Whale Rider

For those of you who have never seen the movie Whale Rider, here is a reivew I wrote for my Introduction to Film class:
Whale Rider was a beautiful movie. You can feel the deep love between the characters, particularly Pai for her grandfather Koro. She was also confident of his love for her despite his gruff rejection of her at times. This is portrayed in her narration at the beginning of the film when it is revealed that he wanted nothing to do with her because she wasn’t a boy, and she confidently says, “But he changed his mind.” Later, she also defends his treatment of her by saying, “He doesn’t mean it.” It just gave me the feeling that she was wise beyond her years.
I was particularly moved by the conversation between Pai and her father when he first came back to visit. The scene takes place when she runs out of the house after her grandfather has rejected her, and he follows her. In the course of the conversation, her father tries to explain his own relationship with his father by saying, “I can’t be what he wants.” This speaks to the age-old struggle for acceptance when a person doesn’t conform to what is expected or what tradition demands. This particularly struck a chord with me because of my own cultural background which is steeped in tradition. This same theme is seen in Pai’s struggle to go against the traditional roles of girls when she had the inner strength to become the leader needed for her people. At the same time, she is totally respectful of her grandfather and doesn’t come across as a crusader.
At first I couldn’t figure out what this leader so sought by Koro was supposed to save his people from. There is a scene in the deleted scenes that really explains this and, in my opinion, should not have been deleted. It was to follow the scene when Pai woke her father before she went to school. Koro told him to come eat breakfast then went out to work on the sewer and the son followed to help him and talk to him. In the course of the conversation he speaks of the people no longer fishing, losing the old ways, and not being motivated to work. This connects with the end of the film when they launch the finished waka and row out to go fishing. It was the lack of unity among the people along with the loss of tradition that needed rescuing.
I thought the music used in the movie was absolutely beautiful. It made you feel like you were floating in underwater scenes of the whales swimming. The use of wind instruments just gave the tone of the sea.
Keisha Castle-Hughes does a fabulous job portraying her character. I just fell in love with her sweet innocence. The most amazing scene for me was the speech she gave when she started to cry because her grandfather was not there. She is very convincing in her role.
Overall, this is one of the best movies I’ve seen. I give it an A+.