Imagine the Milky Way Galaxy. Zoom in until you see our solar system. Zoom in closer until you see Earth. Zoom in even closer until you see the Pacific Ocean, then a lone isolated island.
Rapa Nui, the navel of the world, is what they, the inhabitants, called the home that we refer to as Easter Island. After a thousand years of isolation, they believed they were the only people left on earth--that all other lands sank beneath the seemingly endless sea surrounding their isolated island.
The plot begins sometime before the first Europeans arrived. The inhabitants are divided into two factions: the ruling class (long ears) and the servant class (short ears).
Under the command of the ruling class, the short ears slave away at building incredibly large facial statutes or moi for the purpose of appeasing the gods. It is hoped by the Ariki-mau, the birdman or island leader (played by Eru Potaka-Dewes), that the statutes will bring the legendary white canoe--which will take the inhabitants away to salvation. However, the growing discontent and hostility of the short ears boils like magma beneath the surface of a volcano that is about to erupt.
Against this backdrop, imagine three lines drawn between three dots to make a love triangle between the long-ear protagonist, Noro (played by Jason Scott Lee); his short-ear best friend, Make (played by Esai Morales); and the woman they both love, a short ear named Ramana (played by Sandrine Holt).
These three dots revolve around the nucleus of the plot, which is the annual birdman race. The winner of this race shall determine which long-ear chief shall be the supreme ruler (birdman). Each chief selects his finest athlete to compete on his behalf. The object of the race is to climb down a perilous cliff, swim across the shark-infested bay to an islet where the competitor retrieves a native bird egg, then he must be the first to return the egg to his chief. The short ears have never been allowed to compete-but this year's race is an exception.
The short ears threaten not to build anymore moi unless they are allowed to compete. The Ariki-mau grants their request on one condition: if the short-ear competitor loses the race, he shall be sacrificed to the gods.
Make is the short-ear competitor (surprise, surprise). Noro is competing on behalf of his uncle, the Ariki-mau. If Noro wins the race, his best friend Make dies. If Make wins, Make shall become birdman and will marry Ramana, who loves and is loved by Noro.
Can the plot get any thicker? Sure it can. Ramana, according to custom, must rot in the cold dark virgin cave for six months before the race so she will be purified--or die in the process. Even if she survives, she may be forced to marry Make rather than her true love Noro.
The mysterious white canoe also makes an appearance near the end of the film. I found this to be a very unexpected surprise-like a who-done-it mystery solved. Although, what happens here is nothing compared to this film's climactic ending-which I will not spoil for you.
I really enjoyed not only this film's story, but the larger-than-life sunrises and sunsets behind an endless-ocean horizon. I loved the images of blue-green surf slapping against black-obsidian jagged cliffs. The construction and erection of gigantic moi statutes was a wonder to watch.
The theme music was rather unique and captured the essence of the plot and the island images. It mainly consisted of pulsating synthesizer strings. During the closing credits, I heard what sounded like authentic Polynesian tribal music. I found that rather fascinating.
Some noted flaws in the film were the actors' inconsistent pronunciation of the word "Ariki-mau." Sometimes they pronounced it "Ariki-moi," or "Ariki-moe" as in Larry, Curley and Moe. Another flaw was the fact that Noro was trained for the race by a short-ear coach. Since short ears weren't normally allowed to compete in the race, one has to wonder where this short-ear coach gained his experience.
On the whole, Rapa Nui is a magnificent film to watch. The acting and direction was superb--Esai Morales did what I thought was some of the best acting I have ever seen.
The plot is a fictional account of what happened during those turbulent times of Easter Island's history--Kevin Reynolds' screenplay hit the ball out of the park! I was left with the impression that this film's plot may have really happened.
I say watch this flick and rate it four stars yourself.
Written and directed by Kevin Reynolds
Original music by Stewart Copland
Produced by Kevin Costner
Runtime: 120 minutes
Rated R
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