*** (out of ****)
Starring Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rawiri Paratene, Vicky Haughton, Cliff Curtis, and Grant Roa.
Directed & written for the screen by Niki Caro, from the novel by Witi Ihimaera
2002 (wide-release 2003)
101 min PG13
When we first see the Maori village, the sky is grey, the houses are colorless, and a grand longboat sits unfinished on the beach. The chief’s oldest son and successor (Cliff Curtis) lives in a self-imposed exile in Germany, and his youngest son (Grant Roa) is fat and sleeps too much. All is bleak now that the people have lost interest in who they are, or who they once were. Only one man and one girl are interested in revitalizing the community: the chief (Rawiri Paratene) and his little granddaughter Paikei (Keisha Castle-Hughes). Girls in traditional Maori culture are not supposed to be the leaders, and “Whale Rider” is the story of these two strong personalities at odds with one another.
Of course, we in movie-land know that an old man will not be allowed to triumph over a young girl. It will be the girl who triumphs over the old man. But while a lesser movie might be a dopey, thoughtless victory of youth and progress over stodgy, obsolete, and laughable conservatism, “Whale Rider” is a more complex and rewarding experience. Both Paikei and the chief love one another very, very much, and they both love their culture very, very much. Paikei simply feels destined to lead her people. She feels called by the mystical powers of whales and the sea. The chief is easy and confident with his authority, and takes his moral code seriously. Putting his foot down in the face of his granddaughter’s impudence is a joyless event for him.
In order to find a successor, the chief begins a school within the village to train the first-born boys in the old ways. Pai wants in, despite being forbidden, and seeks to learn what they learn on her own. She inspires her fat, lazy uncle to remember the trophy he won for competing with the traditional weapons of the Maori. “Whale Rider’s” best scene finds him expertly demonstrating his old moves with a decapitated broom. The look his girlfriend gives him lets us know he’s in for something special later.
Despite being denied authority in the public sphere, the women in Pai’s life are far from oppressed. Tough, sturdy, and aggressive, women like Pai’s grandmother (Vicky Haughton) know how to manipulate the men. The mysteries of leadership and male bravado have seldom been as transparent as in “Whale Rider.” We see the chief teaching the boys vulgarities and fighting methods that have little practical value and nothing directly to do with civic duties. Yet, as we watch one of the boys rise ahead of the pack in slapping his chest and barking war cries, we come to realize that leadership is about enthusiasm and the willingness to simply resist humiliation, no matter how weird what you’re doing is.
“Whale Rider” is packed with Maori mysticism, but not overwhelmed by it. Their creation story, connection to the whales, and the importance of the whale tooth around the chief’s neck are alluded to, but not quite explained. The result is a movie that is both mystical and mysterious, yet at the same time vague enough to be universal and not particular to one place only. Director and screenwriter Niki Caro, adapting a novel from Witi Ihimaera, refuses to pump up the story with melodrama and contrivances. Instead, she uses stark, clean images of the blue ocean and the grey sky, and lets the actors do their work. The members of the cast are utterly and invisibly convincing in their roles. Keisha Castle-Hughes, in her first performance, is brilliant because she doesn’t appear to be acting at all. The ambient electronic score by Lisa Bourke (“The Insider”) is as lonely as the landscape and as strange as the mysteries of faith. Again and again on the film’s DVD commentary, Caro emphasizes how much she wants “Whale Rider” to be universal. She does not want to tell a story so much about how life works in this particular culture if you’re this particular person. The story she wants to tell is about how a child of good will can come into conflict with elders of equally good will, and how each must follow the path they believe is the right one. “Whale Rider’s” slowly-built but enormous popularity bares out how successful she is.
Finished December 25th, 2003
Copyright © 2003 Friday & Saturday Night
WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS MOVIE TO…
Small children: Yup.
Parents-in-law: Yes.
Mom: Probably.
Dad: Yes.
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