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"The First
Aboriginal Avon Lady" |
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Directed by Niki Caro -
Written by Niki Caro
Starring Keisha Castle
Hughes, Rawiri Paratene,
Cliff Curtis
Distributed by Newmarket -
2002 - 101mins - Rated
PG13 |
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A Sundance Favorite! |
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Although filled with beautiful imagery and a stunning lead
performance, "Whale Rider" is ultimately underwhelming. Despite her
young age. 13 year old Keisha Castle Hughes gives a wonderful
performance in this independent import from New Zealand. Despite being
a massive crowd pleaser at the Sundance Film Festival, I can't see
what the fuss is all about. I couldn't relate to the characters, and
the plot was slow and uninvolving. If not for Hughes, I may have lost
interest completely. "Whale Rider" does manage to show an interesting
side of the Kiwi culture, but unless you are already knowledgeable on
the subject, chances are, you are going to scratch your head a couple
of times and wonder "What the...?" |
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© Written by Jacob Hall -
Email
Me! |
TC Candler's Comment
n/a
Richard Propes' Comment
"Whale
Rider" is beautiful to behold, and Keisha Castle
Hughes does a marvelous job in her
Oscar-nominated performance. Still, the film is
more style than substance. I found that fairly
quickly after the film was over I'd already
forgotten much of what had occurred. I sometimes
wonder about film festival audiences. Do they
see so much crap that the first film that comes
along looking halfway decent suddenly sweeps
them off their feet? I have such a hard time
believing this was such a huge Sundance
favorite. Still, it is quite beautiful and
shares a piece of Australian history often left
hidden.
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