Whale Rider<\/em>\u2019s Shared Bicycle<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
\n
The story we liked best was the one telling how Mihi had stood on a sacred ground at Rotorua. \u201cSit down,\u201d a chief had yelled, enraged. \u201cSit down,\u201d because women weren\u2019t supposed to stand up and speak on sacred ground.\u201d (Ihimaera 81)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Whale Rider<\/em> premiered at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival, where it received the AGF Peoples Choice Award. The release of a revised international edition of Witi Ihimaera\u2019s novel (1987; 2003), on which the film is based, accompanied the latter\u2019s worldwide success. Among the following numerous recognitions are nine New Zealand Film Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. Melissa Kennedy points out that Caro\u2019s screenplay resulted in \u201clittle change to the principal story-line,\u201d but shifted the narrative voice mainly due to the difference in media (Kennedy 116). M\u0101ori scholars, in contrast, disapprove of Caro\u2019s adaptation, and Alistair Fox, in Coming-of-Age Cinema in New Zealand: Genre, Gender, and Adaptation<\/em> (2017), argues that the film imposes a Western feminist perspective. He further accuses it of \u201ctransubstantiating [the original story]\u2019s meaning in the course of converting the source into a conventional coming-of-age genre film\u201d (Fox 149).<\/p>\n
Although Fox, in reference to studies by Brendan Hokowhitu (Fox 148) and Tania Kai\u2019ai (Fox 149), is right to point to specific distortions of M\u0101ori culture, he exaggerates when describing the contrast between Ihimaera\u2019s and Caro\u2019s work on the story. Book and film use poetic devices, such as symbolism, intertextual references, and rhythm to interweave the tribal myth of the whale rider (Figure 3) with the story of this ancient hero\u2019s real-life female descendent. Once Paikea, the film\u2019s narrator, realizes her specific purpose within her post-colonial Indigenous community, she realizes she must oppose her stubborn grandfather Koro, the community\u2019s current leader. Lars Eckstein, in his thoughtful placement of the tale on a continuum between magical and marvellous realism, provides important insight on the M\u0101ori writer\u2019s own variations of the material rooted in his tribal mythology. Ihimaera\u2019s rendering of The Whale Rider<\/em> starts with the 1987 edition published in New Zealand, mainly in English, but includes M\u0101ori terminology and entire passages that indicate an untranslatable \u201calternative cosmology\u201d (Eckstein 101). Eckstein is keen to emphasize that the date of this original publication, \u201cabout belief as much as about fantasy,\u201d coincides with the introduction of M\u0101ori as second official language in New Zealand (105). Ihimaera supports this development and pays tribute to the recognition of his tribal language with Te Kaieke Tohara<\/em>, a 1995 M\u0101ori version of The Whale Rider<\/em> (101).<\/p>\n
Ihimaera\u2019s subsequent work on an international edition of the novel coincides with his participation in the film as associate producer (Kennedy 116). Both activities are concessions to a broader audience and thus mediations between cultures. Chris Prentice is right to remind readers, in \u201cRiding the Whale? Postcolonialism and Globalization in Whale Rider<\/em>,\u201d that the twenty-first century renderings of the story are also mediations between generations (Prentice 256). M\u0101ori terminology in the international edition appears only with translations, sometimes even accompanied by a glossary. In the film, the tribal language occurs only when the meaning is evident from the scene, or with subtitles. Eckstein situates these newer versions further away from the marvellous on his spectrum, due to a loss of the untranslatable alternative cosmology. They do not, however, replace Ihimaera\u2019s earlier text. Ideally, as in Eckstein\u2019s classroom, they may invite comparative studies that are bound to acknowledge Indigenous criticism. As with the edited version of the novel, the international reception of the film testifies to the success of the tale\u2019s twenty-first century receptions. These newer versions have met a global audience, for better or worse. They have introduced a tale from a specific community in New Zealand to viewers worldwide who may not have been familiar with M\u0101ori culture at all. Some of these viewers may have misinterpreted elements of the setting, or perceived of it as an exotic other<\/em>.<\/p>\n
Sarah Projansky discusses American reactions to Caro\u2019s film in \u201cGender, Race, Feminism, and the International Hero: The Unremarkable U. S. Popular Press Reception of Bend It Like Beckham<\/em> and Whale Rider<\/em>.\u201d Projansky traces the film\u2019s transition from art house to multiplex cinemas across the United States (Projansky 190), and provides a thorough discussion of numerous reviewer reports. Her use of the word \u201cunremarkable\u201d in the title of her essay signals \u201cpredictable,\u201d and refers to a certain complacency encouraged by stories from distant locations. At the same time, Projansky identifies important discrepancies between individual reviews, in particular regarding the relevance of feminist content (Projansky 199). The diverse reactions Projansky identifies in this context illustrate that feminism, even in the so-called \u201cWest,\u201d is not the monolithic sort of movement Fox makes it seem in his assessment of Caro\u2019s adaptation. The following analysis of specific scenes identifies further flaws in Fox\u2019s argument.<\/p>\n
Ihimaera\u2019s book includes no bicycles at all. Instead, his narrator Rawiri, the heroine\u2019s uncle, uses a motorcycle. In Caro\u2019s film, Paikea herself provides the narrative perspective, and during the first half, she shares her grandfather Koro\u2019s bike when he picks her up from school (Figure 1). The bicycle, in this case, serves to highlight the reciprocal affinity of the two family members, and it also draws attention to the wealth of the community\u2019s natural environment. The first cycling scene occurs immediately after the opening hospital sequence that summarizes the tragic circumstances of Paikea\u2019s birth. A jump cut transitions to the narrative present about seven years later. Following this cut, close-up shots of pedalling feet, the faces of the cycling pair, and the grandfather\u2019s whale tooth necklace (Figure 2) alternate with long shots of the impressive landscape. These scenes mark a certain ambiguity in Koro\u2019s character regarding his relationship with Paikea. When her mother and twin brother die during Paikea\u2019s birth, Koro rejects his first grandchild forcefully. He is in need of a male descendent to take on his leadership role. As Paikea grows up in his house, in the absence of her father, their affinity becomes mutual, as long as she is unaware of her fate as the next leader. This fate becomes obvious for the first time when Paikea asks Koro about the community\u2019s creation myth while he is repairing his boat\u2019s outboard motor.<\/p>\n
Fig. 1: During the first half of the film, the grandfather picks Paikea up from school on his bicycle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Fig. 2: This close-up shows Paikea holding on to Koro\u2019s whale-tooth necklace.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Neither the motor nor the boat, as Fox suggests (Fox 155), symbolizes the tribe in this scene. Rather, it is the broken rope, as Koro makes clear when answering Pai\u2019s questions about the ancient whale rider\u2019s significance for Whangara (Figure 3). When the individual strings of the rope are tight together, the grandfather explains, the community is strong. While Koro disappears to find a new rope\u2014a potential statement on modernization\u2019s battle against tradition\u2014Paikea fixes the old, broken rope, which allows her to start the motor. Koro\u2019s angry reaction expresses his hostility towards his granddaughter\u2019s trespassing into his own field of responsibility. This hostility has its origin in the old leader\u2019s rejection of change, a rejection that ironically contrasts with his search for a new rope when Paikea proves that the old one is mendable. Koro does not overcome his aversion to impending change until his granddaughter\u2019s life is at stake, after she rides a whale and succeeds in rescuing a beached pod that way. When Koro finally admits to being a \u201cfledgling new to flight,\u201d this metaphor relates to said change, rather than to a disrespect of hierarchy, as Fox would have it (158). When Koro speaks thus in the hospital room, Paikea is still in a coma, and nobody can hear him. In a way, he comforts himself, showing that he can accept the unavoidable transition and welcome his successor even if she happens to be female.<\/p>\n
Fig. 3: This wooden sculpture depicts the mythological ancestor Paikea, the Whale Rider.<\/figcaption>
$\"\"$
Fig. 4: The grandfather wears the whale-tooth necklace during his practice with the boys.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
During the scenes in which Paikea shares Koro\u2019s bicycle, she often holds on to his whale tooth necklace (Figures 2 and 4). This gesture expresses her affinity as much as it foreshadows their proximity in lineage. Although the grandfather refuses to teach the girl traditional skills, such as how to use a taiaha in M\u0101ori martial art, his legacy as leader seems to transfer to his granddaughter via the whale tooth, at least metaphorically. When Paikea\u2019s visiting father invites her to join him abroad, Paikea delays the departure by requesting an extra round on Koro\u2019s bicycle. This scene marks the last time Koro grants her the privilege of sharing his bicycle. When Pai, finding her bond with the whales during the airport ride, decides not to leave with her father after all, Koro no longer picks her up from school. A bicycle next appears in the film when Paikea rides on her own. Behind Koro\u2019s back, she has pursued her physical education, which shows when she passes the school bus by herself, pedalling at record speed (Figure 6). It also shows when she dives for the whale tooth necklace Koro threw into the sea during a final test for the boys, among whom he hopes to find the next leader. Pai recovers this necklace in Koro\u2019s absence (Figure 5). Her independence at riding the bicycle foreshadows her own final test, the riding of a whale. While not a major change to Ihimaera\u2019s storyline, the use of the bicycle symbol in the film grants Caro the nod to De Sica, as well as to Susan B. Anthony. While the importance of the bicycle as symbol is implicit in Whale Rider<\/em>, the following section discusses an example of a film in which the basic transportation tool takes centre stage.<\/p>\n
Fig. 5: In order to find his successor among the boys he has trained, Koro asks them to dive for his whale-tooth necklace. Paikea is the one to retrieve it in Koro\u2019s absence.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Fig. 6: On her own, Paikea rides the bicycle fast enough to pass the school bus.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
Bicycle Obsession in Wadjda<\/em><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
Still the bicycle floated in place on the other side of the fence, not moving, not rising or falling, just hovering. It seemed to be poised at the point where wooden boards met sky, waiting, ready for a ride.
\nFor what felt like forever, Wadjda continued to stare. Without looking down, she dropped her arm and slid her black stone into her pocket. And still her eyes followed the bicycle. It was like a vision, a dream. The most beautiful dream she\u2019d ever had. (Al Mansour 59-60)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Haifaa Al Mansour\u2019s Wadjda<\/em> premiered in 2012, a decade after Whale Rider<\/em>, at the Venice Film Festival. It revolves around the bicycle with which the protagonist Wadjda becomes obsessed early on in the story. Al Mansour has revealed her indebtedness to De Sica (Garcia 37).^{3<\/sup><\/a> Like Whale Rider<\/em>, Wadjda<\/em> has been attacked on the grounds of its international success. Although Al Mansour did grow up in the culture portrayed in her film (unlike Caro), she collaborated with an international crew and worked in particular with German producers (like Caro). Tariq Al Haydar claims that \u201cthe political statement the film makes is specious\u201d (Al Haydar). His polemic condemns the fact that Wadjda\u2019s bicycle has the national colour of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In a Cineaste<\/em> interview, Al Mansour explains the specific role green plays in her country by stating that for Saudis, \u201cheaven is green, not blue\u201d (Garcia). Yet, other colors play important roles throughout the movie, such as those of different local football clubs. Wadjda uses string in those colors to produce bracelets to sell in her attempt to raise money for the bicycle purchase. In the same Cineaste<\/em> interview Maria Garcia discusses blue nail polish as a symbol of individuality. The same applies to Wadjda\u2019s purple shoelace, with purple, at the latest since Alice Walker\u2019s The Color Purple<\/em>, often seen in association with women\u2019s rights movements. The socio-economic conditions in De Sica\u2019s post-World-War-II Italian film stand in stark contrast with those in Al Mansour\u2019s contemporary Saudi Arabia. Although Wadjda\u2019s family is not wealthy, they suffer neither from unemployment nor poverty. In this context, Caro\u2019s Whangara parallels De Sica\u2019s Rome, though the former is a very small community compared to the latter large city. Like Rome, Riyadh is a large city, but most of Al Mansour\u2019s film takes place in Wadjda\u2019s immediate neighbourhood, which compares well in size with the small community in Caro\u2019s film. Both films do, however, have much to do with parental affinities and youthful decisions, which provides the main connection to Bicycle Thieves<\/em>.<\/p>\n}
Whereas the symbolic meaning of the bicycle Koro shares with Paikea is implicit in Whale Rider<\/em>, Wadjda\u2019s desire to own one specific bicycle accounts for most of the plot development in Al Mansour\u2019s film. Roy Armes\u2019s discussion of Wadjda<\/em> has the character of a post scriptum at the end of New Voices in Arab Cinema<\/em> (2015), but he does not fail to emphasize the \u201cmagical sight\u201d (Armes 303) that instigates Wadjda\u2019s obsession when she first encounters this bicycle. As it is transported on top of a car, it seems to be flying along the wall that conceals the moving vehicle (Figure 7). Wadjda\u2019s immediate chase establishes the encounter as love at first sight (Figure 8). She follows the car all the way to the small shop (Figure 9) whose vendor gives in to her begging to hold on to this bicycle until she saves enough money to buy it (Figure 10). This scene introduces the one special, incidentally green, bicycle whose possession Wadjda pursues with the same determination that guides Paikea\u2019s struggle to assert herself against her grandfather. The initial wish to own a bicycle, however, originates in Wadjda\u2019s friendship with her neighbour Abdullah (Figures 11 and 12).<\/p>\n
Fig. 7: On her way home from school, Wadjda spots the green bicycle attached to the roof of a moving vehicle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Fig. 8: The low angle emphasizes Wadjda\u2019s fascination with this particular bicycle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
After a pre-credits prologue inside her school establishes that Wadjda stands out among her peers, two subsequent scenes introduce her home and the conflict she faces there between her parents. In the first scene, she helps her mother to get ready for work and defends her against the driver, who complains about the regular delay. As Wadjda leaves the house to walk to school in the second scene, her father arrives wearing a car mechanic outfit. There are no further details about the father\u2019s occupation throughout the film, as he is not present very often. The home, however, suggests that both parents have modest incomes. Happy to see her father, Wadjda indicates that he had not visited their house for an entire week. Later, viewers find out that Wadjda\u2019s father is looking for a second wife, since her mother can no longer bear children. As she parts with her father, Wadjda encounters her friend Abdullah, who rides his bike to school with a group of other boys. Abdullah\u2019s teasing results in Wadjda\u2019s idea that she should challenge him in a race, and this idea prompts her desire to possess a bicycle.<\/p>\n
Fig. 9: A toy shop in Wadjda\u2019s neighborhood offers the bicycle she discovered on her way from school.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Fig. 10: Wadjda succeeds in striking a deal with the vendor.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Wadjda\u2019s bicycle fixation meets hostility from two adult women, her mother and her school principal. Although Abdullah at first also observes that girls don\u2019t ride bicycles, he then lends Wadjda his own bicycle to practice on the roof of her building (Figure 11). Seeing how her skills improve and that she grows fond of the activity, he gives her a helmet (Figure 12). This thoughtful gift implies the boy\u2019s belief in a future for his friend\u2019s ambition. It also asserts the traditional role of the male as protector, since Abdullah himself rides without helmet. When Wadjda, in the end, wins the Quran recitation competition, but loses the money meant to buy her the desired bicycle, Abdullah offers to let her have his instead. Wadjda rejects the offer, saying that they both need bicycles for the projected race. This idea returns to this article\u2019s introductory reference to Godard, without the competitive angle. Godard uses the metaphor of two separate bicycles to emphasise the nature of his collaboration with Anne-Marie Mi\u00e9ville, insinuating that they work together independently. Wadjda wants her own bicycle to participate in an activity with her friend that also grants each their independence. Until the end of the film, Abdullah and, in a way, the vendor, are the only characters supportive of Wadjda\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n
Fig. 11: Abdullah lends Wadjda his bicycle to practice on the roof.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Fig. 12: Abdullah\u2019s gift of the helmet expresses his belief in her goal to own a bicycle, but also confirms the stereotype of the male protector.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Ms.\u00a0Hessa, the rigid and potentially hypocritical school principal, favours Wadjda upon her progress with competition preparations. She withholds, however, the prize money once Wadjda explains her anticipated use for it. \u201cBikes are not for girls,\u201d Ms.\u00a0Hessa echoes the mother\u2019s judgment. Wadjda brings up her plan to buy a bicycle several times with her mother, mainly as she helps her in the kitchen. Once, during preparations for the Morning Prayer, the mother refers to a ruse women encountered in Europe and North America during the time Susan B. Anthony made the declaration quoted in the opening sentence of the present study. This ruse predicted a bicycle\u2019s threat to women\u2019s reproductive organs (Withers\/Shea 43).<\/p>\n
Once the father follows through with his plan to marry a second wife, Wadjda\u2019s mother changes her mind and uses the money intended for a fancy dress to woo her husband on Wadjda\u2019s dream. The closing scene shows Wadjda\u2019s race with Abdullah. The final shot, as Ciecko suggests, shows \u201cthe girl looking out toward an off-screen horizon, suggesting potential openness\u201d (Ciecko 241; Figure 13). An extreme long shot leading up to this future outlook emphasizes the distance Wadjda is able to achieve because of the newly gained mobility (Figure 14). The openness of this scene contrasts with women\u2019s confinement in their private spheres, for example inside the home or the school. Wadjda\u2019s mother refuses to work, like her friend, at a nearby hospital because the job would place her in what she considers an off-limit public sphere. The school principal asks her students to move indoors when they are in danger to be seen by workers on a neighbouring roof. Al Mansour herself had to work from within a van during the filming on location (Ciecko 240). The on-location settings, along with non-professional leads, underline both films\u2019 debt to Bicycle Thieves<\/em>.<\/p>\n
Fig. 13: The film ends with Wadjda looking off-screen to welcome discoveries her new mobility affords.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Fig. 14: This extreme long shot underlines Wadjda\u2019s final achievement to own a bicycle and to challenge her friend to the anticipated race.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
On-location filming depends on filming permits in the Gulf countries. It thus stipulates an acceptance of given production codes. The decision to film on location, then, emphasizes Al Mansour\u2019s aim to touch viewers \u201con a very basic level\u201d (Garcia). The film never pretended to function as \u201crevolutionary art,\u201d which Al Haydar mistakenly presupposes. Studied carefully, however, Wadjda<\/em> does, as Dale Hudson and Patricia Zimmermann put it, \u201cnegotiate the complexities of indirect dissent\u201d (Hudson\/Zimmermann 157). It also contributes to the slowly growing category of accessible movies made by women. In \u201cThe Confidence Game,\u201d Ruby Rich writes that \u201cthe mysterious absence of women in the directorial ranks continues to this day\u201d (Rich 160). Directors such as Caro and Al Mansour may inspire more women filmmakers to change this situation, much like their protagonists assert their positions in the respective films.<\/p>\n
\n
The Liberating Effect of Bicycles<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Das Leben ist wie ein Fahrrad. Man muss sich vorw\u00e4rts bewegen, um das Gleichgewicht nicht zu verlieren. (Einstein)^{4<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n}
De Sica\u2019s main character in Bicycle Thieves<\/em> depends on a bicycle to maintain his job. His wife makes an enormous sacrifice that allows him to purchase the essential tool of transportation in the post-World-War-II Italian recession. Her sacrifice during the prevailing and dire economic conditions of the moment redoubles the pain of the tragic theft of the bicycle during his first day on the job. Bicycle Thieves<\/em> thus presents an extreme example of an on-screen bicycle whose possession literally liberates a family from their poverty, even if that liberation lasts for less than a day. In contrast, Caro\u2019s Whale Rider<\/em> pays no attention to the possession of a bicycle. Grandfather Koro\u2019s bicycle is not even a central prop, yet its use makes a crucial statement about Paikea\u2019s acceptance of her own potential. While the shared bicycle rides signal the bond between Koro and his granddaughter (Figure 1) and draw the viewer\u2019s attention to the landscape the pair traverses, Paikea\u2019s independent ride finally reveals her ambition. Not only does she ride on her own the last time the bicycle appears in Whale Rider<\/em>, Paikea peddles fast enough in this scene to pass the school bus (Figure 6).<\/p>\n
Unlike Whale Rider<\/em>, Al Mansour\u2019s Wadjda<\/em> hearkens back at the question of possession pursued in Bicycle Thieves<\/em>, but instead of the pattern of gain and loss created by De Sica, Wadjda<\/em> builds up to the long-desired purchase that seals the semi-happy end of the story. While the bicycle provokes the son to witness the father\u2019s humiliation in Bicycle Thieves<\/em>, it strengthens the ties between daughter and mother in Wadjda<\/em>. Both Whale Rider<\/em> and Wadjda<\/em> share the neorealist characteristics of on-location filming and reliance on nonprofessional actors. Additionally, Whale Rider<\/em> includes elements of magic realism as a result of its source in Ihimaera\u2019s novel. Both Caro and Al Mansour employ the bicycle as a symbol for liberation. It symbolizes Paikea\u2019s as well as Wadjda\u2019s struggle to assert themselves in their tribal communities, M\u0101ori and Saudi respectively. It may further symbolize the assertion of two women filmmakers in a global industry. The two films discussed here mark beginnings of Caro\u2019s as well as Al Mansour\u2019s careers. Both films are, to use Ciecko\u2019s words, \u201cculturally specific and globally appealing\u201d (Ciecko 241) cinematic artefacts. They introduced their directors into a canon of world cinema, even if subsequent films did not consistently measure up to this early achievement.<\/p>\n
The work of both Caro and Al Mansour could provide material for future books such as White\u2019s Women\u2019s Cinema, World Cinema<\/em>. White underlines the importance of a global network for women filmmakers (White 4). Examining Kathryn Bigelow\u2019s success alongside directorial work by women in independent industries across the globe, White outlines a hopeful development during the current century. \u201cWomen filmmakers from all over,\u201d she states, \u201care navigating institutional politics and making films that have a chance to travel and be seen\u201d (4-5). Such exposure is crucial for films such as Whale Rider<\/em> and Wadjda<\/em> to participate in the transcultural support network in question. Positive role models may help emerging women filmmakers out of the \u201cconfidence game\u201d trap referred to by Rich. Much like the mother\u2019s move to solidarity in the closure of Wadjda<\/em> allows for her daughter\u2019s success, a large number of female predecessors have contributed to conditions that are more favourable for younger women filmmakers today. White lists important examples, such as Tunisian Moufida Tlatli and Algerian Yamina Benguigui, who took on roles in public politics in addition to their creative endeavours (5).<\/p>\n
Al Mansour, likewise, joined Saudi Arabia\u2019s new board of the General Authority for Culture, and she returned to a Saudi setting in her new film The Perfect Candidate<\/em>. Since Wadjda<\/em>, Al Mansour directed the historical fiction film Mary Shelley<\/em>, \u201cwith confidence if little recognizable presence\u201d (White, \u201cGender Matters\u201d), and the Netflix adaptation of Trisha R. Thomas\u2019 Nappily Ever After<\/em> (2018). With her premiere of The Perfect Candidate<\/em>, the story of a young female Saudi physician, she was one of only two competing women filmmakers in the 2019 Venice Festival, a sign that the so-called celluloid ceiling is still a serious obstacle, and that the 50:50 by 2020 festival pledge is not equally successful everywhere. This pledge is not limited to the position of film director, but concerns many other activities pertaining to the production and distribution of movies.<\/p>\n
The absence of female directors in the Venice competition does not relate to a lack of production, as Kate Erbland emphasizes in \u201cVenice Film Festival\u2019s Women Director Problem: Gender Parity Shouldn\u2019t Be That Hard.\u201d The Toronto Festival, which takes place shortly after the event in Venice, provides the strongest contrast. A few years ago, White already commended the Canadian platform (\u201cGender Matters\u201d). During the year White published the respective essay, Al Mansour participated at TIFF with Mary Shelley<\/em>. Earlier that year, Caro\u2019s adaptation of Diane Ackerman\u2019s Zookeeper\u2019s Wife<\/em> won a Heartland film award. For both Caro and Al Mansour, the projects following the two films studied here never achieved a comparable success. They have, nevertheless, provided each of the two women filmmakers with unique opportunities to discover material, experiment with diverse filming conditions, explore new collaborations, and continue to be part of what has come to be called a \u201ccinefeminist\u201d movement.<\/p>\n
The release of Whale Rider<\/em> and Wadjda<\/em> occurred in two very different cultural contexts, M\u0101ori and Saudi respectively. The present comparative study has shown that viewing the two films alongside each other makes clear the symbolic use of bicycles as vehicles for liberation. The aim here has been to contribute to the kind of transcultural network that Patricia White identifies as vital to the improvement of conditions for women filmmakers worldwide. Jeremy Withers and Daniel P. Shea point out that a bicycle\u2019s \u201cassociation with freedom, mobility, and the liberating promise of modernity was secured during its rise to mass popularity following the appearance of the safety bicycle\u201d (Withers\/Shea 2). This basic tool of transportation is, however, not equally accessible to everyone across the globe, as cycling women, for example in Pakistan (Imtiaz), testify. A comparative study of the two 21^{st<\/sup>-century features by women filmmakers gives Whale Rider<\/em> and Wadjda<\/em> a feminist perspective on the neorealist tradition established by De Sica\u2019s Bicycle Thieves<\/em>, even if the socio-economic circumstances in the specific settings are very different.<\/p>\n}
Mother and daughter are close yet divided over individual goals in Haifaa Al Mansour\u2019s film. In the end, the mother gives Wadjda the desired bicycle despite her initial opposition to the plan. Niki Caro\u2019s portrait of the conflict between grandfather and granddaughter adds a generation layer to the theme of parental choices. Both movies master on-location filming, Caro\u2019s in Whangara, Al Mansour\u2019s in Riyadh, though the latter\u2019s focus on a suburban neighbourhood resembles the former\u2019s spatial confinement. Both films work with non-professionals to tell stories of strong girl characters who assert themselves in their respective tribal communities, the pressures of which are more pronounced in the M\u0101ori setting. The fact that bicycles symbolize this process of a girl\u2019s coming of age in each of the two films leads to a reading of this liberating symbol on a meta-level in a global filmmaking community. The more and the more diverse role models there are in various industries across the world, the easier it will become for women to opt for a career as filmmaker.<\/p>\n
\n
Works Cited<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Al Haydar, Tariq. \u201cHaifaa Al Mansour\u2019s Wadjda: Revolutionary Art or Pro-State Propaganda?\u201d Jadaliyya<\/em>, 13 January, 2014, http:\/\/www.jadaliyya.com\/Details\/30078\/Haifaa-Al-Mansour%60s-Wadjda-Revolutionary-Art-or-Pro-State-Propaganda<\/a>. Accessed on 17 May 2019.<\/p>\n
Al-Mansour, Haifaa, director. Wadjda<\/em>. Razor Film Produktion, 2012.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014-. The Green Bicycle<\/em>. Dial Books, 2015.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014-, director. Mary Shelley<\/em>. HanWay Films\/BFI, 2017.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014-, director. Nappily Ever After<\/em>. Netflix, 2018.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014-, director. The Perfect Candidate<\/em>. Razor Film Produktion, 2019.<\/p>\n
Arms, Roy. New Voices in Arab Cinema<\/em>. Indiana UP, 2015.<\/p>\n
Caro, Niki, director. Whale Rider<\/em>. South Pacific Pictures, 2002.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014-, director. North Country<\/em>. Participant Productions, 2005.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014-, director. The Zookeeper\u2019s Wife<\/em>. Scion Films, 2017.<\/p>\n
Ciecko, Anne. \u201cBicycle Borrowers after Neorealism: Global Nou-velo Cinema.\u201d Culture on Two Wheels: The Bicycle in Literature and Film<\/em>, edited by Jeremy Withers and Daniel P. Shea, U of Nebraska P, 2016, pp. 228-245.<\/p>\n
Dardenne, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, directors. The Kid with a Bike<\/em>. Les Films du Fleuve, 2011.<\/p>\n
De Sica, Vittorio, director. Bicycle Thieves<\/em>. Produzioni De Sica, 1948.<\/p>\n
Eckstein, Lars. \u201cThink Local Sell Global: Magic Realism, The Whale Rider<\/em>, and the Market.\u201d Commodifying (Post)Colonialism: Othering, Reification, Commodification and the New Literatures and Cultures in English<\/em>, edited by Rainer Emig and Oliver Lindner, Brill, 2010, pp. 93-107.<\/p>\n
Emig, Rainer and Oliver Lindner, editors. Commodifying (Post)Colonialism: Othering, Reification, Commodification and the New Literatures and Cultures in English<\/em>. Brill, 2010.<\/p>\n
Erbland, Kate. \u201cVenice Film Festival\u2019s Women Director Problem: Gender Parity Shouldn\u2019t Be This Hard.\u201d Indiewire<\/em>, 25 July, 2019, https:\/\/www.indiewire.com\/2019\/07\/venice-film-festival-2019-female-directors-1202160990\/?fbclid=IwAR0fzXCtIU0fbrITBSpesEB_kgPe6l5HwyUvhYoXkWffd-lLK2xuLzBOx1k<\/a>. Accessed on 30 August 2019.<\/p>\n
Fox, Alistair. Coming-Of-Age Cinema in New Zealand: Genre, Gender, and Adaptation<\/em>. Edinburgh UP, 2019 [2017].<\/p>\n
Garcia, Maria. \u201cA Woman\u2019s Voice Is Her Nakedness: An Interview with Haifaa Al Mansour.\u201d Cineaste<\/em>, Fall 2013, pp. 34-37.<\/p>\n
Hudson, Dale, and Patricia R. Zimmermann. Thinking through Digital Media: Transnational Environments and Locative Places<\/em>. Palgrave, 2015.<\/p>\n
Ihimaera, Witi. Whale Rider<\/em>. Harcourt, 2003 [1987].<\/p>\n
Imtiaz, Saba, \u201c\u2019People think we\u2019re from another planet\u2019: Meet Karachi\u2019s Female Cyclists.\u201d The Guardian<\/em>, 26 June 2019, https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/cities\/2019\/jun\/26\/people-think-were-from-another-planet-meet-karachis-female-cyclists<\/a>. Accessed on 3 November 2019.<\/p>\n
Joseph, Clara A. B. and Janet Wilson, editors. Global Fissures: Postcolonial Fusions<\/em>. Rodopi, 2006.<\/p>\n
Kennedy, Melissa. Striding Both Worlds: Witi Ihimaera and New Zealand\u2019s Literary Traditions<\/em>. Rodopi, 2011.<\/p>\n
Mackinnon, Douglas, director. The Flying Scotsman<\/em>. Verve Pictures, 2006.<\/p>\n
Prentice, Chris. \u201cRiding the Whale? Postcolonialism and Globalization in Whale Rider<\/em>.\u201d Global Fissures: Postcolonial Fusions<\/em>, edited by Clara A. B. Joseph and Janet Wilson, Rodopi, 2006, pp. 247-267.<\/p>\n
Projansky, Sarah. \u201cGender, Race, Feminism, and the International Girl Hero.\u201d Youth Culture in Global Cinema<\/em>, edited by Timothy Shary and Alexandra Seibel, U of Texas P, 2007, pp. 189-206.<\/p>\n
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Rich, B. Ruby. \u201cThe Confidence Game.\u201d Camera Obscura<\/em>, vol. 82, no. 1, 2013, pp. 157-165.<\/p>\n
Schenkel, Elmar. Vom Rausch der Reise<\/em>. Futurum, 2012.<\/p>\n
Shary, Timothy and Alexandra Seibel, editors. Youth Culture in Global Cinema<\/em>. U of Texas P, 2007.<\/p>\n
White, Jerry. Two Bicycles: The Work of Jean-Luc Godard and Anne-Marie Mi\u00e9ville<\/em>. Wilfrid Laurier UP, 2013.<\/p>\n
White, Patricia. Women\u2019s Cinema, World Cinema: Projecting Contemporary Feminisms<\/em>. Duke UP, 2015.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014-. \u201cGender Matters at the Toronto International Film Festival.\u201d Los Angeles Review of Books<\/em>, 12 October, 2017, https:\/\/lareviewofbooks.org\/article\/gender-matters-at-the-toronto-international-film-festival\/<\/a>. Accessed on 30 August 2019.<\/p>\n
Withers, Jeremy and Daniel P. Shea, editors. Culture on Two Wheels: The Bicycle in Literature and Film<\/em>. U of Nebraska P, 2016.<\/p>\n
Yates, Peter, director. Breaking Away<\/em>. Twentieth Century Fox, 1979. DVD.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Image Credits<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Figures 1-6: screenshots from Whale Rider<\/em><\/p>\n
Figures 7-14: screenshots from Wadjda<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Notes<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
Both Caro and Al Mansour were scheduled to participate in the recent Power of Inclusion Summit<\/em> in New Zealand, according to the blog Women and Hollywood<\/em> (https:\/\/womenandhollywood.com\/niki-caro-haifaa-al-mansour-and-more-to-attend-new-zealands-power-of-inclusion-summit\/<\/a>), though only Caro seems to have been present in the end.\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n
\n
Womenandhollywood.com<\/a> provides shocking statistics of women\u2019s participation in the Hollywood industry. The controversy over Natalie Portman\u2019s cape at the 2020 Academy Awards ceremony gives additional insight into current positions regarding this matter.\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n
\n
See for instance, Anne Ciecko\u2019s study of the film\u2019s reliance on Italian neorealism in \u201cBicycle Borrowers after Neorealism: Global Nou-velo Cinema.\u201d \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n
\n
See Elmar Schenkel\u2019s Vom Rausch der Reise<\/em> (On the ecstasy of travel; 41): \u201cLife is like a bicycle. One needs to move forward to not lose one\u2019s balance.\u201d\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/section>\n<\/figure>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Liberating Bicycles in Niki Caro\u2019s Whale Rider and in Haifaa Al Mansour\u2019s Wadjda Doris Hambuch Abstract: Susan B. Anthony declared in 1896 that the bicycle \u201chas done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world.\u201d The comparative study of Whale Rider (2002) and Wadjda (2012) demonstrates that this liberating effect of the basic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7986,"featured_media":12908,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[139],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-10-2-open-issue","wpautop"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/imaginations.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/hambuch-image6-wide.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p707hj-3lA","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imaginations.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imaginations.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imaginations.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imaginations.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7986"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imaginations.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12870"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/imaginations.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12979,"href":"https:\/\/imaginations.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12870\/revisions\/12979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imaginations.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imaginations.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imaginations.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Image Credits<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\nFigures 1-6: screenshots from Whale Rider<\/em><\/p>\nFigures 7-14: screenshots from Wadjda<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n