Extended Essay: The Whale Rider & The Legend of Paikea

I've chosen to compare Niki Caro's The Whale Rider with the famous legend of Paikea. After all, this film is based off of this legend and the culture of the Maori people, who strongly believe in the legend of Paikea. The Whale Rider is about a village of Maori people who strive to keep the Maori culture alive. Paikea, the little girl in the film, survived an emergency birth that her twin brother and mother did not. This was devastating to her grandfather because he had been longing for the first born boy of the family. In the Maori culture, the first born son becomes the leader or chief of the tribe and this tradition has been passed down for many, many years. Because the first born died in a traumatic birth, Paikea's grandfather has resented her because she survived, and her brother did not. Throughout the film, Paikea tries to prove that she can become a leader. Her grandfather looks completely past her ability simply because she is female. He spends a lot of time and effort training the young boys in the village to have them compete to see who will be the next leader. Paikea continues to try, she watches from afar, and trains behind her grandfather's back. Towards the end of the film, the whales wash up onto shore, very sick and near death. Paikea saves the whales and becomes a whale rider. In the legend of Paikea,  Paikea is saved by a whale and this is where he got his name from. In the film, this is similar. Paikea the character, saves the whale but she is also saved from the inequality of males and females. There are mixed interpretations of the ending of the film, but Paikea is finally respected by her grandfather and becomes the leader of the village. She lives on as the whale rider, similar to the legend of Paikea.

 

The Whale Rider does a great job incorporating this legend. Without it, I'm not sure how the film would even be created because it's so heavily based on the legend of Paikea. Niki Caro was smart by naming the main character of the film Paikea, because that is such an important name in the Maori culture. Caro plays a twist on this legend by having a girl be Paikea. In the legend, Paikea is a man who is rescued by the whale. In Caro's film, Paikea rescues the whales. The whales wash up on shore and the whole village is doing everything they can to save these whales. It is Paikea who ultimately saves one of the whales and she rides the whale deep into the ocean. Many would say the whales rescued her as well. They have rescued her from inequality and from the resentment of her grandfather. This is the turning point in the film; Paikea has made the ultimate sacrifice and lives on as the new leader of the tribe. She is finally respected by her grandfather as well as everyone else in the village.

 

 

 

The film does a great job of incorporating a ton of Maori culture and traditions as well. Caro included famous legends, language, dress, and religious practices. She included 'Marae' in the film, which are meeting grounds for the members of the tribe. This is a really important part of the Maori culture. The dress and the dancing at the end of the film also reflected the Maori culture. The chants, face paint, etc. was all very reflective of this culture. In the Maori culture, the tribe is supportive of each of its members. At the end of the film, the entire village came together to build the boat and all of the men worked together to row the boat out into the ocean.

 

 

The film also creatively uses music. The chosen music really reflects the mood of the current scene. The music is also correlated with the use of color. In happy scenes, the music is upbeat. In darker, bluer scenes, the music is also dark, depressing, and slow. There is one instance when the music and the colors don't exactly match. When Paikea decides to go be with her dad, the music is sad but the colors are bright. My interpretation of this is that the family is sad to see Paikea go, but it's a happy time for her dad because he will get to be with his daughter now. Caro also made sure to incorporate chants that are popular in Maori culture.

 

This short clip provides an example of some of the Maori traditions. It includes dress, chants, and language. This is the final scene in the film and I thought it really captured the essence of what the Maori people believe in and the traditions they continue to practice.

 

 

 

Personally, I believe what made Niki Caro's film so successful is that she incorporated so much of the Maori culture in her film. She also kept it realistic and up to date as well. She was able to create a story that was also very educational for people who aren't as familiar with the Maori culture. The legend of Paikea was really the base of this film. As I mentioned before, I don't think Caro would have had much of a story without the legend of Paikea incorporated into this film. This legend is a famous story for the Maori people, who are from the New Zealand area. Caro is from New Zealand so I think it may have 'hit home' a bit for her to learn and be involved with people that date back to many years ago. Based on research and watching this film, the legend of Paikea seems to be very important to the Maori culture and is something that they really truly believe in and hold close to their hearts. Incorporating this story into the film made it really interesting to its viewers (well, for me at least). Learning about different cultures is really intriguing. Caro incorporated a lot of the Maori culture in this film and it allowed me to learn about their practices and traditions. Prior to this film, I never knew this culture existed and after watching, I learned a lot about them and their beliefs.