Whale Rider (Special Edition)
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Movie Reviews of Whale Rider (Special Edition)
Movie Review: Coming of age in wonderful New Zealand
Summary: 5 Stars
Despite the coming of age movie/anti-traditionalist genre not being incredibly new Whale Rider brings something new to the screen - a freshness we have not seen in a long time. Rejecting his granddaughter notwithstanding her repeated attempts to make an impression, Koro (Rawiri Paratene) searches for a new great chief among the first-born boys of the local neighborhood. In the meantime, Pai (Keisha Castle-Hughes) sets about to outdo each of the boys with her advanced skills at stick-fighting (which she learns from her uncle), swimming, and pulling faces. She endeavors to show her grandfather that she too can be great; that she too can enthuse and guide those around her, and that she in addition is able of humbly carrying the family tradition - despite not being a boy. As mentioned previously, the idea of making a film about a gifted youngster spurned by a traditional family really is not new. In the tradition of Bend It Like Beckham and others I have to admit to having a soft spot for this genre. Who can resist such a gifted kid in the middle of the glorious waters of New Zealand - not I. Anyway, if just for the backdrop - the movie is full of scenery - Whale Rider is a wonderful and meaningful movie.
Whale Rider is, as the traditionalist reviewer will recount is the story of Pai, a young girl who disturbs her grandfather Koro simply by being born a girl. He wished instead for a grandson - one who would carry on the family name. Being of a proud line of Maori leader who, according to legend, went about riding on whales. Whale Rider is a engrossing film, gorgeous to gaze upon at and featuring probably the best child performance of the year from Castle-Hughes - who garnered a nominations at the 2004 76th Annual Academy Awards for "actress in a leading role," and the 2004 10th Annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards for 'Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role' and was a winner at the 2004 BFCA Critics Choice Award for 'Best Young Actor.' If for that alone it should adorn every collection.
Miguel Llora
Movie Review: Sophie from Lake Tapps says "this is a must read"
Summary: 5 Stars
Whale Rider
A whale is about 100 times larger than a person right? So imagine yourself riding on top of one (a 40 ton whale), you're the whale rider. Most people would be scared to death. That's why there's only been one whale rider, Kahuta Te Rangi. Now many years later a girl is born she is named Kahu after the whale rider. Kahu is the first born great grandchild of Koro Apirana, the tribe leader. This makes her destined to have all the Maori knowledge passed on to her. But Koro wanted to pass the knowledge on to a boy not a girl to follow the tradition. This 150 page book by Witi Ihimaera is amazing. I promise you'll remember Whale Rider forever.
Through out Whale Rider kahu is forced to fight for Koro's attention and love. Koro can't accept that his great granddaughter is a girl (shame on him). Luckily Nany Flowers is independent and always stands up for Kahu. Koro searches the different families for other boys to pass on the knowledge to, but none of them can pass the tests. Everything goes wrong when 200 whales beach themselves, the need to find someone to pass the knowledge onto becomes more urgent. Koro still doesn't see Kahu as a possibility; she becomes more agitated than ever. So when the sacred whale comes to beach himself kahu takes her chance to prove herself and swims out to it. The ending is amazing and unforgettable, you can't miss it!
My favorite part of Whale Rider is all the times Nanny Flowers threatened to divorce Koro. It's humorous in its own way because she never really divorces him (even if he may deserve it).
The most important thing I learned from this book is that girls are just as worthy and tough as boys.
Books similar to Whale Rider are The Birch Bark House, Before We Were Free, and number the stars.
You'll really love this book, it's a pretty quick read but worthwhile. You'll find some great girl power from Nanny Flowers and Kahu. Hurry up and grab this book before they're all gone! I give this book 5 stars!
Movie Review: A lovely, poignant tale simply told
Summary: 5 Stars
"Whale Rider" is a remarkable and exquisite movie from New Zealand. Disregard the MPAA's clueless "PG-13" rating. This film is suitable for viewers aged ten to a hundred. And, for once, we have a movie which lifts one's spirits - indeed, makes them soar - without resorting to gross sentimentality, banal, manipulative dialog or predictable plot turns. This is the story of a young girl, Paikea [Keisha Castle-Hughes]. and her family, all of whom are part of the Maori population in New Zealand. The Maori were the original settlers of the island. They arrived many hundreds of years before the British, and in the remote part of the country where Paikea lives, they have retained much of their culture. One of their legends is that the original chief arrived in New Zealand on the back of a whale.
Paikea is born in tragedy. Her mother dies in childbirth, and her twin brother is stillborn. Her grandfather, Koro [Rawiri Paratene], is a local Maori chief who begs the baby's father, Poro [Cliff Curtis], to start another family as soon as possible, but the heartbroken Poro decides to leave the country and pursue his ambitions as an artist. This leaves Koro and his wife, Flower [Vicky Haugton], to raise Paikea.
The movie moves quickly forward to Paikea at age twelve. It is obvious that the girl and her grandfather have closely bonded. Their rift is simple: Koro can not accept the idea that a girl could ever be a Maori chief, but Paikea otherwise embodies everything that is Maori. She is almost literally the whale rider reborn.
Castle-Hughes is the center of the movie, and she is, as other critics have noted, a star in the making. I have not seen a child carry a movie as well as she does since Haley Joel Osment in "The Sixth Sense". Hers is a stunning performance, and one can only hope that she can build from this role, as opposed to being defined by it.
The photography is magnificent, as is the music score. All of the movie's elements work together to produce a work that is both magical and meaningful.
Movie Review: Deeply Moving
Summary: 5 Stars
This film is simply astonishing. It is so simple, and yet, sweet, and ultimately, profound. Somehow, it encapsulates in a timely fashion what has become the greatest challenge to ALL of our tribes, the painful and challenging encounter between the modern world, and the archaic realities.
Each of us blindly and steadfastly carries on the traditions of the culture into which we were born. For many, loyalty and adherrance to tradition and ceremony give them their most important sense of identity and the greatest meaning to their lives. To suggest that they abandon these traditions, or alter them, can be the most threatening experience they can know.
And yet...A crab, a snake, even a toad must shed its skin in order to grow larger. If evolution and growth mean constant change, how can one be rigidly loyal to a tradition and yet nurture and support helpful, healing growth? This issue lies at the heart of this story.
When one is deep in a tradition, it is easy to forget the original, monumental events that gave rise to the perseverance of the tradition in the first place. These events are always seminal. They are primary. They frequently define the prevailing fashions in terms of shock! and awe! They are generally a significant and dramatic breakthrough of some kind. Then comes the repetition of blind submission to the symbols of the original events.
In this film, the conflict between hide bound adherance to the old, and natures attempt to create something new and fresh, give rise to a great struggle between the present and the past that ultimately is only reconciled when the mighty voices of the Old Ones speak, with ultimate authority, what can only be the final word on the subject.
There is so much to be enriched by, spiritually, in this film that it is almost too much to bear. Exquisitely beautiful, haunting, there are subtle lessons upon which one may reflect at great length. It is a film to drink deeply.
Movie Review: Coming of age in New Zealand
Summary: 5 Stars
This is another classic New Zealand film with amazing performances from all the cast. I dropped lucky with this movie, I got it for a dollar would you believe! Blockbusters was selling ex-rental copies to raise money for an appeal and I happened to be in the shop on that day, lucky or what?
The plot is not complex, the Whangara people have long believed their presence in New Zealand dates a millennium, what is more they can trace their origins to a single ancestor who was lucky enough to escape death when his canoe capsized in the ocean and he rode to shore on the back of a whale.
From that time on the Whangara chiefs, have been considered this man's direct descendants as their natural born tribal leader.
Jump forward to the 21st century and we meet Pai played by the understated Keisha Castle-Hughes, an 11-year-old girl who comes to believe she is destined to be the new chief.
However Pai's grouchy and somewhat bitter grandfather Koro, (Pai's male twin died at birth) played fantastically by Rawiri Paratene is bound by tradition to pick a male leader and he cannot see that Pai is in fact the next true leader of their tribe and it is his stubbornness and anger that just might lead to a terrible tragedy if he does not open his eyes before it is too late...
This is one of the best films to come out of the 21st century; the scenery is breath taking, the acting first class and the sound-track spot on. What more can you ask for?
One of the most wonderful scenes for me is when Pai takes to the sea on the back of whale, at that moment she knows she cannot change her Grandfather's mind so she gives herself to nature and rides on the back of a whale, letting it take her down into the depth of an ancient ocean.
A truly awesome film that that is worth watching over and over again just for that scene alone.