The Whale Rider
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| Whale Rider | |
|---|---|
 Movie poster for Whale Rider |
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| Directed by | Niki Caro |
| Produced by | John Barnett Frank Hübner Tim Sanders |
| Written by | Witi Ihimaera (novel) Niki Caro (movie) |
| Starring | Keisha Castle-Hughes Rawiri Paratene Vicky Haughton Cliff Curtis |
| Distributed by | Newmarket Films (USA) |
| Release date(s) | January 30, 2003 (New Zealand) July 4, 2003 (USA) |
| Running time | 101 min. |
| Language | English/Māori |
| Budget | NZD 6,000,000 (est.) |
| IMDb profile | |
Whale Rider is a 1987 novel by New Zealand Māori author Witi Tame Ihimaera. The 2002 movie Whale Rider is an adaptation of the book with the author's involvement by Niki Caro, who also directed. It was released in New Zealand on January 30, 2003. The world premiere was on September 9, 2002, at the Toronto International Film Festival.
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[edit] Plot
The movie's plot follows the story of Paikea Apirana at the age of 12 (or Kahutia Te Rangi, in the book), who is the only living child in the line of the tribe's chiefly succession because of the death of her twin brother and mother during childbirth. By tradition, the leader should be the first-born son--a direct patrilineal descendant of Paikea, the one who rode atop a whale from Hawaiki. However, Pai is female.
Pai's grandfather Koro Apirana, or Old Paka as his wife Nani Flowers calls him, the leader of the tribe, is initially angry about her birth. While he later forms an affectionate bond with his granddaughter, carrying her to school every day on his bicycle, he also resents her and blames her for many of the troubles facing the tribe. At one point Pai feels so rejected that she attempts to leave New Zealand with her father; she finds that she cannot bear to leave the sea and returns home. Pai's father has refused to assume leadership; instead he has moved to Germany to pursue a career as an artist. Pai herself shows an interest, learning traditional songs and dances, but is given little encouragement from her grandfather.
Koro decides to form a cultural school for the village boys, hoping to find a new leader. Pai, aided by her uncle and one of the students, Hemi, secretly follows the lessons and learns to use a Taiaha fighting stick, something traditionally reserved only for males. Her grandfather is enraged when he finds out. His relationship with Pai erodes further when none of the boys prove worthy of the title of leader.
Pai, in an attempt to bridge the rift that has formed, invites Koro to a concert of Māori chants that her school is putting on, as her guest of honor. However, as he is preparing to leave, he notices that numerous right whales are beached near Pai's home. The entire village attempts to coax and drag them back into the water, but all efforts prove unsuccessful. Koro sees it as a sign and despairs further. He admonishes Pai against touching the creatures, but when he walks away, she climbs onto the back of the largest whale and coaxes it to re-enter the ocean. Riding on the back of the whale, she leads the entire pod back into the sea, nearly drowning in the process. It is only when she vanishes into the ocean that Koro realizes that Pai is destined to be the next leader. When Pai is found and brought to the hospital, Koro begs her forgiveness. The film ends with the village, including Pai's father, uncle and grandparents, celebrating her status as leader.
While the plot of the book is basically the same, it pays less attention specifically to Pai/Koro, and mainly focuses from a perspective of narration by Pai's uncle. It clearly expresses the deep resentment felt by her grandfather, and Pai's longing to gain his respect as a rift opens between them.
[edit] Production and Awards
Produced by South Pacific Pictures, on the East Coast of New Zealand's North Island, the movie has received highly favourable praise from international critics and audiences.
The movie has won a number of international film-festival awards, including:
- the Toronto International Film Festival's AGF Peoples Choice award in September 2002
- the World Cinema Audience award at the January 2003 Sundance Film Festival in the United States
- the Canal Plus Award at the January 2003 Rotterdam Film Festival.
Keisha Castle-Hughes was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance, becoming the fifth youngest actress ever nominated for the award. She was 13 years old at the time. She has featured in 3 more movies and as of 2007 is expecting a child.
[edit] Controversy
Many people, including Roger Ebert, thought the movie should have been rated PG (as opposed to its PG-13 rating) by the MPAA. Many felt that the rating was received solely because of a brief drug reference. However, the film opened with a sequence in which a mother dies in childbirth (as does one of the newborns), and contains another scene where students are told their "dicks will fall off" if they don't obey the teacher - two scenes that are also likely responsible in part for the rating.
No real whales were beached to make the film. The whales in the movie were scale models, 9 were animatronic, several manipulated from inside by humans. The Right Wales shown underwater were of course real. Pai rode a mock-up, and that key sequence occurred several miles offshore.
[edit] Cast
- Keisha Castle-Hughes as Paikea Apirana
- Rawiri Paratene as Koro Apirana
- Vicky Haughton as Nani Flowers
- Cliff Curtis as Porourangi
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official site
- Whale Rider at the Internet Movie Database
- Feature - Whale Rider, at The New Zealand Herald
- Kahutia/Paikea - The Whale Rider plot outline of the book
- Little Girl, Big Fish - movie review
