WHALE RIDER

Review: A young girl named Pai lives in a small village with her grandparents in New Zealand. She struggles to gain the respect of the Chief, her grandfather, as he finds it hard to recognise her destiny.
Director: Niki Caro
Actors: Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rawiri Paratene, Vicky Haughton, Cliff Curtis, Grant Roa, Rachel House and Taungaroa Emile
Year: 2002
Genre: Drama, Family and Romance
Conclusion: 4/5
Inspired by a novel by Witi Ihimaera. This is beautifully photographed with amazing shots of New Zealand. I did find that this gave me a good insight into the culture of New Zealand and what the people etc are like. Also the scenery of the New Zealand coastline is quite stunning. Keisha Castle-Hughes gives a fantastic performance but without her showing off or being annoying. They couldn’t have done the film without her. Solid acting from the whole cast. The script was written in a very sharp but funny way. There are some scenes that could be very upsetting but they are handled sensitively. The themes that occur in this are love, spirituality, destiny, triumph, and also feeling rejected. At the Bafta Awards in 2003 this won Best Feature Film.