There is, of course, nothing wrong with a movie version of a fairy tale, but what is wrong with Whale Rider is that it presents the fairy tale as if it were reality. A little bit of sentimentality is not so bad, but if it takes the place of deep felt sentiment, then there is something wrong. Sentimentality is a short cut to the emotions. In Whale Rider, real problems of indigenous people attempting to live meaningful lives in a profoundly changed world, are made a mockery of by an unrealistic staging and a solution which makes one think of the choo-choo train that said "I can, I can" and therefore could. But, you see, the little girl in the movie simply couldn't do what the viewer is supposed to believe she could. All through the movie, we are led to believe that her grandfather is the sole surviver of a tribe, who still believes in the old rites and tries to foist the patriarchal suppression on to the girl. At the end of the movie, we suddenly find a whole chorus line of dancers who are all very well-versed in the rituals. They seem to have been sprouted out of the ground by the superhuman capabilities of the little girl. The movie follows a certain Hollywood pattern which Australian movies at times have been able to avoid, of the Rambo type (the underdog wins by trying hard enough) and the Godfather type (forget what an s.o.b. the bad guy is and never mind the victims).
Review of Whale Rider
