Whale Rider

The Whale Rider is a 1987 novel written by New Zealand author Witi Ihimaera and told the story of a young girl coming into her own as the future leader of her tribe even though tradition dictates a women can never reach that title. Based on the myth of Paikea (a notable ancestor in Māori traditions), the book became a worldwide best-seller and was the most-translated work by a New Zealand author. The success of the story made it popular enough for an eventual film adaptation in 2002, where it was also able to garner a fair share of success. A young girl is born from the familial line of Paikea, the Whale Rider, but cannot be accepted as the new leader of the tribe as she is a girl and her twin brother died along with their mother during childbirth. Losing the male heir, the girl’s grandfather, Koro (played by Rawiri Paratene) resents his new granddaughter but decides to mostly put it aside once he starts raising her since her father, Porourangi (played by Cliff Curtis) travels abroad to pursue his own careers. The young girl named Paikea or Pai for short (played by Keisha Castle-Hughes) grows up to discover that she has a strange connection with the whales and has qualities that would make her a fitting next replacement for tribe leader, but her grandfather’s stubborn old-fashioned mindset refuses to believe so and only allows boys of the town to train to be the next successor. Training in secret behind his back with the help of her uncle Rawiri (played by Grant Roa) with support from her grandmother, Nanny (played by Vicky Haughton), Pai tries to step into the role of leader and become the Whale Rider even against the wishes of her grandfather, which she might have to do once it looks like several whales have been beached on the seaside and Pai might be the only one capable of saving them. Whale Rider was the most financially successful New Zealand film of its time and even managed to get an Oscar nomination for its lead actress, leaving its mark on the world despite having a relatively small budget and coming from a part of the world that’s not often talked about. With a simple premise, likeable actors and enough pleasant imagery and culture to help overlooked some of its less than great qualities, Whale Rider results in an enjoyable time.

The basis for this story is one that is steeped in the Māori tradition and culture, but it also carries with it several universal themes that can be relatable to anyone. While this specific branch of New Zealand culture may not be very mainstream to casual audiences, the story of a young girl fighting back against repressive traditions and coming into her own as a leader is something that everybody has seen in media to the point that it’s pretty much become a staple in fairy tales and Disney films (think Mulan and Moana mixed into one film). Because of this, the story is very easy to digest and can be understood right away as anyone can connect with someone who feels oppressed and neglected for something as stupid and trivial as gender, and even though it follows a very straightforward path that can sometimes be a little too by-the-numbers, the inclusion of the Māori mythology as well as the New Zealand atmosphere from the cast, location and dialect, breaths a new life into it that helps structure it into something new enough. The basis of the narrative is pretty limited in many regards because of the time the story was written, as being created in the late 80s meant that tropes that were maybe not as over-utilized back then, became a lot more expected in 2002, and are now very cliched elements in 2023. Most of the ones used here are not that fun to see as, even though they can be used in stories if they are handled well or changed up enough, it doesn’t really do many new things with these cliches. Most of the turmoil in the film is just presented as traditional values that shouldn’t be questioned just because, so there isn’t too much of an understanding or complex reason around that, and because it doesn’t try to explain these problems or even highlight more of the social evolution of New Zealand and how that factors into these issues, it makes the conflict feel more frustrating than understandable. With that said, writer and director Nikki Caro does control the pace and mood of the story very nicely; it’s very laid back, personable, given time to just let moments sit and have characters talk and interact with each other, it provides some nice visuals and quality performances for a pretty low budget film, and does a good job conveying this story while still adding her own flourishes.

The acting in this film is quite strong from most of the cast, and most of the main roles are played by veteran New Zealand actors. While most casual audience members may be unaware of a lot of these name as they aren’t usually featured in most mainstream films, you can feel how strong they are as performers as even with relatively small roles that can be a little on the basic side in parts, a lot of them are still putting in their best. A lot of coverage was put on the lead actress for this film, Keisha Castle-Hughes, as she was at the time the youngest actress ever to be nominated for Best Actress at the Academy Awards (she was later surpassed in 2012 by 9-year-old Quvenzhané Wallis for Beasts of the Southern Wild). Being picked out by casting director, Diana Rowan, after auditioning alongside 10,000 other children, the film put a lot of time and dedication into picking the right girl for the part and that girl seemed to be Keisha Castle-Hughes. In the movie, it’s hard to say that the performance is truly Oscar-worthy sadly, as the character is pretty poorly established and doesn’t get the chance to exhibit much emotion outside of sorrowful longing and casual interest. This isn’t necessarily Castle-Hughes’  fault as she is probably giving what she’s been directed to do and when she needs to emote she does it nice enough (a scene involving a concert speech is well handled), but you don’t really know what Pai is like as a character; what drives her, what she wants, what she likes or dislikes, she solely feels like an insert for this story and doesn’t exhibit much personality outside of the bare minimum to make this narrative work. The book would have more than likely featured an inner monologue from Pai’s perspective which would’ve helped give insight into what she was thinking during some of these moments and therefore having that element completely absent from this film outside of a voice-over that comes and goes throughout the film, would leave some things to be desired in the film, but it’s a shame that the character and by extension the actress, can’t radiate to the same level that she clearly did for the people working on the film. Rawiri Paratene is stuck playing a truly unlikeable character as the grandfather; a man so desperate to stick to outdated ideals that he actively disowns his granddaughter for even existing, constantly admonishes her for even having the idea of joining in on the tasks, and the movie has the nerve to try and make us feel sympathy for this man and only gives a rushed redemption and feeble apology as compensation. It’s nowhere near good enough, even taking cultural differences out of the equation, and his attitude and stubbornness is truly unlikeable, but Rawiri Paratene does a very good job in the role to his credit, so it at least has that going for it. Cliff Curtis as the father actually does pretty good as well, but he’s barely featured in the movie and isn’t made that much more sympathetic either (the man leaves his daughter to pursue his own goals somewhere and even has a child with another women, so he’s equally as much of a dead-beat).

The film was a co-production between New Zealand and Germany, but it was a crucial point when making the film that they shoot the film in the small area of Whangara (a small community in New Zealand’s North Island), so there was a strong feeling behind the scenes to keep the New Zealand spirit very prominent in this film. For a portion of the world and a culture that isn’t commonly seem in most movies whether through location, actors, or stories, it is nice to get an idea of what typical Māori life is like and its portrayed pretty nicely here. The community seems relatively pleasant to be around and the people have a laid-back, but overall light-hearted nature to them. It definitely shows some of the issues like some people’s dependency on the old ways and a less than flippant way of raising your children (again, the way this girl is treated by her grandfather is borderline mentally abusive), but it never feels like its mocking or taking away from them, which should be a given in a story all about that culture. The film gets some nice shots of the landscape and the oceans by cinematographer Leon Narby, but there’s also an odd grainy filter over a majority of the picture which more than likely comes from the low budget that this film had, but that problem isn’t too much of an issue. The movie does suffer from attributes of the time that it was made in, as there are a few dated elements in its presentation that hold it back and even gets in the way of what could’ve been a more stable direction.  The story is very confused from a tonal level as it features element that would work for a straightforward kids flick and a straightforward adult flick, but neither is truly used or explored effectively, so they kind of feel like diminished elements that were squashed together without a proper understanding of what kind of movie they’re in, and it makes the overall experience feel a little confused. The slow pacing and the frequent discussions about mature themes and responsibilities won’t be elements that kids are going to care about, but at the same time, the childish elements, and its usage of simplistic and outdated story cliches will grow tiring for adults, so it’s not light-hearted enough to work for a child audience, but it’s also not serious enough to work for an adult demographic

Whale Rider definitely made a splash when it came out and showed the world the New Zealand landscape and lifestyle in a way that arguably not many people saw prior or even after it was released. While stories of Polynesian, Hawaiian and other Islander countries are being told and given voices in Hollywood either behind or on the screen nowadays, it’s no doubt that this film at least helped with that push. As a whole, the film is a nice simple story constructed decently from its source material to produce a charming film with a laid-back atmosphere, solid performance, and a digestible narrative. It does have its fair share of faults like some of its cliches, the characterization of its leads, and a messy tone that probably needed to just pick a demographic in order to feel more balanced, but that could just be chalked up to an adaptation error or a quality of the time-period. It’s still a good time and is worth checking out.