It's a shame that director F.W. Murnau died in a car accident before the film opened and died at 42, and it's also a shame that this was last film, because it's of the expeditionary type that's bound to be conflicting, with the usual contradictory mix of cultural respect, condescension, and outright voyeurism. Oh, he elevates it, with the beautiful scenery made even more so with his angles and his framing, and the story he tells of a pair of young lovers (Anne Chevalier and Matahi) is one that has a universality to it underneath all of the culture-specific practices and the taboo which threatens to separate them. I doubt many think about the performance from Chevalier when they think of this film, but it's quite good, and the final scenes that lead up to the ending are brilliant.
At the same time, Murnau's lens spends a fair amount of time ogling topless young women, such as the extended scene of one dancing the hula, or something like it. There is unadulterated joy in her performance and the people in the cast (mostly natives) are truly beautiful, but at the same time, I cringe a little thinking of theaters packed mostly with men who were allowed to see nudity because those on the screen were viewed as somehow different from people, and all under the marketing of highbrow entertainment. It's kind of like issues of National Geographic in the 1950's-60's in this way. There were a host of these films in this period, some of which didn't include nudity (White Shadows in the South Seas, The Pagan, Bird of Paradise) but which are perhaps just as conflicting, and others which did (Tabu, Goona-Goona, Virgins of Bali) and often in salacious ways. It's fascinating and seen today, seems to reveal as much about 1930's America as it does about anything we learn about the customs of the islanders.
Regardless, this is certainly one of the better films of this type. I enjoyed it because the scenery was stunning and the story was a good one. The underwater sequence and shark had both camp value and drama. In addition to the sexy hula dance, there are little moments like an accordion player who jumps up and shakes his stuff in a way that was pretty funny. The figure of the old man enforcing the tabu (Hitu) who solemnly appears again and again is like a silent version of Death in Bergman's The Seventh Seal, and with similar gravitas in his screen presence. The knife cutting moment is breathtaking, and the film ends very strong.
At the same time, Murnau's lens spends a fair amount of time ogling topless young women, such as the extended scene of one dancing the hula, or something like it. There is unadulterated joy in her performance and the people in the cast (mostly natives) are truly beautiful, but at the same time, I cringe a little thinking of theaters packed mostly with men who were allowed to see nudity because those on the screen were viewed as somehow different from people, and all under the marketing of highbrow entertainment. It's kind of like issues of National Geographic in the 1950's-60's in this way. There were a host of these films in this period, some of which didn't include nudity (White Shadows in the South Seas, The Pagan, Bird of Paradise) but which are perhaps just as conflicting, and others which did (Tabu, Goona-Goona, Virgins of Bali) and often in salacious ways. It's fascinating and seen today, seems to reveal as much about 1930's America as it does about anything we learn about the customs of the islanders.
Regardless, this is certainly one of the better films of this type. I enjoyed it because the scenery was stunning and the story was a good one. The underwater sequence and shark had both camp value and drama. In addition to the sexy hula dance, there are little moments like an accordion player who jumps up and shakes his stuff in a way that was pretty funny. The figure of the old man enforcing the tabu (Hitu) who solemnly appears again and again is like a silent version of Death in Bergman's The Seventh Seal, and with similar gravitas in his screen presence. The knife cutting moment is breathtaking, and the film ends very strong.