how much do you know about the maori?

seriously. i honestly can't say i know much.
i know they exist.
wait. let's go back.
do you know who the maori are?
if you answered yes, skip the next paragraph. if you answered no:
the maori are the indigenous people of new zealand. i don't know much either, but apparently they have a very complex culture. their spiritual explanation of their origin is that their ancestors lived in hawaii and one of them rode a whale to new zealand and started the tribal nation there.
right. continuing on.
whale rider is easily one of the most beautiful and amazing movies i've ever seen.
i love anything tragic. no so much in the "everyone dies in the end" sense. more in the sense that every character has a fault that they either can't identify or can't repair, and it causes a barrier between them and the other characters. i'm perfectly happy to watch a movie that has no happy ending because of the tragic flaws of the characters. that's not really true. i get very attached to the characters and it can make me sob pathetically, but what i mean is, i love identifying with the characters and i love a movie that makes me feel something.
this movie definitely does, but the beautiful part of this movie (aside from the scenery of eastern new zealand, which is incredible, and the underwater footage of the whales, which is beyond compare) is that it has a happy ending.
there is so much potential for utter sadness and it ends in such an uplifting, gorgeous way.
i don't want to give it away. really, i want someone to see it and discuss it with me so i can gush about every specific part that i loved.
get on that, will you?