There is no question that the Maori have an ancient and marvelous culture well-worthy of respecting, appreciating, and preserving. Their intricate carvings are spectacular, their ability to find their way from island to island on canoes in an ocean as large as half the globe is second to none, and they have a mythology that explains the workings of the universe in ways much deeper and more meaningful than just the surface of the various stories would reveal at first blush.
This film is about a particular group of Maori whose chief traces his lineage back to an ancestor who was brought to their land on the back of a whale. This cooperation between whale and human is an intriguing undercurrent that secretly animates the story, most effectively portrayed by the mystical and dreamy "destiny" music that is subtly reminiscent of whale songs, music that resonates in the heart of the granddaughter of the chief, and in the watchful awareness of the whales who can recognize in their two-legged soul-mates revitalizing power without the prejudice of human limitations.
At the time of the movie, this group of Maori is in bad shape, looking and acting much like Native Americans vegetating on the reservation here in our own country. Everything is old and decrepit and almost without hope, slowly dying out, and even the barnacle-encrusted whales, apparently waiting out in the ocean for something to happen, look likewise forlorn and at the end of their rope.
The only fresh and vital force among the tribe is the chief's granddaughter, with whom the chief has a love-hate relationship. He can't miss the spark of her spirit, and yet he resents her very presence because of her gender. His only desire is to have an heir, which in his mind has to be a first-born male. However, his first-born son is not interested in the responsibility of leading his people, and when his wife dies in childbirth and at the same time the male half of a pair of fraternal twins, the hoped-for heir, dies, it's as if there's virtually no vitality left in their line. All but the grandmother miss the obvious vitality that exists right in front of their eyes, the female twin who was strong enough to survive. The father abandons his daughter into the care of his parents and escapes to Europe where he seeks a more progressive society.
Despite the father's desire to escape, he can't quite abandon his culture, though...he attempts to establish a career as an artist, utilizing Maorian art forms as the springboard for his own artistic creations. He returns home, only to find that he is still unable to stay. Other than the maturing of his daughter, things are much the same in his village. He offers to take his daughter back to Europe with him, and at first she agrees to go, but then the dreamy whale destiny songs play in her heart and she realizes that her destiny is with her people.
The grandfather, the chief, while not blind to his granddaughter's brilliance, is blind to the meaning of her abilities. He sets out to train and test all the first born boys in the tribe in an attempt to discover or produce a new chief, but the company of sad-sack boys, some of whom are so physically out of shape and fat that they can barely hold their eyes open through the layers of fat that cover their faces, is not up to the task. One telling moment: the chief throws a whale's tooth overboard and explains to the boys in the boat, "this is a test of your spirit, go bring back this tooth." While some of the boys make a valiant effort at retrieving the tooth, two boys don't even consider leaving the boat, because one has a cold and the other can't swim!
Meanwhile, there is the granddaughter, who studies and performs the tribe's cherished legends, songs, and dances, secretly yearns to learn all that her grandfather is trying to teach the boys. The grandfather's patriarchal, almost misogynist attitude seems to represent everything that holds the tribe back...his idea of being a leader is to keep to the old, traditional ways. This is conservativism to the point of backwardness. What is needed for the tribe's revitalization is entirely beyond him.
The little girl is a marvelous actress and perfectly portrays a spirit whose dreams are able to relentlessly survive in a hostile, unaccepting environment. In a way, I would expect the conflict over the emergence of a female leader to be almost too primitive for modern audiences. After all, from a European perspective, probably the greatest monarch in all of the history of Europe was Queen Elizabeth I, so successful female leaders are hardly new. It's almost a yawn that the grandfather continues to serve as obstacle to his granddaughter's obvious destiny. What gave this film its importance is seeing how ancient cultural traditions do not have to be abandoned in order to progress, but can be revitalized through an expansion of the basic ideas to include greater possibilities. The little girl said as much, when she gave a speech that said that the leadership of a people can come from the empowerment of all who are willing to accept the responsibilities--this is an equalizing force for the good of all. Nature and spirit sometimes take a new course or a new branch, but the roots may still remain deep in the culture's foundation.
This film is about a particular group of Maori whose chief traces his lineage back to an ancestor who was brought to their land on the back of a whale. This cooperation between whale and human is an intriguing undercurrent that secretly animates the story, most effectively portrayed by the mystical and dreamy "destiny" music that is subtly reminiscent of whale songs, music that resonates in the heart of the granddaughter of the chief, and in the watchful awareness of the whales who can recognize in their two-legged soul-mates revitalizing power without the prejudice of human limitations.
At the time of the movie, this group of Maori is in bad shape, looking and acting much like Native Americans vegetating on the reservation here in our own country. Everything is old and decrepit and almost without hope, slowly dying out, and even the barnacle-encrusted whales, apparently waiting out in the ocean for something to happen, look likewise forlorn and at the end of their rope.
The only fresh and vital force among the tribe is the chief's granddaughter, with whom the chief has a love-hate relationship. He can't miss the spark of her spirit, and yet he resents her very presence because of her gender. His only desire is to have an heir, which in his mind has to be a first-born male. However, his first-born son is not interested in the responsibility of leading his people, and when his wife dies in childbirth and at the same time the male half of a pair of fraternal twins, the hoped-for heir, dies, it's as if there's virtually no vitality left in their line. All but the grandmother miss the obvious vitality that exists right in front of their eyes, the female twin who was strong enough to survive. The father abandons his daughter into the care of his parents and escapes to Europe where he seeks a more progressive society.
Despite the father's desire to escape, he can't quite abandon his culture, though...he attempts to establish a career as an artist, utilizing Maorian art forms as the springboard for his own artistic creations. He returns home, only to find that he is still unable to stay. Other than the maturing of his daughter, things are much the same in his village. He offers to take his daughter back to Europe with him, and at first she agrees to go, but then the dreamy whale destiny songs play in her heart and she realizes that her destiny is with her people.
The grandfather, the chief, while not blind to his granddaughter's brilliance, is blind to the meaning of her abilities. He sets out to train and test all the first born boys in the tribe in an attempt to discover or produce a new chief, but the company of sad-sack boys, some of whom are so physically out of shape and fat that they can barely hold their eyes open through the layers of fat that cover their faces, is not up to the task. One telling moment: the chief throws a whale's tooth overboard and explains to the boys in the boat, "this is a test of your spirit, go bring back this tooth." While some of the boys make a valiant effort at retrieving the tooth, two boys don't even consider leaving the boat, because one has a cold and the other can't swim!
Meanwhile, there is the granddaughter, who studies and performs the tribe's cherished legends, songs, and dances, secretly yearns to learn all that her grandfather is trying to teach the boys. The grandfather's patriarchal, almost misogynist attitude seems to represent everything that holds the tribe back...his idea of being a leader is to keep to the old, traditional ways. This is conservativism to the point of backwardness. What is needed for the tribe's revitalization is entirely beyond him.
The little girl is a marvelous actress and perfectly portrays a spirit whose dreams are able to relentlessly survive in a hostile, unaccepting environment. In a way, I would expect the conflict over the emergence of a female leader to be almost too primitive for modern audiences. After all, from a European perspective, probably the greatest monarch in all of the history of Europe was Queen Elizabeth I, so successful female leaders are hardly new. It's almost a yawn that the grandfather continues to serve as obstacle to his granddaughter's obvious destiny. What gave this film its importance is seeing how ancient cultural traditions do not have to be abandoned in order to progress, but can be revitalized through an expansion of the basic ideas to include greater possibilities. The little girl said as much, when she gave a speech that said that the leadership of a people can come from the empowerment of all who are willing to accept the responsibilities--this is an equalizing force for the good of all. Nature and spirit sometimes take a new course or a new branch, but the roots may still remain deep in the culture's foundation.