Quiet Village

Tanna (2016) is a different kind of foreign film - it is filmed by natives in the local language of Tanna, an island in the Pacific nation of Vanuatu.

It takes place in the village of Yakel. Wawa, a granddaughter of the village seer, is in love with Tain, a son of the headman. At the start, we see a morning in the village as the people live their traditional lives. They follow what they call in Pidgin “kastom road”, the customary way. Wawa’s little sister steals a boy’s clothes (well, his penis sheath), and her grandfather takes her to the volcano to teach her about the importance of obeying her elders. But when they get there, men from a hostile tribe club him to nearly to death.

The Yakel villagers want to go to war, but cool heads in the village prevail. They will make peace by exchanging kava plants and pigs, and arrange a marriage between one of their men - and Wawa.

The tag line for this movie might be “Romeo and Juliet in the South Seas”. But it is much more than that. First, it is based on an actual occurrence, which ends (spoiler) with mandatory arranged marriages abolished. So we are watching a recreation of something important to these people. In fact, the seer shows Wawa a picture of him and Prince Philip, who he assures her had an arranged marriage. And it is an actual picture - the person playing the seer had actually met the Prince.

So the movie is an amazing record of traditional life in a Vanuatu village. It shows them pounding plants for fiber, snacking on bugs and playing games in the beautiful forest. But the actors, especially Wawa, are compelling and charismatic. (Her boyfriend, Dain, was chosen because he was the handsomest man in the village, but you don’t get to know him the same way.) She may be a little less traditional than the character she is playing - she is pretty careful about not letting her breasts show, and they seemed to have a bit of a tan line. But that’s pretty minor compared to the authenticity of her acting. Her little sister is a hoot too.

If you are interested in different cultures or just want to see an old-fashioned love story, I recommend Tanna.