#V060D
Legendary film director Robert Flaherty’s 1926 utopian vision of the Polynesian customs, daily life, and coming of age ceremonies that center around Moana, a Samoan youth and his family. Beautiful artistic filming on location in the Samoan Islands with local native islanders give the film its authentic idyllic quality.
Moana, his brother Pe’a, and his betrothed Fa’angase gather food for the village feast in tall coconut trees and lush taro fields until they are interrupted by a charging boar, that they subsequently capture. Their spear fishing is viewed through crystalline waters where a huge sea turtle is wrestled into their canoe amidst crashing waves. Back in the Village, mulberry bark has been gathered to pound into tapa cloth, food is being prepared, and fires are started with coconut shells. After a kava ceremony, the elders and the tufunga (tattooer) prepare Moana for the painful tattooing ritual he must endure. He is then anointed with oil to perform the lively Siva dance of betrothal with Fa’angase.
Silent with background music - 1926 - black & white - 65 minutes