The Whale Rider - A story of change and of pain

A New Zealand and Germany co-production, the film tells the story of a young girl, Paikea Apirana(Paikea Apirana) whose tribe is “dying”. Not so much of a physical one but rather a cultural one. Directed by Niki Caro based on the book of the same name, written by Witi Ihimaera.

Pai born into a Maori tribe that is the direct descendent of Paikea, the Whale Rider. Whom is said to ride on top of a whale from Hawaiki to where they are now. She wasn’t really accepted by the her grandfather, Koro when she was born. Her father was the first born of the family and her grandfather is the tribe chief. When she was born, both her mother and her twin brother died. What makes this important, is that the leadership of tribe can only be pass down to first born males. Pai was neither. If there’s anything, Pai is what most superstitious folk consider as a curse or bad luck.

 From a very young age, Pai showed an affinity towards the tribe’s cultures and rituals. If anything, Pai holds a strong love for her tribe. This is evident from how she tells the females from her tribe to stop smoking and how she recites all the tribe’s chants flawlessly.  

Despite how it may look like, the film’s theme isn’t so much about sexism but rather of a dying way of life due to modernization and a refusal to adapt. Pai despite her being the one that is the most qualified to take up role of leadership in the village, she is not allowed to due to the fact that she is female. Her uncle, Rawiri despite being a male, he is unable to take up leadership because he was the second born.

The film explores if culture and traditions should be preserve at the cost of possibly dying out.  It brings into conflict on the idea of preserving traditions and adapting change to survive. Despite this, the film isn’t about one idea against the other. It is about understanding the necessary change in order to preserve the culture. Sometimes even possibly bringing a new positive change. This can be seen evidently from Pai dedication to learning her tribe’s rites and chants. Even going against her grandfather’s wishes to keep her from learning about the tribe chief’s lesson.

All in all, “The Whale Rider” is about preserving culture but also about the necessary sacrifices needed in order to preserving it. In this case, it’s about sacrificing the tradition of a male only chief. When it did finally come for Pai as the new chief, we can see in the film, that there seems to be more people in the tribe now. This is assuming that the people that had left the tribe had come back. Most notably is Pai father who had already build a life for himself in Germany. He even finished building tribal boat (waka), a project that was left stagnant after the death of his first wife. Also interesting to note is that when the waka had set sail for the first time, the women are seen peddling alongside the men. Possibly signifying that change is not just limited to just Pai but also the entire tribe. The tribe had gone through a transformation.