Stats: Produced in 2002
Starring Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rawiri Paratene and Vicky Haughton
Rated PG-13 Running Time: 101 Minutes
Selected By: Chelsea
Our Review: Chelsea selected this movie because Serenity had recently read the book and that reminded us that we'd heard a lot of buzz about this independent New Zealand film when it was in theaters and racking up awards. We found that we were all quizzing Serenity throughout the film about how it compared to the book and to have her help us fill in plot points we found confusing.
We were all touched by the story of Paikea, a young Maori girl struggling to earn the approval of her Grandfather who is single minded in his search for the next Prophet to lead their people, completely oblivious to the possibility that Paikea might be The One, despite being a girl.
Overall we loved the movie, though Gideon pointed out that it is one of those that seems to be better enjoyed when you've read the book. Serenity felt it suffered by losing the whales' perspective which was an important and interesting part of the book, but none of us could think of a way they could have translated it to film without making it cheesy.
The PG-13 rating, as far as we could tell, was due only to one short scene with some language/sexual reference. The two little boys slept through this film and may have been bored with it if they had been awake, but overall we felt it was age appropriate for our children.
We rate this movie:
4 out of 4 thumbs up (Gavin and Jasper didn't rate this one)
3.75 out of 5 stars
I am a huge fan of whales, always have been. Thanks for the review...I'll try both the book and the movie! :)
ReplyDeleteI love this movie. So wonderfully sad and hopeful at the same time. You just want to grab her grandfather and shake some sense into him.
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