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jack-964's rating
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jack-964's rating
Intentionally or unintentionally the writer and producer of this book/film made something that is far deeper than i see in reviews here or anywhere else. It is not about the value of the modern world. It is not about emancipation. It is not about whether traditions should remain or not. It is about change, rapid change and what impact these changes have on people.
We are taught to believe that we are living in a world with increasing multi-culture. We are not. Instead all we are creating is global monoculture at an incredible high speed. This impacts everybody living in this day and age. It leads to misunderstanding to say the least between sexes and generations even and increases unhappiness globally. It invokes a sense of not belonging and being lost.
We have traded the hard to bridge differences between races, 'tribes', different cultures for hard to bridge differences between sexes and generations, leading to families falling apart. Why?
This movie is about that. The grandfather holding true to the beliefs he was raised with, that feels he is a failure and doesn't want to live anymore when he realizes that. His wife (the boss in the house) that goes when he gets at that point. The refusal of his firstborn son, that leaves to Germany even, is unhappy. His brother unhappy. Paikea unhappy, she shouldn't have been born or should have been a boy, caught between the lure of the modern world and the love and respect for her grandfather. She chooses her grandfather, the tradition, the family and her race / people. But what will be in 30 years, when this culture as so many before and during are being pressured more into this globalist nightmare? Will Paikea be happy when she realizes at age 40 or 50 that the dreams she had, the things she believed in, the traditions are falsified by modern times, diluted by her half sister or brother and the German cultures way? Will there be another whale rider made in 2040, the final one, cause no culture will survive?
That is what this movie is about.
I cannot say why this personally hits me, but trust me that this mechanism kills as many as tribal wars would have done.
So yes, go see it, cause 50 years from now, there won't be any new material to make a movie like this.
A penny in your pocket Suitcase in your hand They won't get you very far Now you're a 21st century man
We are taught to believe that we are living in a world with increasing multi-culture. We are not. Instead all we are creating is global monoculture at an incredible high speed. This impacts everybody living in this day and age. It leads to misunderstanding to say the least between sexes and generations even and increases unhappiness globally. It invokes a sense of not belonging and being lost.
We have traded the hard to bridge differences between races, 'tribes', different cultures for hard to bridge differences between sexes and generations, leading to families falling apart. Why?
This movie is about that. The grandfather holding true to the beliefs he was raised with, that feels he is a failure and doesn't want to live anymore when he realizes that. His wife (the boss in the house) that goes when he gets at that point. The refusal of his firstborn son, that leaves to Germany even, is unhappy. His brother unhappy. Paikea unhappy, she shouldn't have been born or should have been a boy, caught between the lure of the modern world and the love and respect for her grandfather. She chooses her grandfather, the tradition, the family and her race / people. But what will be in 30 years, when this culture as so many before and during are being pressured more into this globalist nightmare? Will Paikea be happy when she realizes at age 40 or 50 that the dreams she had, the things she believed in, the traditions are falsified by modern times, diluted by her half sister or brother and the German cultures way? Will there be another whale rider made in 2040, the final one, cause no culture will survive?
That is what this movie is about.
I cannot say why this personally hits me, but trust me that this mechanism kills as many as tribal wars would have done.
So yes, go see it, cause 50 years from now, there won't be any new material to make a movie like this.
A penny in your pocket Suitcase in your hand They won't get you very far Now you're a 21st century man
I will keep it short: You have to see this movie, it's worth it for every possible reason and any audience will appreciate it.
What i particularly never forgot about this one is that it's a deep psychological/sociological theme (that is also very valid) AND it contains a lot of humor. That combination is very rare.
The first thing i learned in sociology is that a huge percentage of people with psychosocial problems (thats 90% of the people seeking psychological help in that sector) could have their problems instantly solved with a large sum of money.
This movie illustrates that and i mention it sometimes as an example in discussions. But don't let this bring you off it; as i said, it contains a lot of humor and that alone is worth it.
A must see. (rated 9)
What i particularly never forgot about this one is that it's a deep psychological/sociological theme (that is also very valid) AND it contains a lot of humor. That combination is very rare.
The first thing i learned in sociology is that a huge percentage of people with psychosocial problems (thats 90% of the people seeking psychological help in that sector) could have their problems instantly solved with a large sum of money.
This movie illustrates that and i mention it sometimes as an example in discussions. But don't let this bring you off it; as i said, it contains a lot of humor and that alone is worth it.
A must see. (rated 9)
My daughter read the book and 'made me' see the movie. It wouldn't be something i'd voluntarily chose to see, cause i don't like the 'genre'. I have been wondering for decades now when the moral boundary will be taken and the imaginative praising of violence will become real. Maybe it has already with embedded journalists, appointed victims from the Dark House, (home made) video's with the most gruesome content leaping out of every laptop, etc. I try not to seek this part of civilization, being too aware it's there.
The first half our of the movie is bad. There is no character building and i was lost several times, having to ask my daughter what it was about. I guess they expect we all read the book first.
After that i sort of understood what was happening and it got predictable (i always amaze my daughter, telling her what comes next). There are some reality flaws in it, the purple fashion thing doesn't work and to be honest, if you make a movie like this, please don't mix in some very predictable romance angle, while you should have emphasized on the lust and decadence of the first district. So, story as it is told, not good. (One can hope the book is better)
Acting was OK and i was totally surprised to find Donald Sutherland in it. Dude, really, you couldn't get anything better? Woody Harrelson, nice, but i feel he didn't get enough lines to lift the piece to something good. Maybe a lot was cut out, i don't know, but even he wasn't able to get to build a character.
Action scenes and video stunt-work blabla, nothing new or exiting.
Futuristic thingies, non existent.
I won't be looking at part 2, 3, 4 and whatever else they fantasize after this. You catch my drift, right?
The first half our of the movie is bad. There is no character building and i was lost several times, having to ask my daughter what it was about. I guess they expect we all read the book first.
After that i sort of understood what was happening and it got predictable (i always amaze my daughter, telling her what comes next). There are some reality flaws in it, the purple fashion thing doesn't work and to be honest, if you make a movie like this, please don't mix in some very predictable romance angle, while you should have emphasized on the lust and decadence of the first district. So, story as it is told, not good. (One can hope the book is better)
Acting was OK and i was totally surprised to find Donald Sutherland in it. Dude, really, you couldn't get anything better? Woody Harrelson, nice, but i feel he didn't get enough lines to lift the piece to something good. Maybe a lot was cut out, i don't know, but even he wasn't able to get to build a character.
Action scenes and video stunt-work blabla, nothing new or exiting.
Futuristic thingies, non existent.
I won't be looking at part 2, 3, 4 and whatever else they fantasize after this. You catch my drift, right?