Janice Lin
April 24, 2006
MED 231 – Australian Cinema
Garry Gillard
Whale Rider (2002)
Principal Crew and Cast Credits:
Crew
Director: Niki Caro
Executive Producers: Bill Gavin & Linda Goldstein Knowlton
Producers: Tim Sanders, John Barnett & Frank Hübner
Director of Photography: Leon Narbey
Production Designer: Grant Major
Writer/ Associate Producer: Witi Ihimaera
Editor: David Coulson
Composer: Lisa Gerrard
Production companies: ApolloMedia, New Zealand Film Commission, New Zealand Film Production Fund, New Zealand On Air, Pandora Filmproduktion GmbH, South Pacific Pictures
Cast
Paikea: Keisha Castle-Hughes
Koro: Rawiri Paratene
Nanny Flowers: Vicky Haughton
Porourangi: Cliff Curtis
Uncle Rawiri: Grant Roa
Hemi: Mana Taumaunu
Release Dates:
Whale Rider was officially released in New Zealand on January 30, 2003. It made its world debut in the Toronto Film Festival in Canada, September 9, 2002. It was also featured in the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain, September 23, 2002; the Sundance Film Festival in USA January 18, 2003; and the International Film Festival Rotterdam in Netherlands, January 23, 2003. It was then officially released in Australia on May 8, 2003 and then in USA on June 6, 2003.
Budget and Box office figures:
Estimated budget for this film was 6,000,000 NZD (approximately 3,649,923 USD or 5,005,837 AUD). The total gross in USA alone was $20,779,666 (USD). Worldwide, the total gross is $41,442,113 (USD).
Bibliography of interviews with filmmakers:
“An Interview with The Whale Rider Author, Witi Ihimaera” 2005 Pacific Islanders in Communications http://www.piccom.org/whalerider/thebook.html
Edwards, David “Niki Caro interview”
http://www.theblurb.com.au/Issue29/NikiCaro.htm
Meklin, Margaret and Meklin, Andrew “Witi Ihimaera interview” The Contemporary Pacific http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/contemporary_pacific/v016/16.2ihimaera.html
Mottesheard, Ryan “Girl Power: New Zealand Writer/Director Niki Caro Talks About “Whale Rider”” People Archives http://www.indiewire.com/people/people_030606caro.html
Thompson, Peter “Niki Caro interview” 2003 ninemsn http://sunday.ninemsn.com.au/sunday/film_reviews/article_1256.asp?s=1
Urban, Andrew L. “Niki Caro interview” http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?a=7351&s=Interviews
Bibliography of reviews in newspapers
The following reviews can be found through this link: http://www.whaleriderthemovie.co.nz/press.html
Baillie, Russell A WHALE OF A MOVIE YEAR Weekend Herald, 28-29 December, 2002
Baillie, Russell LISA GERARD: WHALE RIDER SOUNDTRACK New Zealand Herald: Entertainment News, 27 March, 2003
Hall, Sandra WHALE RIDER Sydney Morning Herald, 10 May, 2003
Matthews, Philip THE CHOSEN ONE Listener, 25 January, 2003
Mitchell, Elvis A Girl Born to Lead, Fighting the Odds New York Times, 6 June, 2003
Munoz, Lorenza A GIRL SHALL LEAD THEM Los Angeles Times, 6 May, 2003
Mulrooney, Paul FILM OF THE WEEK: WHALE RIDER (M) 4 stars The Dominion-Post, 6 February, 2003
Rich, B.Ruby Finding Niki San Francisco Bay Guardian, 25 June - 1 July 2003
Rich, B.Ruby Whale Rider Official Toronto Film Festival Website, B.Ruby Rich Review
Sharp, Keith WHALE OF A TALE TV Guide, 17 January, 2003
Turan, Kenneth WHALE RIDER Los Angeles Times, 6 June, 2003
Travers, Peter WHALE RIDER Rolling Stone, 30 May, 2003
A whale of a time for NZ film maker The Melbourne Age, September 27, 2002
Film Review Variety, September 19, 2002
FILM WINS BIG AWARD New Zealand Herald, 27 January, 2003
Local Talent Knits Together Moving and Uplifting Tale NZ Herald, November 20, 2002
No Screen Gems, But Plenty Of Talent Los Angeles Times, September 13, 2002
One Of The Film World's Minor Miracles Sydney Morning Herald, September 26, 2002
The Glow Of Youth At Toronto New York Times, September 16, 2002
The Work Of An Unknown Genius National Post, September 11, 2002
Whale Rider Screen Daily, September 26, 2002
Whale Rider makes huge splash at TIFF OnFilm, October, 2002
Details of the film’s on-line presence:
Whale Rider has a very strong presence online. Typing in Whale Rider into Google search engine produced many hits back, most of which are reviews of the movie. Because the movie was internationally recognized, there are many sites from all over the world about the film and the book.
Official site of the movie: www.whaleriderthemovie.com/
Imdb.com site: www.imdb.com/title/tt0298228/
Provides links to reviews, fan sites and discussions
Rottentomatoes.com site: www.rottentomatoes.com/m/whale_rider/
Reviews from critics and audiences
Pacific islanders in Communications site: http://www.piccom.org/whalerider/home.html
Information about the book, the film and Maori culture
Critical review
Synopsis:
Whale Rider is a film about the Maori people of New Zealand. The Maori people live in a small coastal village of whom the people claim to be decendents from Paikea, the Whale Rider. Every generation a first-born male heir to the Chief succeeds to the title. The Chief’s eldest son, Porourangi, fathers twins – a boy and a girl. But the boy and his mother die in childbirth. The grief stricken father leaves the surviving girl, named Paikea, to be raised by her grandparents. Her grandfather, who is the chief or Koro, refuses to acknowledge Paikea as the inheritor of the tradition and claims she is of no use to him, but after time he learns to love her. When Porourangi returns after twelve years, now an international artist, he has no intention of becoming chief and has moved away from his people both physically and emotionally. Koro is convinced that the tribe’s misfortunes began at Paikea’s birth and calls for all the first born sons in the tribe to training, determined that a future leader will be revealed. When whales are found stranded on the beach, Koro is sure this signals an apocalyptic end to his tribe. Paikea, following her instincts makes the ultimate sacrifice to save the people, returning the whales to the ocean and fulfils her destiny as Whale Rider for all the people to see.
I thought the story was a very powerful one. The clash of generations and the breaking of traditions is such a universal theme that it’s almost possible for everyone to relate in some way to this film, even though the setting is a small aboriginal village in New Zealand. Pai’s struggle and determination to win Koro’s acceptance shows real girl empowerment.
Critical Uptake of the film:
Critics called Whale Rider sensational and inspiring that had a “confident blend of tragedy, comedy and innate, intuitive mysticism” (Matthews 2003). The emotionally powerful film caught the attention of critics after it won People’s Choice Award in its world debut at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2002. Director Niki Caro was praised for her ability to “create emotion that is intense without being cloying or dishonest” (Turan 2003). Critics were touched with the debut performance of 11 year old Keisha Castle-Hughes. The universality of the films themes of generational conflict and girl power allowed the film to be accepted internationally. OnFilm called the film arguable the most important achievement of a New Zealand film in North America. It won audiences with standing ovations at its release and continued to receive positive reviews subsequently.
Circumstances of production and release and its box office:
Whale Rider was adapted for the screen from the novel by Witi Ihimaera. Ihimaera, who is from Whangara, where the Maori people live, wrote the novel about the whale mythology in 1985. It wasn’t until 1995 when producer John Barnett optioned it at South Pacific Pictures that Whale Rider went into development.
Whale Rider was filmed entirely at Whangara, the actual place where the novel took place and the current community of the Maori people. With the support of the Maori community, they were able to capture the essence and spirit of the place. It was an expensive project that was funded by Pandora, Apollomedia, Film Fund, New Zealand Film Commission and NZ on Air.
In the first two weeks of its release in New Zealand, the film was number one, taking 30% of the total box office and grossed $1.5 million. It had already won the 2003 Sundance World Cinema Audience Award, the 2003 Rotterdam Festival Audience Award and the 2002 People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. After four weeks it became the second highest grossing New Zealand film in its home market, grossing over $3.3 million. After eleven weeks, it grossed to over $5 million, holding the number one spot for most of the time. In May of 2003, the film won another audience award at the San Francisco International Film Festival just days before its release in Australia on May 8, a month before its release in the United States on June 6. When the film opened nationwide in Australia, it took AU$1.12 million across the weekend, placing it in the number two spot. The film continued to win audience awards at the Seattle International film Festival and the Maui film Festival. The film opened in the US with only nine screens and grossed $137,418. As the film continued to open in more screens, it recorded the second highest screen average taking $7,722 (US) per cinema. It later went on to winning Best Foreign Film in the 2004 Independent Spirit Awards and Best Film in the 2003 BAFTA Children’s TV and Film Awards.
Situate the film in relation to the subsequent or prior work
Niki Caro is a highly successful young director whose feature film debut Memory and Desire (1997) winning a Special Jury prize for her work as both writer and director. She also worked on a television series Mercy Peak (2001) which has been consistently acknowledged in both New Zealand and internationally. After Whale Rider in 2002, she directed North Country in 2005.
Leon Narbey is one of New Zealand’s most acclaimed cinematographer. He received the Best Cinematography Award at the 2000 Nokia NZ Film Awards for The Price of Milk and in 1994 for Desperate Remedies. His key concern for Whale Rider (2002) was naturalism. Subsequently he worked on Colin McCahon: I Am (2004) and Kerosene Creek (2004).
John Barnett is responsible for the making of Whale Rider into a film. He read the novel when it came out and was committed to make the transition from page to screen. He has worked as executive producer on Jubilee (2000) with actor Cliff Curtis and also in the TV series “Mercy Peak” (2001) with Niki Caro. He has also produced other feature films such as Middle Age Spread (1979), Beyond Reasonable Doubt (1980), Race for the Yankee Zephyr (1981) and the Australian animated hit, Footrot Flats (1987). Subsequently he has worked on the TV series “Outrageous Fortune” (2005) and Sione’s Wedding (2006).
Frank Hubner has been CEO of Filmfunds ApolloMedia GMbH where is has been involved in a number of international productions. He has been producer for Bride of the Wind (2001), Investigating Sex (2001), Amerikana (2001), My First Mister (2001), The Muskateer (2001) and You Stupid Man (2002). Subsequently to Whale Rider (2002), he has produced Chromiumblue.com (2003), SuperBabies: Baby Geniuses 2 (2004) and Tristan and Isolde (2006)
Executive producer Bill Gavin has worked on What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? (1999) and also Jubilee (2000) with John Barnett.
Executive producer Linda Goldstein Knowlton made her debut in 1998 producing Crazy in Alabama and Mumford. She has also produced The Shipping News (2001) and subsequent to Whale Rider (2002), produced The World According to Sesame Street (2006).
Witi Ihimaera is an award-winning New Zealand writer. His works include the book of short stores Pounamu, Pounamu and the novels Tangi and Matriarch. He wrote the novel for Whale Rider in 1985 and was writer and associate producer for the film.
Keisha Castle-Hughes was eleven years old at the time of filming and was chosen from thousands of girls in an extensive school-wide search. She had no previous acting experience and debuted as Pai in Whale Rider (2002). Subsequently she acted in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), Hey, Hey, It’s Esther Blueburger and Nativity, the latter two both in pre-production and set to be released in 2006.
Rawiri Paratene (Koro) has previously acted in What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? (1999) and Rapa Nui (1994). He has also appeared in a wide variety of television productions and received a New Zealand Film and Television Best Actor award in 1996. Subsequent to Whale Rider, he is seen in The Legend of Johnny Lingo (2003) and Man-Thing (2005).
Estimation of its uptake and current place on contemporary critical and market horizons says about its general position of New Zealand film and its value:
Whale Rider is the second Maori-themed film to be released internationally. The first was Lee Tamahori’s critically acclaimed Once Were Warriors, which told the brutal side of misguided urban Maoris. Whale Rider shows a very different side of the Maori people and their culture. It celebrates the Maori culture as potent, beautiful and important. Today the Maori people constitute 15% of the New Zealand population but are plagued by such problems as substance abuse, racism and poverty. Audiences now have a portrayal of the Maori people that isn’t harsh locally and internationally. Its achievement internationally marked it as a highly valued film.
Situate the film in relation to New Zealand cinema as a particular type of film and as belonging to a genre or genres:
Whale Rider is a very New Zealand film being that it is about the Maori people who live there. It has become the strongest New Zealand film since the early 90s.
Whale Rider can be put into the genres of drama and family. The relationship between Pai and her grandfather tells of how important family is. The movie centralizes around the family supporting and loving each other. The drama in the film’s events was emotional and touching.