Whale Rider (2003)

In a cinematic world where tens of millions can be dropped on big names, endless CGI and mediocre writing it’s nice to come across something that strips back the story and the characterisations to something more natural. This is one such film. The Whangara people have lived their way, in their community, since long before New Zealand came into being as a nation and all based on the legend of “Paikea” and his chieftain descendants. It is into this patriarchy that “Pai” (Keisha Castle-Hughes) is born but as she grows up she is prohibited by her grandfather “Koro” (Rawiri Paratene) from taking part in many of the activities in which she could easily outperform the boys, and so begins to feel dejected and isolated. What are her options? Is she going to follow in the footsteps of her traditional home-making grandmother or is she going to challenge the attitudes of time immemorial and prove that a girl is just as worthy to succeed her legendary namesake. This film works quite well from a couple of different perspectives. From her’s it shows us the tribulations of a capable girl struggling to overcome centuries of male-dominated tradition; from his it flips that coin and shows a man who is so steeped in those traditions that he feels himself powerless to alter them. As much as they share their heritage it is also what divides them. The last ten minutes give some meaning to the title, and those also sum up much of the symbiotic nature of the threads to a story that show a society in tandem with nature and the spirits, but not so much with the advance of time. Castle-Hughes and auteur Niki Caro’s screenplay from Witi Ihimaera’s strong and touching novel offer us a fine example of less being more along the windswept coasts of a land where the whales are as revered and respected as the memories of their human counterparts from years gone by.