The film tells a contemporary story of love, rejection and triumph as a young Maori girl fights to fulfill a destiny her grandfather refuses to recognize, the destiny of becoming the chief of her people.
20 October 1971, Auckland, New Zealand
27 July 1968, Rotorua, New Zealand
24 March 1990, Donnybrook, Western Australia, Australia
2 June 1974, Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand
14 October 1951, Blackpool, Lancashire, England, UK
1989
June 11, 2013
both an effective snapshot of the challenges which modernity brings to indigenous cultures, and a neat illustration of the power of myths to adapt.
January 26, 2006
Niki Caro roots her characters in a landscape equal parts mundane and boundless, incorporates tantalising sea photography and Lisa's Gerrard's ambient soundtrack, and lifts off into a sublime, Elysian ending.
July 03, 2003
The most effective and moving female empowerment movie in awhile.
July 22, 2008
Newcomer Castle-Hughes' unaffected, confident turn makes it credible our heroine might retain her determination and self-worth despite serial setbacks.
June 27, 2003
[The story] is so simple that the audience gets ahead of it from the beginning.
August 07, 2008
The movie's story is a sometimes clumsy but gradually involving coming-of-age story about courage, sexism, past customs vs. contemporary social values and a community and family at odds within themselves.
June 03, 2008
The third act -- where all our predictions come true -- has a quiet dignity and, although it moves from A to B as expected, how it gets there is surprisingly mysterious.
April 29, 2009
This is what a children's film should be like.
December 29, 2010
Excellent to watch and discuss as a family.
June 03, 2005
"Whale Rider" is a mystical, gentle movie that goes beyond the boundaries of the usual coming-of-age film.
November 01, 2007
The filmmaker knows how to seduce an audience without making it feel had. When a movie's this likable, it would take a very tough crowd not to be pleased.
June 27, 2003
The film is closer to a feminist tract. And, like all propaganda, it wants to do all of your thinking for you.
