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Whale Rider
Niki Caro, New Zealand, 2002; 101 mins.
Films from around the world continue
to send up variations on a recurring global theme: the struggle between
traditional ways of life and thinking in the face of a radically-changing and
ever-smaller planet. In the New Zealand countryside, Grandfather Koro is
tired of watching his world evaporate before his eyes and determines to take
matters into his own hands, organizing a school to teach young men the ways
of their ancestors. He has faith that from among the new generation will
emerge a leader who can return his people to a sense of their own identity
and unique greatness. Of course, a key part of that ancestral identity has
to do with the fact that only boys qualify for such an important work, and
his granddaughter, eleven-year-old Pai is left on the sidelines: despite the
fact that she is easily the deepest, wisest, and strongest of her generation.
The cultural crisis merges into a natural one, as events drive the action to
a desperate showdown and greatness is freed to emerge wherever it can be
found. A beautiful tale of a young girl's (and an old man's) personal
awakening to hitherto unknown possibilities.
Whale Rider
is part of "Great Awakenings" track of the Featured Screenings program at Flickerings at Cornerstone Festival,
July 1-4, 2004.See complete Schedule
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