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The Glow Of Youth At Toronto
New York Times
September 16, 2002

…Inspired work by actors new to movies or debut performances by young people plucked out of crowds by directors were the strongest threads here. This festival was full of paeans to suffering – you heard more startled chokes from the audiences than you would hear during a Heimlich manoeuvre demonstration – but the simple strength in the youthful actors offered hope. Maybe the films themselves didn’t suggest much of a future, but it was impossible to walk out of one and not be caught up in conversation over the prospects of the young stars.

Whale Rider, from the director Niki Caro, won the Audience Award, but this crowd-pleaser has a harsh strain. This story about Pai (Keisha Castle-Hughes), a Maori girl battling to earn the affection of her grandfather – he believes this female child has ended the magical fate of his bloodline – is one of the few films that young audiences could be taken to without blindfolds. Ms Castle-Hughes keeps the camera slowly in her thrall by speaking her lines slowly, with a slight pause that makes her seem withholding and a bit distant. This graceful stillness is a contrast to her warm, dark eyes; when she’s on the screen, which is often, it makes her command disarming. The picture starts a little slowly, but the lack of insistent sentimentality and the arresting first-timer in the lead balance early, heavy steps.