In the Swim

Hail to the chief: Pai (Keisha Castle-Hughes) embraces the traditions of her Maori ancestors.

Stunning imagery and an elegantly simple story propel Whale Rider.

by Cindy Fuchs

"There was no gladness when I was born." Whale Rider begins with tragedy. A woman gives birth to two children, one stillborn. As her husband, Porourangi (Cliff Curtis), watches, she also dies, leaving him bereft and angry. His own father, Koro (Rawiri Paratene), focuses his rage on the surviving child, blaming her for the death of her brother. Porourangi storms off, leaving the baby to the care of his mother, Nanny Flowers (Vicky Haughton). Fortunately, she knows how to handle her husband in ways that even he doesn’t imagine.

The rest of Whale Rider takes place some 11 years later, when Pai (the astonishing Keisha Castle-Hughes) has grown into an inquisitive and independent-minded girl. Living with her grandparents in a Whangara community on the eastern coast of New Zealand, she's named for a demi-god ancestor, Paikea, who arrived in New Zealand on the back of a whale. Legend has it that a firstborn son will be the next Whangara chieftain, but Pai will surprise her elders and herself, as she emerges as the next leader.

Based on the novel by Maori author Witi Ihimaera and adapted by director Niki Caro, Whale Rider is part saga and part fairy tale, part adventure tale and part coming-of-age story. It's also a rousing good time, with beautiful beachscapes and stunning whales-a-swimming imagery by cinematographer Leon Narbey and an elegant, simple-seeming narrative structure.

Pai comes into her own by learning school lessons (she's assigned to write a speech about her ancestors), as well as the skills of a Maori warrior. She undertakes her extracurricular education on the sly, because Koro Œs skills class is for boys only. Still, she's gifted and eager, ensuring that it's only a matter of time before traditional expectations are overturned.

The film works by developing relationships between characters, that is, between generations and individuals, across cultures and oceans of bad feelings. Porourangi returns from Europe, where he's been selling his art. (Koro passes predictable judgment: "You call it work, but it's not work. It's souvenirs.") When Porourangi reveals that he has a white, pregnant girlfriend, Koro turns his anger on Pai, who overhears his derision from the next room.

Her upset leads to a touching reunion between father and daughter, during which both parties assume her maturity beyond her years. "I can't be what he wants," sighs Porourangi. "Me neither," Pai astutely adds. Such exchanges pay respect to her childish intelligence and intuition. And this is Pai's great strength and significance. Amid its celebration of her mythic warrior's abilities, the film also renders Pai as an ordinary girl. Think of all the images of girls in most "kids' movies," halter-topped, so self-consciously cute, so Mary-Kate-and-Ashleyed. Pai is none of that but much more. She is wholly engaging and elegant, on her own terms.

Whale Rider

Written and directed by Niki Caro A Newmarket Films release Opens Friday at Ritz East

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