Fate and empowerment in 'Whale Rider'
June 5th 2008 02:24
Keisha Castle-Hughes as Paikea
Whale Rider (2002) is not quite what I expected. I don't think it's supposed to be a children's movie, but it seems like one. Indeed, my son likes the movie more than I do. Ostensibly a criticism of patriarchy in a Maori tribe, the movie relies too much on mystical and fantastic elements to make its point. Still, a solid performance by Keisha Castle-Hughes and some nice cinematography and visual effects make the film a good watch.
The film starts with a birth and two deaths: Porourangi (Cliff Curtis) witnesses his wife and son die in childbirth, but his daughter survives. His father (Rawiri Paratene), who is also the tribe's koro (chief), barely acknowledges his granddaughter; for him, the male child is the important one because firstborn males have the potential to be the next koro in line. Against his father's wishes, Porourangi decides to name his daughter Paikea, after the mythical whale rider who first brought the tribe to New Zealand's North Island.
Koro's deep disappointment stems from what he sees as the gradual erosion of the old ways and traditions. He's even more bitter that his firstborn, Porourangi, has no interest in being koro. Porourangi soon leaves New Zealand to further his career as a sculptor, leaving Paikea in the care of her grandparents. Twelve years later, Paikea (now called "Pai" for short, as if to deny the significance of the name) has grown into a tenacious girl. Koro obviously loves Pai, but does not accept her. He teaches her Maori legends, but does not involve her in his search for the next koro.
Meanwhile, the tribe's cultural decline is symbolised by Porourangi's incomplete waka (canoe) that still stands on the shore. Koro has started a school, open to all of the firstborn males in the tribe, to identify and train the next koro. Pai is barred from lessons at the school, but she has allies in Nanny (Vicky Haughton), uncle Rawiri (Grant Roa), and Rawiri's girlfriend. At Nanny's suggestion, Rawiri secretly teaches Pai techniques for wielding the taiaha (fighting stick); Pai becomes quite skilled at it too. But when she is caught sparring with the taiaha on school grounds, koro is infuriated: "Do you know what you've done? You have broken the tapu [holiness or sacredness] of this school."
Shortly after the incident, the boys from the school are given the final test to see who will be koro--they are to find the reiputa (whale tooth necklace) that koro cast into the ocean. None of them can find it. Unfortunately, Pai becomes the scapegoat for many things: "Who is to blame?" koro repeats in his chants and calls to the ancient ones (ancestors). But Pai tries to win koro's approval despite his constant rejection of her. One of the best scenes in the movie has Pai giving a speech at a school function; however, koro is not there to hear it:
"I come from a long line of chiefs, stretching all the way back to Hawaiiki, where our ancient ones are...But I was not the leader my grandfather was expecting, and by being born, I broke the line back to the ancient ones. It wasn't anybody's fault. It just happened. But we can learn. And if the knowledge is given to everyone, we can have lots of leaders. And soon, everyone will be strong."
The film's crisis has a predictable outcome: Pai has a chance to show the tribe, and especially koro, that she is destined to be the next in line as the chief. The one troubling thing about this is that she can only do this by doing some pointedly incredible--even death-defying--things. To me, Whale Rider deals with real, important, issues, and that they are resolved so neatly and mystically is somewhat disingenuous.
The movie's core is the relationship between Pai and koro, making it very much a safe, if heartfelt, family drama. As such, it doesn't need the mystical and fatalistic aspects to keep it afloat. With these aspects, it seems that empowerment, for young Paikea at least, is only possible because the ancient ones back her up. I would've been more interested in some of the ideas that the movie touches on lightly or altogether eschews, such as the loss of Maori culture and knowledge--especially amongst the tribe's younger people--as well as the real question underlying the narrative: why must patriarchy die in order for the tribe to thrive?
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