Whale Rider is one of the best independent movies that I have seen in a long time.
The Maori culture/tribe believes in the legend of Paikea, a man who escaped death at sea by riding the back of a whale home. The tradition has been that the first born son of the direct descendants of this man will be the next leader.
The tradition skips a generation when the current village chief’s son realizes that it was not his destiny. Of course, this creates a tension between father and son. It becomes worse when the son’s wife gives birth to twins (a boy and a girl), and the boy and the wife die during the delivery.
The story focuses on the daughter who is named Pai after the legendary ancestor, and her desire to follow her true path. That path is to become a whale rider, and take her place as the next tribal chief.
It is not a path that her grandfather is willing to help or acknowledge. In fact, he makes the decision to start a school for all of the first-born sons in the village to teach them how to become a tribal chief. When Pai shows up at the first meeting, her grandfather disapproves but allows her to be there.
That changes when Pai will not take a seat behind the other boys. Her silent defiance is met with complete banishment from the school, and the continued disapproval of her grandfather. In spite of her banishment, Pai still sneaks to the back of the building to learn what her grandfather is teaching.
Of course, Pai cannot learn everything by just listening, and she recruits her uncle to teach her the things that her grandfather will not. Pai is a natural, and her talent is discovered by her grandfather when she defeats one of the young men behind the school. Her grandfather is ashamed at Pai’s continued defiance of the culture and tradition, and he banishes the young man from the school and still does not allow Pai to participate.
The final step of the training is for the one of the boys to be able to retrieve the whale tooth necklace that the tribal chief wears around his neck after he throws it in the ocean. None of the boys are successful, and this causes the chief to go home in shame and depression.
It also leads to Pai being sent to live with her uncle for a short time. The uncle recognizes that Pai is special, and he and his friends take her to the area where the necklace is thrown. After a time, she comes back with the necklace and dinner, but her grandfather still refuses to rise from his bed.
The film takes a very climatic turn when a pod of whales become beached at the edge of the village, and the chief is the first to discover them on his way to see his granddaughter’s final concert which she has listed him as a special guest.
Everybody in the village comes to the beach in an effort to push the whales back to the water, because they do not want to see these sacred mammals to die. When Pai comes to help, her grandfather pushes her away from them, and it is not until the village people begin to leave the area that she has a chance to do what she knows must be done.
This is when the full meaning of the movie’s title hits home. Pai is able to mount the lead whale and convince it to go back into the ocean. The others do follow, and it is at that moment that her grandfather recognizes what he has fought the entire film. Pai is destined to be the new tribal chief.
The extras on the DVD include the theatrical trailer and TV spots, the featurette Te Waka: Building the Canoe, a behind-the-scenes feature, deleted scenes and more.
Grade: A (movie) B+ (DVD)
