Last night I had the sudden urge to watch the movie "Whale Rider" because I hadn't seen it in over a year. It's such a beautiful movie, and I highly recommend that anyone who hasn't seen it go out and rent it. It's worth it. However, I think it's even more important that everyone read the book. It is so much more detailed and beautiful than the movie. That's the nature of these things. You can't fit everything into a movie, so some important things get cut. In this case, it is Kahu's uncle Rawiri's trip to Australia and Papua New Guinea, which opens his eyes to racism and shows him what the world is really like. (For those who have seen the movie, in the book the main character, Paikea, is actually named Kahu. Both Paikea and Kahutia Te Rangi were names for the ancient Whale Rider). The characters are very different in the movie, too. In the book, Nanny Flowers, Kahu's grandmother, is more of a comical character, and Rawiri is the leader of a biker gang. As for Kahu's grandfather, Koro, he is much more indifferent to her in the book. In the movie they excuse his behavior a little bit, but in the book he shows almost no affection to Kahu despite all her efforts to get his attention. It is very sad. All in all, both the book and the movie are very good but, as is often the case, the book is much better. In fact, ever since they made the movie, the book has been permanently added to the curriculum for New Zealand schools. How cool is that? I really want to read the book, but sadly, I don't have a copy here. My mom's best friend's copy is sitting on my bookshelf at home (you should probably give that back to her, mom), and I don't want to bring it here. I found a copy online for $5 which I am considering ordering, but I want to think it over before I buy anything. Money is tight in college, after all. Still, I can spare $5, right? Haha. Now go and read! I command you!
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Whale Rider
Last night I had the sudden urge to watch the movie "Whale Rider" because I hadn't seen it in over a year. It's such a beautiful movie, and I highly recommend that anyone who hasn't seen it go out and rent it. It's worth it. However, I think it's even more important that everyone read the book. It is so much more detailed and beautiful than the movie. That's the nature of these things. You can't fit everything into a movie, so some important things get cut. In this case, it is Kahu's uncle Rawiri's trip to Australia and Papua New Guinea, which opens his eyes to racism and shows him what the world is really like. (For those who have seen the movie, in the book the main character, Paikea, is actually named Kahu. Both Paikea and Kahutia Te Rangi were names for the ancient Whale Rider). The characters are very different in the movie, too. In the book, Nanny Flowers, Kahu's grandmother, is more of a comical character, and Rawiri is the leader of a biker gang. As for Kahu's grandfather, Koro, he is much more indifferent to her in the book. In the movie they excuse his behavior a little bit, but in the book he shows almost no affection to Kahu despite all her efforts to get his attention. It is very sad. All in all, both the book and the movie are very good but, as is often the case, the book is much better. In fact, ever since they made the movie, the book has been permanently added to the curriculum for New Zealand schools. How cool is that? I really want to read the book, but sadly, I don't have a copy here. My mom's best friend's copy is sitting on my bookshelf at home (you should probably give that back to her, mom), and I don't want to bring it here. I found a copy online for $5 which I am considering ordering, but I want to think it over before I buy anything. Money is tight in college, after all. Still, I can spare $5, right? Haha. Now go and read! I command you!
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6 comments:
I'll give it back to her, but first I'm going to reread it. After I finish TP's latest and a few other things.
I nevber read the book but I loved the movie.
Cinders is right, the book is SO much better. As always, some of the changes made were questionable. By all means, read it. It's a quick read.
Both the book and movie are the same in my view of which is better. I wanna know why most people like the book more? so i would like to hear from you. most people say if they watched the movie first they were lost. I was not. How could you be?
I was not lost when I saw the movie, but I had already read the book. As a future film maker, I understand that the movie could never include all of the things contained in the book. However, some of the things that were cut out were the things that I loved most about the book. I loved Nanny Flowers' character in the book, the fact that she was colorblind and mixed up lime green and red. Her ferociousness was endearing, and I missed that in the matronly Nanny in the movie. I also really disliked the movie's portrayal of Rawiri. As one of the most important characters in the book, second only to Kahu, I thought they did a great disservice by turning him into a lazy slob. He was such an interesting and multilayered character, and they turned him into a bit of a caricature. The third thing that really bugged me was how...nice Koro was to Kahu. Now, don't get me wrong, I hated seeing the poor girl suffer, but the fact that Koro refused to even try to love her in the book made his anguish at the end that much more poignant when all her hard work finally paid off and he realized that everything he had been looking for was right in front of his eyes the entire time. I also disagreed with how old Kahu was in the movie. I liked that she was still a very little girl in the book. It made her accomplishments that much more astounding. I hope that I have clearly answered your question. Feel free to ask me more questions if you want to know more.
I thought the movie was great at showing how New Zealand acctually is. It was better that it was not done on Hollywood. It would not have been as cool.
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