Whale Rider guide

Whale Rider
Originally uploaded by Snaxx

For each quote, choose

a. Paikea
b. Porourangi (Paikea's dad)
c. Koro

1.Why doesn't he want me?
2. He's just looking for something that doesn't exist anymore.
3. A new leader? They exist.

4. It's not Koro's fault, that I'm a girl.

5. Her name is Paikea.
6. No, not that name.

7. My name is Paikea Apirana, and I come from a long line of chiefs.

8. When she was born, that's when things went wrong for us.

9. A long time ago, my ancestor Paikea came to this place on the back of a whale. Since then, in every generation of my family, the first born son has carried his name and become the leader of our tribe... until now.

10. Wise leader, forgive me. I am only a fledgling new to flight.

11. They were waiting for their new leader... but he died.

12. Maori women have got to stop smoking. We've got to protect our childbearing properties.

13. If you have the tooth of a whale, you must have the jaw of a whale to yield it.

Summary from imdb.com:

In a small New Zealand coastal village, Maori claim descent from Paikea, the Whale Rider. In every generation for more than 1000 years, a male heir born to the Chief succeeds to the title.

The time is now. The Chief's eldest son, Porourangi, fathers twins - a boy and a girl. But the boy and his mother die in childbirth. The surviving girl is named Paikea, nicknamed Pai.

Grief-stricken, her father leaves her to be raised by her grandparents. Koro, her grandfather who is the Chief, refuses to acknowledge Pai as the inheritor of the tradition and claims she is of no use to him. But her grandmother, Flowers, sees more than a broken line, she sees a child in desperate need of love.

And Koro learns to love the child. When Pai's father, Porourangi, now a feted international artist, returns home after twelve years, Koro hopes everything is resolved and Porourangi will to accept destiny and become his successor.

But Porourangi has no intention of becoming Chief. He has moved away from his people both physically and emotionally. After a bitter argument with Koro he leaves, suggesting to Pai that she come with him. She starts the journey but quickly returns, claiming her grandfather needs her.

Koro is blinded by prejudice and even Flowers cannot convince him that Pai is the natural heir. The old Chief is convinced that the tribe's misfortunes began at Pai's birth and calls for his people to bring their firstborn boys to him for training. He is certain that through a gruelling process of teaching the ancient chants, tribal lore and warrior techniques, the future leader of their tribe will be revealed to him.

Meanwhile, deep within the ocean, a massive herd of whales is responding, drawn towards Pai and their twin destinies.

When the whales become stranded on the beach, Koro is sure this signals an apocalyptic end to his tribe. Until one person prepares to make the ultimate sacrifice to save the people...the Whale Rider.

Trivia:

The whales in the movie were depicted using 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.

At auditions for the role of Paikea, Keisha Castle-Hughes told casting directors that she could swim. However, when it came time to film the swimming scenes, she admitted she couldn't but she did it anyway.

Many of Pai's swimming scenes were in fact done by Keisha Castle-Hughes's stand-in Waio Parata-Haua, because Keisha could not swim well.