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Summary: "What Did You Think Salvation Would Look Like?" ~ Tale From The Navel Of The World
Comment: Note: Requires multi-region player to view in the America's.
Mythic tale of what life might have been like for the inhabitants of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) long before the coming of the white man. 'Rapa Nui' means, "navel of the world," a concept found at the basis of every archaic, shamanistic based society. Rapa Nui is a tale of young love fighting against the political, religious and social constraints of life at "the center." Noro (Jason Scott Lee) is a long-ear, a member of the tribal upper class and the Grandson of the tribal chief. He is in love with Ramana (Sandrine Holt), a short-ear and member of the lower class of laborers responsible for the carving of the monolithic statues required by the religious elite.
The chief agrees to let his grandson break the taboo and marry his true love if he enters and wins a yearly intertribal competition which would bestow upon the chief the coveted "Birdman' title for the eighteenth time. It's a dangerous endeavor and he would be competing against many who would do whatever it takes to win. He will also be competing against Make (Esai Morales) his childhood friend who must win, or die. He agrees to his Grandfather's conditions and enters the race. Thus the adventure begins.
While the great day of competition approaches the aging, mentally degenerating chief dreams of a destiny of sailing away on the great white spirit canoe to the "Home of the Gods." When a giant iceberg appears in the bay at the very moment the competition ends he believes his day has arrived and has his warriors canoe him out to the ice block. As he floats away to his death he calls out to those who refused to join him, "What did you think salvation would look like?
Wonderful movie that is virtually unknown in the U.S.A. 'Rapa Nui' has a great cast: Jason Lee Scott, Sandrine Holt (Black Robe), Esai Morales, Anzac Wallace (Utu), Rena Owen (Once Were Warriors) and Cliff Curtis (Whale Rider and Once Were Warriors) are all accomplished actors who have specialized in roles dealing with indigenous cultures.
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Summary: The "Easter" Egg Race
Comment: This movie arouses violent controversy...you either like it or hate it.I like it.
It mixes faithful ethnographic research with a fairly interesting story (culmonating in an egg-race to beat any other). Alright, the acting is poor and the plot has some tropical-romance cliches, but the film-makers respect the facts of Easter Island's prehistory (as told in books like Aku-Aku) without the need to introduce any white explorers or other people with whom we are supposed to identify.
Nor has any attempt been made to saddle the actors with hokey native accents; they speak English with their own accents - usually New Zealand - and get on with saying whatever they have to say in unadorned fashion. Just the way it would have seemed to us if we had been part of that society. None of that "Me Tarzan, you Jane" syntax. The actors are all Polynesian, except Morales and Holt, and they seem ethnically convincing.
The love-story seems intrusively modern, but there's no reason to think such things didn't happen in ancient times. It ends up like a combination of Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies.
The masterpiece in this genre is Tabu (1931); but the 1990's were a low point in film, and Rapa Nui is one of the better efforts of the decade.
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Summary: Thought-provoking and cinematically rich
Comment: I don't think this is a historically accurate account of Easter Island, which has perplexed historians for a long time, but I still think it's worth seeing as a thought exercise. The Moai raise lots of questions and this film gives a possible explanation.The most compelling aspect of the film (other than the breathtaking scenery) is the struggle between the two "tribes" as exemplified by Esai Morales' character and the ordeals he faces as a proud and fierce member of the lesser tribe, which is made to work in service of the ruling tribe. You can feel Esai's pain to be in service to those who are destroying the land that they must live upon. Imagine putting all of your energy into a pursuit that you're not sure will pay off, but that you're sure is destroying you...
I recommend this film to anyone who is interested in other cultures, especially so-called primitive cultures, and broadening his or her prespective of the world we live in. It won't give you the answers, but it will help you form more questions. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that the love story was perhaps too convenient.
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Summary: Easter Island
Comment: I spent a year on Easter Island (Rapa Nui)in service to the United States. The people were very friendly and willing to talk about their island. The movie was relatively accurate concerning their past, including the cannibalism. If you lived on an island that is roughly 9 by 16 miles and that island had been deciminated by ecological ignorance, cannibalism might seem like a good idea at some point. It was not a continuing thing. The movie was Hollywoodized for entertainment purposes but was well done and the scenery was very familiar. There were two distinct races and they were the long ears and the short ears. Generally archeologist feel that one race was Polynesian and the other was South American indian. The long ears were generally exterminated in the civil war. Places were accurately named. The statues were carved on the sides of Rana Raraku(S?) and the bird men spent much of their time on the larger volcano called Rana Kao(S?) Once a year the stalwarts of the island did race to "Bird Man's Island" to bring back an egg. I believe it was for the glory and special treatment the winner recieved for the following year. I enjoyed the movie thoroughly.-----PJ
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good movie
Comment: Some aspects of this film are great: the scenery, the action (exhausting just to watch!), and a peek at a primitive culture destroyed by deforestation. Unfortunately the characterization almost destroys the film. Jason Scott Lee's character is completely oblivious to the class warfare happening around him; he's so focused on his love interest, he makes the most ridiculous decision about who should rule the island after winning the birdman contest (sorry about spoilers, did anyone think he wouldn't win?). His girlfriend is also next to useless. On the other hand, Esai Morales' character was the real hero though he is the antagonist to Lee's character. At least Morales' character cares about his people's suffering and fights for them. Watch this film, enjoy it, just be warned about its weaknesses.
