Whale Rider
Country: New Zealand
Language: English
Live Action | 2002 | 101 mins
Recommended for ages 10+ (Parental Guidance: Death in family, profanity, tense emotional scenes)
The narrative of a 12-year-old Maori girl who dreams of becoming the chief of her people might not have the narrative appeal of WICKED, but you would miss out. The genius of the movie is the way it sidesteps all of the obvious cliches of the underlying story and makes itself fresh, observant, tough and genuinely moving. There is a vast difference between movies for 12-year-old girls, and movies about 12-year-old girls, and WHALE RIDER proves it.
WHALE RIDER gives us an unapologetic, unvarnished glimpse at the Maori culture, where tribal leader (and Grandfather) Koro sees his people in decline because they have fallen out of favor with the gods and ancestors. He sees that everything has especially gone wrong for his people from the moment his granddaughter Paikea was born. The only solution he can see is in finding a new leader from the young boys of his tribe. Of course, Pai, her grandmother and we the audience clearly suspect that the next leader of his tribe might be right under his nose, he’s just too stubborn and set in his ways to see it.
Keisha Castle Hughes as Pai is a strong reason this film works. Instead of playing the part as a precocious, wise beyond her years brat prodigy, she plays it as a 12 year old girl, needing her grandfather’s love and acceptance, and continually having her heart broken. She beautifully balances the kind of child-like unconditional love that pours out of her with the strength of her ancestors, the stone-like resolve to endure, to survive, to prove herself to her grandfather. Brace yourself, the ride is about to come!