''Whale Rider'' is a 2002 New Zealand

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written and directed by Niki Caro. Based on the 1987 novel '' The Whale Rider'' by

Witi Ihimaera Witi Tame Ihimaera-Smiler (; born 7 February 1944) is a New Zealand author. Raised in the small town of Waituhi, he decided to become a writer as a teenager after being convinced that Māori people, Māori people were ignored or mischaracteri ...

, the film stars Keisha Castle-Hughes as Kahu Paikea Apirana, a twelve-year-old Māori girl whose ambition is to become the chief of the tribe. Her grandfather believes that this is a role reserved for males only. The film was a coproduction between New Zealand and Germany. It was shot on location in Whangara, the setting of the novel. The world premiere was on 9 September 2002, at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

. The film received critical acclaim upon its release. At the time, Keisha Castle-Hughes became the youngest nominee for the

Academy Award for Best Actress The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 1st Academy Awards to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a lead ...

, at age 13. The film earned $41.4 million on a

NZ$ The New Zealand dollar (; currency sign, sign: $; ISO 4217, code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New Zeal ...

9,235,000 budget. In 2005, the film was named on the BFI ''List of the 50 Films You Should See By the Age of 14''.

Plot

The film's plot follows the story of Paikea Apirana (Pai for short). The village leader should be the first-born son, a direct

patrilineal Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...

descendant of Paikea, the Whale Rider, he who rode on top of a

whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully Aquatic animal, aquatic placental mammal, placental marine mammals. As an informal and Colloquialism, colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea ...

(''Tohorā'') from

Hawaiki (also rendered as in the Cook Islands, Hawaiki in Māori, in Samoan, in Tahitian, in Hawaiian) is, in Polynesian folklore, the original home of the Polynesians, before dispersal across Polynesia. It also features as the underworld in man ...

. Pai is originally born a twin, but her twin brother and her mother died during childbirth. Pai is female and so technically cannot inherit the leadership. While her grandfather, Koro, later forms an affectionate bond with his granddaughter, carrying her to school every day on his bicycle, he also condemns her and blames her for conflicts within the tribe. After the death of his wife and despite overwhelming pressure from Koro, Pai's father refuses to assume traditional leadership or finish the waka that he had started building for the baby son; instead, he moves to Germany to pursue a career as an artist. At one point, Paikea decides to live with her father because her grandfather says he doesn't want her. However, as they are driving away, she finds that she cannot bear to leave the sea as the whale seems to be calling her back. Pai tells her father to return her home. Koro leads a cultural school for the village's first-born boys, hoping to find a new leader. He teaches the boys to use a taiaha ( fighting stick), which is traditionally reserved for males. Pai is interested in the lessons, but is discouraged and scolded by Koro for doing so. Pai feels that she can become the leader (although no woman has ever done so) and is determined to succeed. Her grandmother, Nanny, tells Pai that her second son, Pai's uncle, had won a taiaha tournament in his youth while he was still slim and so Pai secretly learns from him. She also secretly follows Koro's lessons. One of the students, Hemi, is also sympathetic towards her. Koro is enraged when he finds out, particularly when she wins a taiaha fight against Hemi. Koro is devastated when none of the boys succeeds at the traditional task of recovering the rei puta (whale tooth) that he threw into the ocean, the mission that would prove one of them worthy of becoming leader. With the loss of the rei puta, Koro in despair calls out the ancient ones, the whales. In an attempt to help, Pai also calls out to them and they hear her call. One day Pai, her uncle, her uncle's girlfriend Shilo, and others take the boat to where Koro flung the rei puta into the sea. Pai confidently declares she'll find it and dives into the water. She finds the rei puta, which means that she is the rightful leader. Nanny does not think Koro is ready to accept this and does not tell him. Pai, in an attempt to bridge the rift that has formed, invites Koro to be her guest of honour at a concert of Māori chants that her school is putting on. Unknown to all, she had won an interschool speech contest with a touching dedication to Koro and the traditions of the village. However, Koro was late, and as he was walking to the school, he notices that numerous

southern right whale The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20� ...

s - ''tohorā'' are beached near Pai's home. The entire village attempts to coax and drag them back into the water, but all efforts prove unsuccessful, and even a tractor does not help. Koro sees that as a sign of his failure and despairs further. He admonishes Pai against touching the largest whale because she has "done enough" damage with her presumption. When Koro walks away, Pai climbs onto the back of the largest whale on the beach and coaxes it to re-enter the ocean. The whale leads the entire pod back into the sea; Pai submerges completely underwater before being thrown off the whale's back. Fearing Pai is lost, Nanny reveals to Koro that his granddaughter found the rei puta, and Koro realises the error of his ways. When Pai is found and brought to the hospital, Koro declares her the leader and asks for her forgiveness. The film ends with Pai's father, grandparents, and uncle coming together to celebrate her status as the next leader, as the finished waka is hauled into the sea for its maiden voyage. In voiceover, Pai declares, "My name is Paikea Apirana, and I come from a long line of chiefs stretching all the way back to the Whale Rider. I'm not a prophet, but I know that our people will keep going forward, all together, with all of our strength."

Cast

* Keisha Castle-Hughes as Paikea Apirana * Rawiri Paratene as Koro * Vicky Haughton as Nanny Flowers *

Cliff Curtis Clifford Vivian Devon Curtis (born July 27, 1968) is a New Zealand actor and film producer. After working in theatre, he made his film debut in Jane Campion's Academy Awards, Oscar-winning film ''The Piano'' (1993), followed by a breakout role ...

as Porourangi * Grant Roa as Uncle Rawiri * Mana Taumaunu as Hemi * Rachel House as Shilo * Taungaroa Emile as Willie * Tammy Davis as Dog * Mabel Wharekawa as Maka (as Mabel Wharekawa-Burt) * Rawinia Clarke as Miro * Tahei Simpson as Miss Parata * Roi Taimana as Hemi's Dad (as Roimata Taimana) * Elizabeth Skeen as Rehua * Tyronne White as Jake (as Tyrone White) * Taupua Whakataka-Brightwell as Ropata * Tenia McClutchie-Mita as Wiremu * Peter Patuwai as Bubba * Rutene Spooner as Parekura * Riccardo Davis as Maui * Apiata Whangaparita-Apanui as Henare * John Sumner as Obstetrician * Sam Woods as Young Rawiri * Pura Tangira as Ace * Jane O'Kane as Anne * Aumuri Parata-Haua as Baby Paikea

Production

The film had budget of NZ$9,235,000. It received $2.5 million from the New Zealand Film Production Fund. Additional financing came from ApolloMedia, Filmstiftung NRW, the

New Zealand Film Commission The New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC; ) is a New Zealand government agency formed to assist with creating and promoting New Zealand films. It was established under the New Zealand Film Commission Act 1978 (as amended in 1981, 1985, 1988, 1994 a ...

and

NZ On Air NZ On Air (NZOA; ), formally the Broadcasting Commission, is an Crown entity, autonomous Crown entity and commission of the New Zealand Government responsible for providing funding for broadcasting and creative works. The commission operates l ...

. Casting director Diana Rowan visited numerous schools to find an actress to play Pai. 10,000 children were auditioned before narrowing it down to 12. Castle-Hughes impressed Caro in the resulting

workshop Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the only ...

and was cast as Pai. The film was shot in Whangara, and in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. Producer John Barnett said "This novel was set in Whangara and it would almost have been heresy to shoot anywhere else. There are very physical things that are described in the book – the sweep of the bay, the island that looks like a whale, the meeting houses, the number of houses that are present and of course, the people whose legend we were telling.... If we'd gone somewhere else and tried to manufacture the surroundings and the ambience, then I think it would have been noticeable in the picture." The whale beaching was depicted using full-scale models created by Auckland-based Glasshammer Visual Effects. The -long waka seen at the end of the film was made in two-halves in Auckland before being transported to Whangara. The waka was given to the Whangara community after filming concluded.

Release

Premiere

''Whale Rider'' premiered at the

in 2002.

Theatrical release

''Whale Rider'' was theatrically released in 2003 in New Zealand and Germany. The film had a limited release in the USA on 6 June 2003 and then expanded on 29 August that same year.

Home media

''Whale Rider'' was released on DVD and VHS on 28 October 2003 by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment.

Shout! Factory Shout! Factory, LLC, doing business as Shout! Studios (formerly doing business as Shout! Factory, its current legal name), is an American home video and music distributor founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases, issued i ...

released a 15th anniversary Blu-ray of ''Whale Rider'' on their Shout! Select imprint on 22 August 2017.

Reception

Critical response

The film received critical acclaim and Castle-Hughes's performance won rave reviews. Based on 155 reviews collected by

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has an overall approval rating from critics of 91%, with an average score of 7.77 as of October 2020. The website's critical consensus states, "An empowering and uplifting movie, with a wonderful performance by Castle-Hughes". By comparison,

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated an average score of 79, based on 31 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Margaret Pomeranz and

David Stratton David James Stratton (born 1939) is an English-Australian film critic and historian. He has also worked as a journalist, interviewer, educator, television personality, and producer. His career as a film critic, writer, and educator in Austral ...

of '' The Movie Show'' both gave the film four out of five stars. Pomeranz said "Niki Caro has directed this uplifting story with great sensitivity, eliciting affecting performances from a sterling cast, and a wonderful one from newcomer Keisha Castle-Hughes."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

gave the film four out of four stars and said, "The genius of the movie is the way it sidesteps all of the obvious cliches of the underlying story and makes itself fresh, observant, tough and genuinely moving." He said of Castle-Hughes: "This is a movie star." Ebert later went on to name it as one of the ten best films of 2003. The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

''s

Kenneth Turan Kenneth Turan (; born October 27, 1946) is an American retired film critic, author, and lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California. He was a film critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1991 ...

praised Caro for her "willingness to let this story tell itself in its own time and the ability to create emotion that is intense without being cloying or dishonest." Claudia Puig of ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars and praised Castle-Hughes' acting, saying "so effectively does she convey her pained confusion through subtle vocal cues, tentative stance and expressive dark eyes." The film has also been discussed and praised widely within academia. Anthropologist A. Asbjørn Jøn discussed a range of Māori tribal traditions that resonate within the film, while noting links between the release of ''Whale Rider'' and increases in both New Zealand's whale watching tourism industry and conservation efforts.

Box office

''Whale Rider'' grossed US$41 million worldwide.

Awards

The film won a number of international film-festival awards, including: * the

's AGF Peoples Choice award in September 2002 * the World Cinema Audience award at the January 2003

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

in the United States * the Canal Plus Award at the January 2003

Rotterdam Film Festival International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, focused on independent and experimental films. The inaugural festival took place in June 1972, ...

. At the age of 13, Keisha Castle-Hughes was nominated for the

for her performance, becoming the youngest actress ever nominated for the award at that time (breaking

Isabelle Adjani Isabelle Yasmine Adjani (born 27 June 1955) is a French actress and singer of Algerian and German descent. She has received various accolades, including five César Awards and a Lumière Award, along with nominations for two Academy Awards. ...

's record at the age of 20). She held the record until 2012 when

Quvenzhané Wallis Quvenzhané Wallis ( ; born August 28, 2003) is an American actress and author. In 2012, she starred as Hushpuppy in the drama film ''Beasts of the Southern Wild'' (2012), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, becomi ...

(at the age of 9) was nominated for that category for the film ''

Beasts of the Southern Wild ''Beasts of the Southern Wild'' is a 2012 American fantasy-drama film directed, co-written, and co-scored by Benh Zeitlin. It was adapted by Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar from Alibar's one-act play ''Juicy and Delicious''. The film stars Quvenzhan� ...

''.

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

: * Best Actress (Keisha Castle-Hughes, lost to

Charlize Theron Charlize Theron ( ; ; born 7 August 1975) is a South African and American actress and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actresses, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. In 201 ...

for ''

Monster A monster is a type of imaginary or fictional creature found in literature, folklore, mythology, fiction and religion. They are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive, with a strange or grotesque appearance that causes Anxiety, terror ...

'')

Chicago Film Critics Association The Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) is an association of professional film criticism, film critics, who work in print, broadcast and online media, based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The organization was founded in 1990 by film cri ...

: * Best Actress (Keisha Castle-Hughes, lost to

for ''

'') * Most Promising Filmmaker (Niki Caro, lost to

Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini Shari Springer Berman (born July 13, 1963) and Robert Pulcini (born August 24, 1964) are an American team of filmmakers. Biographies Both Springer Berman and Pulcini were born in New York City, New York, New York (state), New York. Springer Be ...

for '' American Splendor'') * Most Promising Performer (Keisha Castle-Hughes, winner)

Image Awards The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. The over 40 ...

: * Best Actress (Keisha Castle-Hughes, lost to Queen Latifah for '' Bringing Down the House'') * Best Film (lost to '' The Fighting Temptations'')

Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards, originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards, and later as the Film Independent Spirit Awards, are awards presented annually in Santa Monica, California, to independent filmmakers. Founded in ...

: * Best Foreign Film (winner) New Zealand Film Awards: * Best Film * Best Director (Niki Caro) * Best Actress (Keisha Castle-Hughes) * Best Supporting Actor (Cliff Curtis) * Best Supporting Actress (Vicky Haughton) * Best Juvenile Performer (Mana Taumanu) * Best Screenplay (Niki Caro) * Best Original Score (Lisa Gerrard) * Best Costume Design (Kirsty Cameron)

Satellite Awards The Satellite Awards are annual awards given by the International Press Academy that are commonly noted in entertainment industry journals and blogs. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards. The award ceremonies take place ...

* Best Art Direction (lost to '' The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'') * Best Director (Niki Caro, lost to

Jim Sheridan Jim Sheridan (born 6 February 1949) is an Irish people, Irish playwright and filmmaker. Between 1989 and 1993, Sheridan directed three critically acclaimed films set in Ireland, ''My Left Foot'' (1989), ''The Field (1990 film), The Field'' (19 ...

for '' In America'') * Best Film – Drama (lost to '' In America'') * Best Screenplay – Adapted (Niki Caro, lost to Brian Helgeland for '' Mystic River'')

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

: * Best Supporting Actress (Keisha Castle-Hughes, lost to

Renée Zellweger Renée Kathleen Zellweger ( ; born April 25, 1969) is an American actress. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Renée Zellweger, various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and four ...

for '' Cold Mountain'')

Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association The Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA) is a group of film criticism, film critics based in Washington, D.C., and founded in 2002. WAFCA is composed of over 65 D.C.-based film critics from internet, printing, print, radio, and te ...

: * Best Actress (Keisha Castle-Hughes, lost to Naomi Watts for ''

21 Grams ''21 Grams'' is a 2003 American crime thriller film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga. It is the second installment in the duo’s informal “Trilogy of Death,” preceded by ''Amores perros'' (2000) ...

'')

Legacy

''Whale Rider'' has been pointed to have presumably influenced

Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...

' animated film '' Moana'' which also involved Rachel House as a voice actress. Niki Caro later directed the 2020 Disney film ''

Mulan Hua Mulan () is a legendary Chinese folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era (4th to 6th century Common Era, CE) of Chinese history. Scholar, Scholars generally consider Mulan to be a fictional character. Hua Mulan is depicte ...

''.

Documentaries

New Zealand filmmaker Jonathan Brough made the documentary film ''Riding the Wave: The Whale Rider Story'', as well as short documentary clips about ''Whale Rider'', to accompany the DVD.

Soundtrack

The film contains music by Lisa Gerrard, released on the album ''Whalerider'' on 7 July 2003. Other songs heard in the film include: * Bar One (International Observer) Loaded Sounds – International Observer * Kaikoura Dub – Pitch Black * U Want Beef – Deceptikonz * Voice / Percussion Loop –

Hirini Melbourne Hirini (Sid) Melbourne (21 July 1949 – 6 January 2003) was a Māori people, Māori composer, singer, university lecturer, poet and author who was notable for his contribution to the development of Māori music and the revival of Māori culture ...

and Richard Nunns from Te Ku Te Whe * Jast Passing Through – Nick Theobald

Notes

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Whale Rider, The 2000s New Zealand films 2002 films APRA Award winners English-language German films German coming-of-age drama films German independent films German teen drama films Films set underwater Films about grandparent–grandchild relationships Films about whales Films based on New Zealand novels Films directed by Niki Caro Films set in New Zealand Films shot in New Zealand New Zealand independent films Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film winners Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award winners Māori-language films Sundance Film Festival award–winning films 2002 independent films New Zealand coming-of-age drama films 2000s teen drama films 2002 drama films Films about Māori people 2000s feminist films Films produced by Tim Sanders (filmmaker) 2000s German films Films scored by Lisa Gerrard