Reviewed by Peter Veugelaers © 2003
- Words escape me ... ecstasy

"Whale Rider" is an indigenous tale from New Zealand that is getting raves with its theatrical release in the United States and England where it is becoming essential viewing for school students. If New Zealand films are renowned for dark subject matter like the releases a few years ago of the popular Stickmen, The Truth About Demons, and Snakeskin then the gentle aesthetic approach and story of "Whale Rider" proves more accessible to a wide international theatrical audience. This is a story about real people, like the similarly popular and effective Once Were Warriors (1994), which invigorates a message of hope that can be universalised as well as appropriated to the Maori culture.

Set in a troubled Maori community by a coastal area in New Zealand a village leader Koro (Paratene) is aggrieved by the death of his grandson during birth, a male who would have continued the ancestral heritage. Instead, a female is born (Pai, played by Castle-Hughes) who upsets the prearranged formalities of the family hierarchy. As Pai grows she challenges the status quo as the film observes the head of the family’s search for a young male leader in the face of what appears to be a mystic sense of destiny for the young girl.

"Whale Rider" is about spirituality and a woman’s place, perhaps how these are interconnected (one scene is reminiscent of My Big Fat Greek Wedding when mother reveals to daughter Toula the truth about her relationship with husband: she’s the neck that turns the husband’s head, as was humorously expressed in Greek Wedding with a sense of the drama unfolding). Rawiri Paratene as Koro in his staunch paternalism and heritage provides conflict with his son (Curtis), yet Koro is emphatically sketched and his tradition is not bemoaned or ridiculed, creating greater depth for the character to breathe rather than submitting him to the patriarchal box to expose for his ignorance and immoral dominance. This is stronger than what Greek Wedding could do with its father-figure. Movingly, Pai respects her elder Koro as he starts to come to terms with the possibility that a woman may eventually lead his people.

This is slow-paced, but its strength lies in the power of the story and acting. It is strongly character-based, brilliantly acted, emotionally satisfying, and has an engaging narrative flow. There are clearly defined characters and story goals and anticipation to deadlines, with pertinent sequences conveying the essential dilemma of Pai and her struggle for acceptance in the community.

An overblown climax filled with spiritual significance is understandable but is unconvincing in an otherwise vividly made and accomplished piece of storytelling that pits tradition against youth, the final shots resolving beautifully this conflict. The social significance does not go unnoticed either. A community begins to find its place in the world amidst prejudice and entrenched attitudes and the pathos conveys a tone of hope for the Maori people of New Zealand, where old and young co-operate to bring progress.