PUTNEY — In the movie “Tanna,” the setting isn't the “fair Verona” of Shakespeare's “Romeo and Juliet.”
Rather, it's an island of that name in the archipelago of Vanuatu, a republic formerly known as New Hebrides, located east of Australia in the South Pacific Ocean.
This story of star-crossed lovers centers on the Yakel people, a traditional rain-forest-dwelling tribe. Members of the tribe collaborated on the writing of the script and acted all the roles in this film and, although they are non-professionals, the passion of their performances grips the viewer's attention.
When we meet the spirited Wawa (Marie Wawa), the women of her family are preparing her for the ceremony initiating her into womanhood. She has fallen in love with Dain (Mungau Dain), the handsome grandson of the Yakel chief (Chief Charlie Kahla). Dain's parents were killed by the Imedin, a neighboring tribe; although he was a boy when this happened, he has neither forgotten nor forgiven.
Wawa's younger sister, Selin (Marceline Rofit), a mischievous scamp, sees Wawa at the waterfall with Dain and must be sworn to secrecy. Selin becomes the viewer's eyes and ears as events unfold.
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In Yakel culture, marriages are arranged according to kastom, the ways of the ancestors - a love match is unthinkable. After the Yakel shaman is savagely attacked by some Imedin men who think he has caused their crops to fail, the Yakel want revenge. However, the Yakel chief, a wise elder, knows that the cycle of violence will accomplish nothing but more deaths on both sides.
While keeping a vigil over the injured shaman, the chief receives a song from the Spirit Mother, who dwells in the active volcano on the island. To end the hostilities, the chief arranges a marriage between Wawa and an Imedin man.
Wawa refuses to accept this arrangement. When she cannot persuade her family or the chief to accept that she wants to marry for love, she and Dain defy kastom and their elders by running away.
From that moment, the viewer awaits the inevitable, hoping against hope that this time the outcome will be different, yet knowing it won't.
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Directed by Bentley Dean and Martin Butler, who lived with the Yakel for seven months, the film, although fiction, is based on events that happened in Tanna in 1987.
“Tanna” is subtitled since the actors speak their Nauvhal language. Subtitles are almost unnecessary, though, because the actors' faces and bodies are so vividly expressive. The film is Australia's entry (foreign film category) in the next Academy Awards.
Thanks to the skillful cinematography (Bentley Dean) and film editing (Tania Nehme), “Tanna”'s various landscapes register vividly with the viewer, from the deep green of lush tropical rain forest to the panoramic views of the blue ocean to the barrenness of the forbidding volcanic plain.
Most breathtaking are the shots of molten lava shooting up, fiery red against the black volcanic rock, from the volcano's crater. No wonder the Yakel hold this place to be sacred. The music, by Antony Partos and Lisa Gerrard, contributes to the awe-inspiring power of the mountain.
Although the culture of the Yakel seems remote, the timeliness of the story startles; in how many places of conflict in today's world do young lovers seek to overcome the arbitrary boundaries - religion, culture, ethnicity - that their elders have established to separate them from each other?