It always strikes me that there’s a special affinity
between the American west and the lands down under of Australia and New
Zealand. I noticed it especially a few years ago after watching Walkabout, Picnic at Hanging Rock and Gallipoli
in succession. The openness of the land, the sense of adventure in the Outback
and the feeling of leaping into the unknown can all be thematically linked to
the western genre. Recently, while watching Niki Caro’s 2003 film Whale Rider I discovered that there are
links to be found also between New Zealand and the history of America.
Whale Rider is
based on a 1987 book by Witi Ihimaera about a young girl struggling for her
grandfather’s acceptance in a society that undervalues females. In the film she
is named Paikea, after the mythological forefather of her Maori tribe who,
legend has it, rode on the back of a whale. Paikea’s grandfather, Koro (Rawiri
Paratene), is the local tribe leader and has been waiting many years for an
heir in the patrilineal society. His own son, Porourangi (Cliff Curtis), is
unsuited to the task after his wife and son (Pai’s twin brother) die in
childbirth. So Koro raises the girl and they develop a strong bond, one that is
never strong enough to allow that Pai could be the leader. Koro decides it is
time to find a new leader and calls on the first born sons to engage in
training and feats of strength and endurance until one emerges the clear
favorite. Pai, not permitted to participate, looks on and studies the
exercises. She was born with a drive and instinct for leadership, but Koro is
blinded by his insistence on maintaining the male line of succession for fear
that bad luck will otherwise be visited upon them.
In this story of a community of Maori I see parallels to
my own country’s American Indians. Both are traditional societies whose culture
was forever spoiled by the arrival of Europeans. I don’t know a great deal
about Maori history or traditions, but from what I can gather, they didn’t
suffer nearly as much as the American Indians and their numbers are much
stronger in New Zealand than are the Indians in the United States. If we take
Niki Caro’s direction as at all reflective of a way of life, then to grow up in
a Maori community looks perhaps as difficult as growing up in a poor minority
community in the U.S.
The children attend school and are mostly cared for by
women. The men, with the exception of Koro, have little positive influence in
their children’s lives. Porourangi, for one, abandons his daughter to live in
Germany. His younger brother is overweight and shiftless, spending his dies
smoking marijuana and drinking. Another child has a father who was released
from prison just in time to see a school performance, but he’s gone just as
quickly in a car full of associates who don’t look like anyone I’d want my
child to be introduced to. The alcohol consumption made me think of American
Indians, who are known to often suffer from alcoholism.
Caro also wrote the screen adaptation of the novel. It is
a deeply moving tribute to Maori culture and in particular to the girl Paikea. An
11-year old Keisha Castle-Hughes made her film debut in the lead role and, at
12, became the youngest ever Oscar nominee for Best Actress. It is a performance
that exhibits a depth of maturity unseen in most adult actors. There is one
seen in which she is required to choke back tears while delivering a speech
about her grandfather and the leadership history of the tribe that is
emotionally devastating. I can’t recall any actor, male or female, old or
young, capable of handling deep emotion with such poise and control.
Though the Maori have had agreements with the European
settlers since the nineteenth century and have been afforded rights, they still
exist on the margins of society. In spite of and perhaps even because of the splintering
effects of their downtrodden economic status, Koro is determined to pull them
together. Whale Rider becomes not
just a story of a girl trying to win the admiration (in addition to the love
she already has) of her grandfather, but of a people trying to relocate their
way in the world. One of the final beautiful images in the film is of a long
canoe loaded with about 40 Maori men, all rowing along the sea together in
time, their fearless leaders steering them right and true.
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