C+
There are a couple of obvious reasons why Niki Caro’s adaptation of Witi Ihimaera’s novel should find a ready welcome among PC-conscious viewers. For one thing, it celebrates the Maori culture of New Zealand, in the same fashion that it has become fashionable to exalt the wisdom and resilience of Native Americans of North America and the aboriginal peoples of Australia; for another it adds a strong dose of feminism, focusing on a young girl who becomes the mystical instrument for tribal rejuvenation, as opposed to the male to whom tradition had ascribed the role. And in some ways “Whale Rider”–the title refers to the legendary founder of the nation who was carried to the island on the back of one of the great mammals–deserves the accolades it will undoubtedly receive. It does offer a glimpse of a society that has been little represented on film. The location filming is impressive. And Keisha Castle-Hughes strikes a good combination of strength, vulnerability and sheer charm as the young heroine Pai.
On the other hand, the picture is more than a little obvious in its motives and its effects. The narrative opens with a prologue showing a young wife dying while delivering twins. One of the two infants, the girl Pai, survives; the boy dies. The father Porourangi (Cliff Curtis) is grief-stricken over his wife’s demise, particularly since grandfather Koro (Rawiri Paratene), the tribal leader who’s anxious to train a new chief to save the people, dismisses the female child and heedlessly demands that his son remarry and produce a male heir. Distraught, the younger man departs for Europe, leaving Koro and his long-suffering wife (Vicky Haughton) to raise the girl. Though a close bond develops between Pai and her grandfather–she, in fact, reveres him and the tribal traditions–a visit by Porourangi makes clear his own refusal to assume the tribal leadership and his intention to make a life with a German girlfriend. This leads Koro in effect to disown his son and seek to train a chief from the next generation. But he restricts the competition to the young boys, pointedly excluding Pai from consideration–something that hurts her deeply. More importantly, it proves a decision ad odds with destiny–as a disaster involving a group of beached whales and a revelation of who has the power to save them and return a sense of purpose to the people will demonstrate.
It’s possible to envisage how this simple tale might have been transformed into a truly memorable film. It would demand a real sense of mystery and exoticism, as well as finely-drawn, subtly engaging relationships among the principals. Unfortunately, Caro’s treatment is rather pedestrian and unshaded. Paratene’s Koro is one-dimensional–the fellow comes across as a surly version of Pat Morita’s Mr. Miyagi–and while Castle-Hughes makes Pai an attractive, engaging figure, she’s not always given top-quality material. (An uplifting speech about her grandfather which she delivers toward the close with tears in her eyes is meant to bring the audience to their feet but instead falls curiously flat.) And the remaining cast members–most notably Haughton, Curtis, and Grant Roa as Pai’s easygoing uncle–are adequate but not outstanding. The big finale, moreover, doesn’t come off as well as it should. A whale riding sequence, which could have been embarrassing, is actually quite nice, with the composition and editing carefully gauged to keep it from looking ridiculous. But the concluding images of the tribal members, dressed in traditional garb, taking to their boats and shouting war cries, are like something out of a Discovery Channel documentary.
“Whale Rider” has its heart in the right place, of course, and in Castle-Hughes it boasts a young protagonist of charm and energy. It’s just a pity that the rest of the film isn’t quite worthy of her.