Whale Rider

Whale Rider

I will admit, I procrastinated with Whale Rider. I borrowed it from my parents a long, long time. I had heard it was good, but I kept putting it off, thinking, "I'm just not in the mood for that kind of film." Well, I finally forced myself to sit down and watch it, and I'm glad I did. If you have been procrastinating like me, waiting for the proper 'mood,' then stop! Just sit and watch it. You'll be glad you did.

In New Zealand, a young Maori girl named Paikea (Keisha Castle-Hughes from The Nativity Story) struggles with fulfilling her destiny. She comes from a long line of tribal leaders, but her twin brother, who would have been the next chief, died at birth. Only boys can be leaders and so Paikea's grandfather Koro (Rawiri Paratene from Fracture) starts testing the other boys in the village to see who is destined to be the next leader and possible savior of their dying culture.

The young boys act like, well, young boys and they are more interested in playing and kid stuff. Paikea, on the other hand, has already embraced Maori traditions, learning the songs and language, and even learning to fight with the traditional Maori weapon, the taiaha (a big no-no for girls). She lectures the other boys and even the adults when they seem to stray from the Maori traditions. Paikea, despite being vulnerable and wounded by Koro's harsh rejections, is a strong girl and it is clear she is destined to be someone great.

This is the movie's greatest strength, but in a way it is also the one weakness. Paikea is so obviously the next leader from the first moment she arrives on screen, that we are sort of just biding time and waiting for Koro to get with the program. You can only watch so many scenes of him being cruel to Paikea before you start yelling at the screen in frustration. I suppose in a way, Whale Rider is not even Paikea's story; it is really Koro's. This is the story of how a stubborn and devout man has to wake up and learn that sometimes the best way to preserve your traditions is to break them.

What I liked most about the film was that it opened a window into Maori culture, which I knew next to nothing about. When Koro is teaching the boys about Maori culture, he is also teaching us, the audience. I know this sounds like a whole lot of exposition, but it is actually all very fascinating.

I also very much admired the acting in the film. Though only twelve at the time, Keisha Castle-Hughes delivers a wonderful and layered performance and deserved the Oscar nomination - she is the youngest actor to ever be nominated. Paratene is also excellent, as is the rest of the cast, which includes Grant Roa (The Hothouse) as Uncle Rawiri and Cliff Curtis (The Fountain) as Paikea's father.

Based on the description and the cheesy DVD cover, you might think Whale Rider is not your thing. but trust me, it is. It's a really solid, well-made film and I think all of you would like it.

MVP: Not much of a doubt on this one. This is Keisha Castle-Hughes' movie. Not only does she bring an emotional complexity and maturity to the role, she is also inspirational, which I think is the most important and the most difficult thing to pull off for this film. You can understand why the people respect her opinion and how she actually inspires them to start shifting their lifestyle. It's not easy to play 'a chosen one' as a little kid. Just ask Jake Lloyd. But Castle-Hughes excels at this. She wins the award, easily.

BEST LINE: "Well, you wouldn't know it now, but before he got fat and ugly, your Uncle Rawiri was a bit of a the hotshot with the taiaha."

TRIVIA: Much of the film features Paikea doing traditional Maori things that women are not supposed to do. The film cast and crew performed special chants to ward off bad luck from Keisha Castle-Hughes who had to perform these customs.

OSCAR NOMINATIONS: Best Actress (Keisha Castle-Hughes). She lost to Charlize Theron for Monster.