REVIEW OF "THE WHALE RIDER"

Mushafau Ade Kukoyi
Terence Brennan
English 1601
23 June 2005

WHALE RIDER

The movie “Whale Rider” featuring dynamic actress Keisha Castle- Hughes is a classical narrative, that emphasizes on the celebration of female empowerment. A little girl, courageous enough to challenge the past believes, change the present predicament of her generation and determine to risk her life for the future of her people.

Theatrical trail:
For over 1000 years, the Maori people resided in a small New Zealand coastal village. It was strongly believed that their ancestors “Paikea” came to the settlement riding on the back of a Whale. Consequently, the tradition demands that the firstborn; son of the chief has to carried on his name “Paikea” and become the leader of their tribe.
Unfortunately, the tragic lose of Porourangi’s wife and son (Pai’s twin brother) at childbirth was interpreted as a bad omen that stricken his heart and most especially his father – Koro, the chief of the Maori people, leaving the only surviving girl child, Pai to be raised by her grandparents.

Pai’s grandfather refuse to acknowledge her right to successor as the next heir to the Paikea’s linage based on a traditional believe that the title is exclusively reserved to the first male child. Despite, all the ordeals, Pai’s grandmother, was able to see the greatness in the girl beyond the break in her husband’s linage; a little child that is desperate in need of love.

Although Koro’s affection towards his granddaughter later developed over the years, he could not deviate from the narrow vision of the traditions and customs he had known all his life. Pai grew up to be an intelligent, enchanting girl, only to be excluded from learning her people’s tradition based on gender disparity. However, blinded by prejudice, Koro was convinced that his tribe’s misfortune was deeply rooted in the birth of Pai and called for his people to bring forward their sons to be educate in the rituals of ancient chants, tribal rights and war techniques, essential for tribal leadership.

At Pai’s call, the Whales responded and came to the shores of the sea but were willing to die. The villagers did all they could to reverse the situation but Koro arrogantly refused pai’s offer to help. Ironically, the death of the Whales will signifies Koro’s failure and an end to his linage as the leader of his people. Pai was not willing to allow this to happen thus, she determined to reverse the tragic incidence and changed the destiny of her people forever.

Theme:
The theme centered on the major characters, Pai and her grandfather Koro. The main character, Pai represented in herself the symbol of change, courage and loyalty to the cause of her people. While, Koro displayed the frustration of individualism and his commitment to societal values and tradition, as against the need to listen to the voice of reason. The characters created some meaning which was easy for the audience to relate to in their daily lives. The movie created a theme that revolves around issues like pride, forgiveness, traditions and cultural taboos. These are provoking issue within the various cultural groups in our present world. This point of view was also dominant throughout the story, from the very beginning in the scenes where Koro visited the child at the hospital for the first time, to the concluding part of the story.

Plot:
The plot in this movie followed a traditional narrative pattern that unveils the sequence of event from the very beginning. The narrative sequence was constructed in a pattern that engaged the viewer’s emotion and reveals the logical relationship between one event and another. For example: the birth of Pai and the relationship that developed between the little girl and her grandparent over the years; the confrontation between Pai and her grandfather at the village meeting during the inauguration of the traditional school and finally; Koro’s rejection of Pai’s offer to help, which later reveal her approval by the Whale, as confirmed by the Whale ride.

Furthermore, the metaphoric use of a “twisted rope” to illustrate the history and strength of the Maori people in unity, Koro- “weave together the tread of Paikea so that our line remain strong”, “each one of those tread represent your ancestors. all join together and strong” and moments later condemning the same rope when it got broken, Koro- “useless bloody rope, I’ll get another one” was a twist that confirms the frustration and narrow mind of Koro.

The plot also established a conflict at the beginning, intensified throughout the middle, brought it to a climax towards the end and dissolved in a brief conclusion. The plot initiated a conflict by colliding two apparently opposite characters from the very beginning of the story. For example, koro’s statement- “Take the girl away”, the second and third part of the plot focused on developing the central conflict instituted in the first plot, by letting Pai’s popularity and success to dominate that of her grandfather. “Go to the back sit Pai or leave now” And in the forth section, resolving the central conflict through mutual understanding, acceptance of personal failure and forgiveness of one another thus, transforming the characters into a new light. For example, Koro’s statement- “forgive me. I am just a fledgling new to flight”

The scene of closure was characterized by a happy ending, which was an obvious part of the movie, in which Pai survived the Whale ride after risking her life. The grandfather apologizing to her by his sick bed and the final happy reunion of the entire community at the last scene. This conclusion gave the “Whale Rider” a universal appeal that justifies its being brought to the screen more often because of the positive way it gives its audience an idea about their society and its people at its best.

Characterization
The theme of the story was tailored around the main characters and some minor characters. With Pai, playing the role of the protagonist and the village chief – Koro, playing the role of the antagonist. Both characters were focused on their goals, but were able to reconsile with each other towards the end. Moreover, the characters were very realistic as revealed in there simply life style, dressing, standard of living and male dominance of the society, which is very typical of rural community setting. For example the leadership role of Koro, as the community leader; the various ritual observed during religious ceremonies and the societal expectation of the women within the community.
For example:
Pai- “Maori women has got to stop smoking, we’ve got to protect our childbearing properties”

Point of View:
Another very interesting element in the story was the psychological and cultural point of view, from which the narrator assuming the first person point of view. The story was narrated by the main character- Pai, using the first-person pronoun, “I” and relaying the events to the audience as if they were also involved in the story.
For example:
Pai- “Everyone was waiting for the first born boy to lead us… but he died… and I didn’t”.
Pai- “It was my father’s Waka but after I was born he didn’t want to carve it anymore. He went away. Everybody did.”
Also, we can notice the point of view of the camera in relationship to the characters at certain scene which helps to drive home some meaning and emotions that the movie wanted the audience to derive from the actions or characters. Such as the use of perspective, slow motion effects, close-up shots of Pai riding bicycle with her grandfather and Pai discussion with her father by the sea side.

Porourangi- “Koro is just - He’s just looking for something that doesn’t exist anymore”
Pai- “A new leader? They exist”

Porourangi- “yeah, they do, except I think its becoming more than that. In his head. Your Koro, he needs a prophet”.
Setting:
However, the setting of the story could probably be regarded as one of the most dynamic feature of the movie. The constant appearance of the sea, from the beginning to the end; the dark cloud that often depicted the tragedy of the Maori people; the green vegetation, the mountains; the community setting, costume and of course the sound effect, all added interesting meaning to the interpretation of theme.

In conclusion, it will be absolutely wrong to fully review the details of this epic story within the content of this paper. But I will rather like to conclude with a quote from one of the movie’s foremost critic – Chris Mitchell that describes the movie as “Touching” and “Wickedly Absorbing”



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