Review of Whale Rider (2003) by Danielle S — 20 Apr 2008

The main character is a young girl named Pai (Keisha Castle-Hughes) who is the grand-daughter of the chief of a Maori tribe in New Zealand. Her twin brother, who was to be the future chief, died along with the mother in childbirth.

Grief-stricken, her father (Cliff Curtis) fled, leaving Pai as the only family descendant, but of course she can't be chief because she's a girl. That doesn't stop her from trying, though.

Her grandfather (Rawiri Paratene), a stern, traditionalist chief, loves Pai dearly, but refuses to mess with tradition by even attempting to train her to be the chief of the tribe, even though she truly believes she is meant to be chief.

He begins to train first-born male sons of other tribesmen, but Pai eavesdrops, soaking up all the knowledge she can. The 11-year-old first-time actor Keisha Castle-Hughes gives the most astonishing performance by a child that I have ever witnessed, and lifts the movie from being just plain good to a profoundly moving experience.

Castle-Hughes conveys both sorrow and pity as she dreams of being a chief. A remarkable performance that was crucial to the film. Without her performance the film would come across as more distant emotionally.

The images of Castle-Hughes on the back of the whale as it submerges are so haunting and beautiful and its these scenes that give it a lyrical quality and the emotional impact of the story is impossible to ignore.

This is proof that a good movie-maker can do just fine without including swearing, violence, sex and drugs. This is life on Planet Earth, with all the mystery of the Universe, depicted through the eyes of a little Maori girl.

The photography itself makes the film worth seeing, and the last scene - where Pai really is a Whale Rider - will leave the viewer with a feeling of a deeper understanding for the nearly forgotten cultures, from which we have so much to learn.