Rapa Nui (film)
Encyclopedia
Rapa Nui is a 1994
film
directed
by Kevin Reynolds. It was produced by Kevin Costner
and Barrie M. Osborne
, among others. The plot is based on Rapanui
legends of Easter Island
, Chile
, in particular the race for the Sooty Tern
's egg in the Birdman Cult
.
The historic details of this film are questionable, but the central theme—the destruction of the island's irreplaceable forests—is well authenticated.
Ariki-mau has been the Birdman (Island King) for 20 years. He has a conviction that one day the gods would arrive in a great white canoe and take him to heaven. His advisor tells him to build more and bigger moai
statues to curry favor with the gods and encourage them to come sooner. Ariki-mau petulantly rejects the latest statue – which stands over 20 feet tall – as too small. The Short Ear workers are forced to build an even bigger statue in an impossibly short amount of time. The king’s advisor ruthlessly enforces the rules and status quo by killing a Short Ear fisherman who had accidentally caught a taboo fish.
Long-Ear Noro (Jason Scott Lee) and Ramana, a Short Ear girl, are both rejects in their tribes – her father was banished for building an unlucky canoe. Noro’s father disappeared and is thought to have abandoned the tribe. They have a secret relationship and have fallen in love.
Ariki-mau tells Noro that he has to compete in the Birdman Competition so Ariki-mau can continue to rule the island. Noro asks if he can marry Ramana if he wins the Birdman Competition. The king reluctantly agrees. The king’s advisor claims that Ramana's skin is too dark, and that she should be purified by spending the time from now until the Birdman Competition (a period of 6 months) in the “Virgin’s Cave." He checks her virginity and snidely remarks to Noro, who is watching Ramana being lowered to the cave, that she isn’t right for the Virgin’s Cave and that it will be their little secret. Ramana takes one last look at the sunset and goes into the cave.
Noro approaches Ramana’s banished father, a canoe maker, and asks him to help him train for the Birdman competition. He initially refuses because it is Noro’s fault that his daughter is confined to a cave, but later relents and trains Noro.
Meanwhile, the Short Ears are beginning to starve because the king insists on them working on the new statues instead of growing food but continues taking the full quota of their remaining food for the Long Ears. The king even has them cut down the island’s few remaining trees to make rollers and other equipment to move the gigantic statue from the rock quarry. Noro sneaks some food to his short ear friend Make (Esai Morales) and shares his plans to marry Ramana. Make reacts badly and Noro realizes that Make loves her too. Make declares that they are no longer friends and runs off. Separately, both Noro and Make visit Ramana at her cave, bringing her food and talking to her through the barrier at the mouth of the cave. They both declare their love to her. She always responds, but she sounds rather despondent.
Finally it is the Birdman Competition. Make has managed to become a competitor and asks that if he wins, he wants to marry Ramana. Nine competitors must swim out to a close-by islet surrounded by pounding surf, climb the cliffs to get an egg from the nest of a sooty tern and bring it back. The first to return wins for his tribe. Noro is the winner. Ariki-mau gets to be island ruler for another year.
Ramana emerges from the cave, pale from her long underground stay and very pregnant. Before anything can be decided about her, an iceberg is spotted off the coast. Ariki-mau believes that the iceberg is the great white canoe sent to take him to the gods and goes out to it with some of his followers. The iceberg floats off with the king still on it. The advisor attempts to seize control of the island, but the oppressed and starving Short Ears have had enough. They stage a major rebellion, attack and even cannibalize the Long Ears. Amidst the chaos, Noro, Ramana and their baby escape the island in a canoe Ramana’s father built.
The plot mixes elements of two periods: the era of the moai and the later Birdman Cult. If the conflict between the Long Ears and the Short Ears was real, then it was over long before the Birdman Cult began.
The name Rapa Nui, commonly used, may not have been the original native name; that may have been Te Pito te Henua ("the Navel of the World"), a phrase used in the film, though there are other possibilities.
1994 in film
1994 was a significant year in film.The top grosser worldwide was The Lion King, which to date stands as the highest-grossing traditionally-animated film of all time...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by Kevin Reynolds. It was produced by Kevin Costner
Kevin Costner
Kevin Michael Costner is an American actor, singer, musician, producer, director, and businessman. He has been nominated for three BAFTA Awards, won two Academy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. Costner's roles include Lt. John J...
and Barrie M. Osborne
Barrie M. Osborne
Barrie M. Osborne is an American movie producer, executive producer, production manager and director.Osborne was born in New York City, New York, the son of Hertha Schwarz and William Osborne...
, among others. The plot is based on Rapanui
Rapanui
The Rapa Nui or Rapanui are the native Polynesian inhabitants of Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, in the Pacific Ocean. The easternmost Polynesian culture, the Rapa Nui people make up 60% of Easter Island's population, with some living also in mainland Chile...
legends of Easter Island
Easter Island
Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people...
, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, in particular the race for the Sooty Tern
Sooty Tern
The Sooty Tern, Onychoprion fuscatus , is a seabird of the tern family . It is a bird of the tropical oceans, breeding on islands throughout the equatorial zone. Colloquially, it is known as the Wideawake Tern or just wideawake...
's egg in the Birdman Cult
Tangata manu
The Tangata manu , was the winner of a traditional competition on Rapa Nui . The ritual was an annual competition to collect the first Sooty Tern egg of the season from the islet of Motu Nui, swim back to Rapa Nui and climb the sea cliff of Rano Kau to the clifftop village of Orongo.-Myth:In the...
.
The historic details of this film are questionable, but the central theme—the destruction of the island's irreplaceable forests—is well authenticated.
Main cast
- Jason Scott Lee – Noro
- Esai MoralesEsai MoralesEsai Manuel Morales is an American actor. He is well known for his role as Bob Morales in the 1987 biopic La Bamba. He also appeared in the PBS drama American Family and in the Showtime series Resurrection Blvd.. However, he is best known for his roles as Lt...
– Make - Sandrine HoltSandrine HoltSandrine Holt is a British-born Eurasian Canadian model turned actress.-Early life:Holt was born Sandrine Ho in London, England to a Chinese father and a French mother. At age five, she and her family moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which has remained her hometown. Holt attended St...
– Ramana - Eru Potaka-Dewes – Ariki-mau
- Gordon Hatfield – Riro
Plot
There are two classes of people; Long Ears and Short Ears. Long Ears, marked by large wooden plugs in their ear lobes and a certain tattoo, are the ruling class. The working-class Short ears have no ear plugs and a different tattoo. Young men from each Long Ear tribe compete in the annual Birdman Competition. The winner’s tribe gets to rule the island for a year.Ariki-mau has been the Birdman (Island King) for 20 years. He has a conviction that one day the gods would arrive in a great white canoe and take him to heaven. His advisor tells him to build more and bigger moai
Moai
Moai , or mo‘ai, are monolithic human figures carved from rock on the Chilean Polynesian island of Easter Island between the years 1250 and 1500. Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main moai quarry, but hundreds were transported from there and set on stone platforms called ahu around the...
statues to curry favor with the gods and encourage them to come sooner. Ariki-mau petulantly rejects the latest statue – which stands over 20 feet tall – as too small. The Short Ear workers are forced to build an even bigger statue in an impossibly short amount of time. The king’s advisor ruthlessly enforces the rules and status quo by killing a Short Ear fisherman who had accidentally caught a taboo fish.
Long-Ear Noro (Jason Scott Lee) and Ramana, a Short Ear girl, are both rejects in their tribes – her father was banished for building an unlucky canoe. Noro’s father disappeared and is thought to have abandoned the tribe. They have a secret relationship and have fallen in love.
Ariki-mau tells Noro that he has to compete in the Birdman Competition so Ariki-mau can continue to rule the island. Noro asks if he can marry Ramana if he wins the Birdman Competition. The king reluctantly agrees. The king’s advisor claims that Ramana's skin is too dark, and that she should be purified by spending the time from now until the Birdman Competition (a period of 6 months) in the “Virgin’s Cave." He checks her virginity and snidely remarks to Noro, who is watching Ramana being lowered to the cave, that she isn’t right for the Virgin’s Cave and that it will be their little secret. Ramana takes one last look at the sunset and goes into the cave.
Noro approaches Ramana’s banished father, a canoe maker, and asks him to help him train for the Birdman competition. He initially refuses because it is Noro’s fault that his daughter is confined to a cave, but later relents and trains Noro.
Meanwhile, the Short Ears are beginning to starve because the king insists on them working on the new statues instead of growing food but continues taking the full quota of their remaining food for the Long Ears. The king even has them cut down the island’s few remaining trees to make rollers and other equipment to move the gigantic statue from the rock quarry. Noro sneaks some food to his short ear friend Make (Esai Morales) and shares his plans to marry Ramana. Make reacts badly and Noro realizes that Make loves her too. Make declares that they are no longer friends and runs off. Separately, both Noro and Make visit Ramana at her cave, bringing her food and talking to her through the barrier at the mouth of the cave. They both declare their love to her. She always responds, but she sounds rather despondent.
Finally it is the Birdman Competition. Make has managed to become a competitor and asks that if he wins, he wants to marry Ramana. Nine competitors must swim out to a close-by islet surrounded by pounding surf, climb the cliffs to get an egg from the nest of a sooty tern and bring it back. The first to return wins for his tribe. Noro is the winner. Ariki-mau gets to be island ruler for another year.
Ramana emerges from the cave, pale from her long underground stay and very pregnant. Before anything can be decided about her, an iceberg is spotted off the coast. Ariki-mau believes that the iceberg is the great white canoe sent to take him to the gods and goes out to it with some of his followers. The iceberg floats off with the king still on it. The advisor attempts to seize control of the island, but the oppressed and starving Short Ears have had enough. They stage a major rebellion, attack and even cannibalize the Long Ears. Amidst the chaos, Noro, Ramana and their baby escape the island in a canoe Ramana’s father built.
Historical accuracy issues
The film can be considered a condensed history of the collapse of the Easter Island civilisation. For example, the tribe cut down all of the remaining trees to move the moai to its site. In the end, Noro and Ramana attempt to flee the island in a special canoe, built by Ramana's father.The plot mixes elements of two periods: the era of the moai and the later Birdman Cult. If the conflict between the Long Ears and the Short Ears was real, then it was over long before the Birdman Cult began.
The name Rapa Nui, commonly used, may not have been the original native name; that may have been Te Pito te Henua ("the Navel of the World"), a phrase used in the film, though there are other possibilities.
See also
- CollapseCollapse (book)Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed is a 2005 book by Jared M. Diamond, professor of geography and physiology at University of California, Los Angeles...
by Jared DiamondJared DiamondJared Mason Diamond is an American scientist and author whose work draws from a variety of fields. He is currently Professor of Geography and Physiology at UCLA...
, which details the historic deforestation of Easter Island along with other accounts of how societies collapse or succeed