#Niki caro

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The Mother (2023)

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Gael García Bernal in The Mother (2023, Niki Caro)

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The Mother dir. Niki Caro (2023)

After years of hiding out in the Alaskan wilderness, a deadly assassin returns to rescue the daughter she loved from afar.

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MULAN, 2020

Niki Caro

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The Mother

directed by Niki Caro, 2023

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new-to-me #387 - Mulan (2020)

[adamwatchesmovies]

Whale Rider (2003)

When a film is described as “inspirational”, that can often actually mean cloying or manipulative. Take away the empowering and uplifting message in Whale Rider, and you’ve still got a great movie, largely thanks to the direction by Niki Caro and lead actress, Keisha Castle-Hughes. This is a story of powerful emotions.

In a small New Zealand village, twelve-year-old Paikea “Pai” Apirana (Castle-Hughes) dreams of becoming her tribe’s chief. Unfortunately, her grandfather, Koro (Rawiri Paratene), will not teach her to lead. Undeterred, she begins training in secret.

Though this is very much a film about the Māori people, it has universal appeal. It’s not an opioid crisis, or their land being taken away by some foreign power that’s caused the island's society’s decay. It isn’t climate change or the new world stamping out tradition that’s causing people to turn away from each other. It’s something deep within, something too deep to clearly define that's causing the edges of this normally tight circle to fray. Pai’s father left his home to pursue an art career in Germany after his wife and son (Pai’s twin brother) died. This left Pai to be trained by a grandfather who loves his family… but is stubbornly upholding traditions that prevent him from showing it. Other families too, have lost something. If someone - a new voice that can give all of these lost souls direction - doesn’t step up and take charge, the great wake (canoe) will never be completed and the damage - regardless of what caused it - done to these people will never heal.

There are two emotions at this film’s core. The first is sadness. Grandfather Koro can be so cruel that in any other movie, you would hate him. Writer/director Niki Caro takes us to a deeper level than that one emotion. We know why he is so unhappy, why he loses hope with each day. The same goes for all of the other fathers we meet. They’re not bad, just lost. It’s a thousand times more painful to see.

The second emotion is a tiny glimmer of hope. You've seen how determined Paikea is to learn even when she's forbidden to do so. You believe she will live up to her namesake, the man who led his people from Hawaiki to New Zealand on the back of a whale. If only she can learn to believe in herself as well. When she speaks up and defies her grandfather, you want her to keep at it but you know how much that's asking, particularly for a child. There’s a moment when she’s at her most vulnerable that comes in and just obliterates you like a sledgehammer hitting a glass cup. Before that scene, Keisha Castle-Hughes was so convincing in the role, that you just saw her as a person who might’ve been cast because this tale is semi-autobiographical or something. Suddenly, you realize this is something different. She’s good like you never knew a kid that age could be.

Whale Rider is the kind of movie you hold onto tightly. No matter how old you are, now is the right time to meet these characters and hear their story. The performances are spectacular and the emotions are so strong they’ll be as clear as the first time you felt them long after the credits are done. Everyone should see Whale Rider at least once. (October 1, 2021)

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The Mother (2023)

Directed by Niki Caro

Cinematography by Ben Seresin

[thecurvycritic]

Jennifer Lopez Brings Mama Bear Vigilante Vibes to the Mother

When I tell you there is nothing better than seeing @jlo thrive in her action mode - it really does give meaning to greater later @netflix #themother

Did you know that the Latino community actually celebrates Mother’s Day on May 10th no matter what?  It’s a little know fact I discovered on my way to the premiere.  Having said that, if you have read read my reviews you know that I love me some Jennifer Lopez and watching her in The Mother is no different. Lopez is fully embracing her Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie action mode taking on the role of…

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'La Madre' con Jennifer Lopez | Tráiler oficial

Mira el tráiler oficial de 'La Madre' con Jennifer Lopez y Gael García Bernal. Estreno en mayo.

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Mulan (2020)

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The Zookeeper’s Wife (2017) by Niki Caro

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In the ways of the ancients she found a hope for the future.

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