Whale Rider (2003)

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Director/ Writer Niki Caro (Memory To Desire) brings to the big screen Whale Rider a film based on a novel by Witi Ihimaera. It is a story that resounds with the struggles of culture past and present, and one little girls struggle to overcome it. The foundations of the story are based in the legend of Paikea who is believed to have ridden on a whale to lead his people to New Zealand.

Since that time tradition has decreed that the first male born in the line of Paikea becomes chief of the tribe. There is were the problem lies. When the eldest son has twins but loses his wife, and son during the pregnancy the legacy that has been observed for over 1000 years is broken.

Koro hopes that his eldest son will return to the ways of his people, and take his place as chief of the village. Porourangi (Cliff Curtis) isn’t too keen on following the path of his father and leaves his young child in search of something outside of village life.

The twin that survives just happens to be the beautiful girl Pai who is met with rejection from her grandfather the current chief, and the community that she must live in who observe the old traditions. Growing up in this environment where she is obviously gifted, but always put in the back of the line to follow tradition is what the film focuses on the most. What follows is a story that takes a close look at the culture she lives in, and her battle to be more than it would allow her to be.

When a pod of whales beaches itself someone will make a sacrifice in their attempts to rescue them, and in essence become the whale rider. Twelve year old Keisha Castles Hughes plays as Paikea “Pai” Apirana. The twelve year old emits a radiance of adult understanding throughout the film, and seems to have a total grasp of what is going on around her. Whenever she is on screen with her grandfather Koro (Rawiri Paratene) you find yourself stuck to what is being said between them.

Their conflicts are many with Koro living in the beliefs of the old ways, and Pai trying to find her place in the world that she has fallen into. The conflict is reminiscent of current events that have traditional values being questioned before the modernization of the here, and now. Like always some things from the past should be cherished, and upheld while other institutions should be done away with all together.

This generational gap is less likely in a film set in a village on a coastal shore with all of the community a tight knit unit, but in this film it only adds to the conflict that resides in it. The total cast adds to the film, and you would be hard pressed to find any actor actress that didn’t add something to it. The grandmother of Pai named Flowers (Vicki Haughton) is always there to add a helping hand, and a stern shoulder to cry on. She is the mold that you can see Pai has been born from.

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