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Poster (c) Newmarket Films
If a touching and moving movie can get away with a fart joke, that�s amazing. And Whale Rider is just that. Although it�s not as good as other spectacular art-house dramas, such as Nowhere in Africa, it�s still a crowd-pleasing film that brings you into a culture that you never really thought of before. In a voice-over by Pia (Keisha Castle-Hughes), we learn the history of the Maori people, where its leader came over by riding on a whale (hence the name Whale Rider). Cut to a hospital, where Pia, along with her brother, is being born. They are the last in the descendant of the whale rider, so Pia�s brother would become the chief. However, he and his mother both die during both. Pia�s grandfather Koro (Rawiri Paratene) doesn�t want anything to do with her, but ends up taking care of her.
Throughout the movie, Pia tries to win her grandfather�s acceptance; coping with her father�s fleeting appearances, and growing up. Whale Rider is a beautiful cinematic experience. Not only does it have lush landscapes, but also it�s a deeply complex coming-of-age tale. It�s more than your usual he-learns-a-lesson story; Pia learns the true value of family, which is a better lesson that in most of the force-fed crap-drama that�s out in theaters now.
Like Nowhere in Africa, it should be nominated for Oscars for acting but, of course, it won�t be. Paratene is superb, one of the best acting performances of the year, while Castle-Hughes turns out to be the best child actor since Haley Joel Osment. It�s movies like these that I can�t say that much about, because you need to experience it to fully appreciate it.
Rated PG-13 for brief language and a momentary drug reference.
Review Date: August 3, 2003
