A famous myth of the Maori people is that of their great ancestor Paikea who rides a whale all the way to the island of New Zealand. Thus the name Paikea and whales have become sacred entities of Maori culture. The movie Whale Rider, directed by Niki Caro, describes a Maori girl given this blessed name Paikea, and her journey to find her place in the world. The only way she can finally be accepted in their society is by completing her role as a representation of her ancestor. The director symbolizes
Hunt for the Wilderpeople Essay How did Taika Watiti communicate themes in his film, Hunt for the Wilderpeople? Introduction: Hunt for the Wilderpeople was a movie released in 2016 and the film was the first local feature to make more than NZ$1 million in its opening weekend at the New Zealand box office. Directed by Taika Watiti who also directed other films such as Thor: Ragnarok. He is not only a director but an actor. He makes a cameo in the film as the minister at Aunt Bella’s funeral. The
Good morning/afternoon ladies and gentlemen), It is my delight to welcome you to The Australian Film Festival where we will be showcasing a variety of Australian films. I’m Reef Rohde, the organiser of this year’s film festival and will be showcasing you ‘The Water Diviner’. It was directed by the iconic films, the leading role performed by actor Russel Crowe and written by Andrew Knight and Andrew Anastasios. The Water Diviner pays recognition to a significant period in our nation’s history and
The setting of the movie is in a small village in New Zealand. The people of this town have a strong belief in Paikea who is said to be “The Whale Rider.” In each generation, a male born to the Chief will take the title as Whale Rider. The film starts out in a hospital where the Chief’s oldest son, Porourangi, welcomes twin boy and girl into the world. Sadly, the mother and one of the babies die during childbirth. The baby that survived is a girl and her name is Pai. Porourangi is so upset and in
The film The Whale Rider, directed by Niki Caro, follows the story of a young Maori girl called Pai, to fulfil her destiny of one day becoming the leader of her tribe. One of the most important characters to the story, is the main character, Paikea ‘Pai’ Apirana, She helps the audience appreciate and better understand the themes of leadership, and sexism. Caro uses many techniques to convey these themes, such as symbolism, different camera shots and angles, dialogue and lighting. Throughout The
“When she was born, that’s when things went wrong for us…” The film, Whale Rider, written and directed by Niki Caro, is a simple one but with a lot of plot meaning behind it. The original novel was written by male author, Witi Ihimaera, who is a Maori author having written 3 books about his cultural beliefs. Whale Rider is well-loved in New Zealand, and now it has touched the hearts of all people around the world. “Leadership is not about shouting and screaming. It’s about being the person that serves
Film Essay There is a Holocaust theme in The Zookeeper's wife, which was directed by Niki Caro and written by Angela Workman. Antonina Zabinski (Jessica Chastain), Jan Zabinski's (Johan Heldenbergh), the zookeeper’s, wife helps care for their zoo and her family. The zoo brings the whole family and town together, and everyone is happy while being entertained by the animals. Shortly after, they are to find out that their world is going to be turned upside-down when the German military storm into their
The world is full of signs guiding us in the right direction, symbols that signify the elements of our lives, and rituals that keep us grounded and remind us of the old. The movie The Whale Rider directed by Niki Caro is an excellent portrayal of the significance behind these things. In this film Koro struggles with the importance of tradition, Paikea attempts to prove herself to her grandfather, and their relationship withstands many struggles throughout the film. These can be seen through the various
views others and the world. People adapt their culture or things that they do on a everyday basis based off the things their culture has taught them or the things they see. In the drama/family movie, the Whale Rider directed by Niki Caro, In the beginning of the movie when Pai was born and her dad left and gave her to her grandfather Koro because of what Porourangi named her and that is was not a part of their culture. A couple of years later Porourangi came back and Koro’s perception
The movie whale rider is a 2002 New Zealand- German family drama movie directed by Niki Caro. The movie is inspired by a book of the same name by Witi Ihimaera. The movie takes place in present day New-Zealand and focuses around Pai, a twelve year old Maori girl who desires to be the next chief of her tribe, but the current tribe chief and her grandfather Koro opposes the idea of a girl ever becoming a chief and undermines all her achievement. The movie revolves around Pai who lost her mother and
We as a class have watched the movie ‘Whale Rider’, created by Niki Caro in two thousand and three. We are writing a response in paragraphed sentence form to analyse and evaluate this emotional film. I strongly believe that three themes I found intriguing were respect, tradition and cultural identity. A major theme in ‘Whale Rider’ is respect, the film made it obvious that Koro holds the most respect for he is the chief and everyone is expected to abide by his rules. Pai shows strength by standing
Antigone Rides the Whale Antigone, a play written by Sophocles, and Whale Rider directed by Niki Caro are stories that taking place in different eras and location but are very similar in storylines. The text Antigone and share a similar storyline and even share major themes. Both are about a young girl whose brother dies and she tries to uphold tradition but is constrained by her gender. One of the most obvious similarities in both Antigone and Whale Rider, the brother of the protagonist dies.
Americans. White eventually creates a cross-country team as he learns of the amazing, physical abilities his students have. With all the odds against them, the team are deemed as underdogs, but eventually come out on top as champions. Director Niki Caro performs a fantastic job portraying the struggles and burdens the young team of Mexican American students overcame to then become champions in the
Why Disney Live-Action Remakes Should Remain Semi Faithful To Their Original Animated Counterparts After the success of the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast, production began on the next big Disney hit; The Lion King. Ironman director Jon Favreau will be at the helm after the success of The Jungle Book. The Lion King doesn’t come out until 2019, however it came to light one of the songs from the original film, Be Prepared will be omitted from the film. It made me as a writer realise
The film Aguirre, the Wrath of God is a classical tragedy. It was written and directed by Werner Herzog, in the year 1972. This film tells the story of the tragic expedition of the Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Pizarro, who, in the year 1561, led an expedition into the Peruvian rain forest to search for, the lost city of gold, El Dorado. The expedition encounters a dangerous river. A small group led by Pedro de Ursua, is selected to search of food and the El Dorado city. Ursua is overthrown by power
some type of budge in today’s system. In fact, the resolution of gender discrimination and uptight social groups is to embrace old tradition in new ways. Works Cited Ihimaera, Witi. The Whale Rider. Auckland: Reed, 1987. Print. Whale Rider. Niki Caro. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2002. Film. "Identity Politics" Oxford English Dictionary Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 25 April 2014. "Feminism" Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, 2011. Web. 25 April 2014.
female inferior; and the one rules, and the other is ruled" (qtd. in Politics book I). Thus, women have complied with the authority of the male dominion and kept within their societal roles or risked confrontation throughout centuries. In director Niki Caro's American film, North Country, released in 2005, women's futile attempt to belong to the male-dominate workplace is presented. However, their struggle to enhance their quality of life and willingness to belong subjected them to demeaning verbal
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/556146-i-don-t-see-why-i-should-bow-my-head- when. Goodreads inc, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. Sophocles. “Antigone.” McDougal Little Literature: American Literature. Evanston: McDougal Little, 2008. Whale Rider. Dir. Niki Caro. Perf. Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rawiri Paratene, Vicky Haughton, Cliff Curtis. South Pacific Pictures/ApolloMedia GmbH & Co. 5/Filmproduktion KG, 2002. DVD. Newmarket Films, 2003.