Whale Rider - Another big fish story

Since I have not had time to get to the dollar movie this week, and cannot forsee having the time for a while, I pulled out an older movie I have been meaning to watch - Whale Rider. It had such wonderful reviews and won so many awards, I was really expecting a lot. Too much I guess because I was really disappointed.


This is a sweet little story, (not a true story as I first thought) about a little girl who questions why she can't do everything a boy can do and more, and then she goes and does it.

Set in modern day New Zealand, this story follows the daughter of the chief, who has little value, because the son, who died,would have been the next chief of the village. Paikea Apirana, Pai as she is called, sets out to prove she does have value and she can do everything the boys do, like learn the old language, the songs and chants, the stick fighting and then she rides a whale after coaxing him to leave the beach. They all think she has drowned but survives and she becomes the new chief.

It seemed just to unbelievable to me, I guess my imagination was on fall break because my skepticism kicked in so often, I could not really enjoy the movie.

The cinematography of the ocean was beautiful and the music was also very nice. The innocense of the girl and the lack of acting credentials most of the cast had was not a drawback. It was refreshing to see real people interacting as they actually would in a situation.

I am sure there are many people who could really enjoy this movie, to them I say rent it. It is a quaint, realistic view of a modern day village that still believes in the old stories and myths.

Trivia

The author of the book,Witi Ihimaera, wrote this story because he has a granddaughter and they were discussing about why heroes were always boys, so he used his cultural background to create a beautiful story and made the hero a girl, writing the entire book in three weeks.


The 13 year old girl in the lead was not an actress, Keisha Castle-Hughes, was just a school girl. The director, Niki Caro, wanted an average, pre-pubescent girl. She won an award for newcomer of the year, not to mention all the other awards the movie won.


The movie crew built (carved) the 60 foot boat used in the movie and then gave it to the people of the town, many of whom were used as extras in the movie.

It only cost $6 million to make this movie, which is very little to us, and it shows, but to New Zealand, it was a lot; the community was really behind this project. It grossed $41 million.