the film is given a colorful characters and some of the amusingly wry humor.
But it is Keisha Castle-Hughes who will impress you with her charms. She is sweet, she is amiable, and most of all she is natural. Castle-Hughes, who is 'discovered' by the same agent who found Anna Paquin, is a good testimony that you don't have to attend the acting school to be a star.
There are also great performance from Rawari Paratene as Koro, whose character might at first be looked at in the negative light. He succeeds in raising his portrait of the grandfather to tragedy, and we are not angry with, but sorry for him.
Pai's speech given at the latter half of the film is one of the greatest moments in the movie history, easily matching the Auden quotations by John Hannah in "Four Weddings and a Funeral." Her sincere words would never fail to move you, and that part alone is worth the time of your life. In short, a must to see.