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'Whale Rider'

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Starring: Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, Bernie Mac, Crispin Glover
Director: McG
MPAA rating: PG-13 for action violence, sensuality and language/innuendo
Running time: 111 minutes
Release date: June 27
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This girl, she goes!

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By Ann Hornaday
Special to the Washington Post

Posted: June 27, 2003

Between the violin prodigy in "Together," the kids of "Spellbound" and now the young heroine of "Whale Rider," summer 2003 is shaping up to be the Season of the Kids. At a moment when theaters are sagging under the weight of bloated greenies, trench-coated cyber-dudes and characters that seem more confected than created, live-action rugrats are quietly proving to be the most compelling and inspiring characters on-screen.

The girl at the heart of "Whale Rider" is no exception; in fact, she might be the most awesome hero -- fictional or otherwise -- so far. In a movie that unfolds like an ancient fable, yet one grounded in the social and political realities of the present, 13-year-old actress Keisha Castle-Hughes takes instant command and never lets go. With uncommon assurance and focus, she leads viewers on a fantastic journey through the natural, cultural and imaginative world of the Maori culture in her native New Zealand, and in so doing she delivers one of the best performances -- and movies -- of the year so far. Remember Lou Grant snarling to Mary Richards,"I hate spunk!" In Castle-Hughes' case, even he would be forced to make an exception.

"Whale Rider" opens with the birth of twins, a brother and a sister, whose grandfather Koro (Rawiri Paratene) is chief of the Ngati Konohi tribe in the seaside village of Whangara, on the North Island of New Zealand. According to Maori lore, the Ngati Konohi came to New Zealand when the legendary ancestral figure Paikea led them to the island while riding on the back of a whale. Ever since, tribal leadership has passed as a patrimony from firstborn son to firstborn son. When Koro's grandson dies, that chain is broken. What's more, the twins' heartbroken father (Cliff Curtis), whose wife died in childbirth, flees his overbearing father for Europe, leaving the crusty old chief and his quietly indomitable wife, Flowers (Vicky Haughton), to care for the little girl, whose father has defiantly named her Paikea.

Young Pai (Castle-Hughes) has grown up as something of a tomboy in her family's seaside village. She's clearly tough enough to go barefoot most of the year and give as good as she gets with the macho boys in her class at school. But although she shows all the qualities of leadership and integrity that her grandfather is looking for in the next tribal chief, he refuses to see her as anything but an inferior female -- even as he tenderly carries her to and from school each day on his bicycle. When Koro finally decides to gather all the firstborn boys in the village to decide on a future leader, he cruelly excludes Pai from the ritual education in chanting, tribal history and jousting with a weapon called a taiaha.

Partly out of will but mostly due to a deep mystical calling, Pai educates herself in the ancient ways, proving herself both spiritually and physically to be the clear chosen leader of her people. Blinded by sexism and bitterness, her grandfather still can't see what's before his eyes until "Whale Rider's" breathtaking climax, a beautiful, emotionally affecting passage in which the movie's story, scenery and aura of magic realism come together with spellbinding force.

New Zealand writer-director Niki Caro, whose first movie, "Memory & Desire," wasn't released in the United States, has adapted Witi Ihimaera's best-selling novel with swiftness, grace and an unerring sense of place. Filmed in the actual village of Whangara, "Whale Rider" is redolent of surf and salt; using plenty of landscape to place her characters in context, Caro immerses viewers in the austere beauty of coastal New Zealand and in the turquoise depths just beyond. But in addition to opening up a magnificent outer world to viewers, Caro limns its inner subtleties. Using relatively few words, she skillfully portrays the poverty, frustration and dislocation of contemporary Maori life. Pai's uncle Rawiri (Grant Roa), for example, was a taiaha champion; these days he mostly drinks beer and smokes marijuana with his equally lazy friends.

Most of the tension in "Whale Rider" is generated by Pai and her obstinate grandfather, who clearly loves the little girl but can't see past his own rigid notions of gender and tradition. Although Pai calmly fulfills every test of an anointed leader, the most difficult one seems to come the most easily to her: In the face of almost unspeakable rejection by her grandfather, she responds only with understanding, forgiveness and quiet perseverance. Although "Whale Rider" is sure to strike viewers as a magnificent portrait of New Zealand as well as a fable, it's even more admirable -- and enduring -- as a thoughtful, vivid spiritual coming-of-age story that transcends its particular cultural context.

Audiences will be relieved to know that Paratene, who plays Koro, is in real life the warm, genial former host of a children's television program in New Zealand; as for Castle-Hughes, she was plucked as an 11-year-old out of 10,000 girls who had tried out for the part. Clearly, the director has a shrewd eye for talent. Castle-Hughes never misses a step as a brave, charismatic protagonist who uses the wisdom of her ancestors to teach her parents well. Pai is an unforgettable character, Castle-Hughes is a revelation in a part she was born for, and in "Whale Rider" Caro has given both of them -- and audiences -- a movie they richly deserve.

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