A contemporary story of love, rejection and triumph as a young Maori girl fights to fulfill a destiny her grandfather refuses to recognize.A contemporary story of love, rejection and triumph as a young Maori girl fights to fulfill a destiny her grandfather refuses to recognize.A contemporary story of love, rejection and triumph as a young Maori girl fights to fulfill a destiny her grandfather refuses to recognize.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 33 wins & 35 nominations total
- Maka
- (as Mabel Wharekawa-Burt)
- Hemi's Dad
- (as Roimata Taimana)
- Jake
- (as Tyrone White)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe whales in the movie are a combination of footage of real whales, life size models (some with humans creating movement) and CGI. Keisha Castle-Hughes said the key whale riding scene took place 15-20 miles offshore, and was terrifying.
- GoofsThe father and grandfather argue after the slide show, and the father goes to pull down the white sheet that was hung over some drapes to act as a screen. He pulls it down, along with the rod and orange drapes that the sheet was hanging from. Moments later, the drapes are back up in place and hanging perfectly straight, without enough time for him to re-hang the drapes.
- Quotes
[first lines]
Paikea: In the old days, the land felt a great emptiness. It was waiting. Waiting to be filled up. Waiting for someone to love it. Waiting for a leader.
[child birth scene]
Paikea: And he came on the back of a whale. A man to lead a new people. Our ancestor, Paikea. But now we were waiting for the firstborn of the new generation, for the descendant of the whale rider. For the boy who would be chief.
Paikea: There was no gladness when I was born. My twin brother died, and took our mother with him.
- Crazy creditsDedicated to those who have gone before
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Making of 'Whale Rider' (2003)
I do not consider the Maori people as the people of New Zealand, and I do not think that the movie gives us information about the New Zealand people and their life styles. The whole thing is rather develops in a different world, a world that is ancient and unchanged. While watching the movie, we see lots of different things such as the traditional greetings of people by using their noses and heads or the chants(traditional songs) that they use to express their feelings. These are very interesting for me to learn and watch, I felt like as I am 8 or 9 years old and watching a documentory about a country that I have never seen before.
It was also very interesting for me to see and experience the feelings of love, hope or commitment in a very interesting way. I mean Pai loves her grandfather very much but it is a different kind of love that I have never seen.
I want to say why is the movie is really really great. The whole thing is about people from a different culture and a different world as I said before, and they do such weird things and you think that `ok, it is a part of their culture' and you somehow accept everything. But at the end it almost makes you believe that, Pai is really a prophet and she really can communicate with the whales and she did really rode that whale and all. The movie really makes you to believe that all the things are real.
In addition, the main actor Pai, really acts great, very good for her age and experience. Maybe it is because of their culture and all the kids of Maori are like that, but when she is sad and looks at you you get sore and when she is happy it makes you feel good. I think that is called good acting.
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Người Cưỡi Cá Voi
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $3,500,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $20,779,666
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $137,418
- Jun 8, 2003
- Gross worldwide
- $41,062,976
- Runtime1 hour 41 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1