Watched this on DVD a few nights ago. Wonderful. Great soundtrack, beautiful film to watch, and as always, I'm a sucker for anything New Zealand after my trip there years ago.
The movie's about a young Maori girl, perhaps 11 years old or so, who desperately wants to be schooled in the old ways but whose stubborn, angry grandfather forbids it as an affont to the legend of the great Maori chieftans, whose return he desperately awaits.
Turns out she is indeed the Chief incarnate, which she proves in a dramatic scene at the movie's end. This is "Rudy," but with a young girl in the Rudy role and whales and tribal legends instead of Notre Dame football. Why it's PG I have no idea, as I'd recommend it for kids and adults of any age.
I've read where Keisha Castle-Hughes, the young actress who plays the lead, has been talked up as an Academy Award nominee: I could see that happening, as she's that amazingly good. She's already been signed for a role in the next episode of "Star Wars."
Article comments
1 - Steve Rhodes
It is very good. I hope more people will discover it on DVD though it is best in a huge theater with an audience.
I agree it could have been rated G (I think it got the PG rating because of a scene where one guy smokes pot and perhaps some language - I forget I saw it almost a year ago).