Flutterby™! : Whale Rider

Went to see Whale Rider yesterday evening. The tale of a young Maori girl whose grandfather is leader of the Whangara tribe, whose father has rejected the ways of the community and gone off to Germany, and whose twin brother, who would have been the first born of the first born, died at birth along with her mother.

So it's a story about gender roles, about traditions, mysticisms and destiny. It's a modern story, which means there's lots of material to play those traditions off of, and it's PG-13, "for brief language and a momentary drug reference", but probably mostly because it doesn't shy away from showing some downright harsh human relationships. But those strong rejections make the tearjerker parts stronger without being overly maudlin.

Yes, it's about mysticism and destiny, which might leave those of you who need absolute rationality in your films a little unfulfilled, but it was a strong movie that I think has enough substance to keep adults occupied while also finding some resonances with kids old enough to understand and empathize with the family dynamics.