Dir. Niki Caro, 2002, New Zealand/Germany, 105 mins
Cast:
Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rawiri Paratene, Vicky Haughton, Clint Curtis, Rawinia Clarke
The Maori people of Whangara claim their descent from Paikea the 'Whale Rider'. For more than a thousand years the patrilineal title has been passed from chief to son. The film starts with the birth of twins to the present chief's eldest son, but only a girl is left as the mother and son die in childbirth. The father Porourangi (Cliff Curtis) is devastated, but his father shows no compassion; he is only interested in him starting again and producing a son. In defiance Porourangi names his daughter Pai and leaves her to be raised by her grandparents.
In her screen debut Keisha Castle-Hughes gives a mesmerising portrayal as the pre-pubescent Pai. It is a remarkable piece of casting and she carries the whole film effortlessly. As Pai grows her grandfather Koro (Rawiri Paratene) learns to love her, but blinded by stubborn tradition he fails to pick up on her developing talents and pines for a male heir. His son Porourangi returns after twelve years, but he has moved away from his culture with a new life in Germany. He offers to take Pai away with him, but just as they have left, sensing a need to be with her grandfather she returns.
With his son gone again, the now desperate Koro looks for an heir among the young boys of the village. He starts to educate them in the warrior traditions all the while cruelly shunning Pai's enthusiastic efforts to learn. She is unperturbed and practises secretly leading to Koro's consternation when he finds out. Rawiri Paratene brings a relentless honesty to the role of Koro, burdened with his stubborn and sometimes painful adherence to his interpretation of the Maori culture and customs.
As a coming of age story dealing with the dogma of tradition and destiny, Whale Rider is in constant danger of falling into sentimentality and although it can be predictable at times, Niki Caro's direction constantly draws earthy and restrained acting from her cast. As a consequence she just manages this fine balance; there is never a feeling of being patronised by the allegorical overtones.
Throughout the story, Pai's stalwart grandmother Flowers (Vicky Haughton) displays a knowing air and lovingly supports Pai against the sometimes tyrannical Koro. As the story develops we see the somewhat obvious destiny unfold with a mystical climax that, although moving, verges on the absurd, taking some edge from the strength of the story.
Shot in a naturalistic style, the New Zealand coastal scenery and authentic Maori culture always look stunning with no little help from the photogenic Pai and Koro. Experienced against the beautiful traditional singing from the cast, Lisa Gerrard's score can come over as unsubtle and blunt in its emotional accent comprising the only jarring element in the filmmaking.
A huge native success, Whale Rider is New Zealand's second highest grossing film after Once Were Warriors and brings Niki Caro's obvious talent to an international audience, already winning a batch of festival awards. With such a powerful performance from Keisha Castle-Hughes it is impossible not to be drawn into Pai's stirring and universal story.
Gavin Bush
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