I have admired the films of Robert Flaherty since I first saw NANOOK OF THE NORTH back during my college days in the 1970s. I later saw his sound movies MAN OF ARAN (1934), ELEPHANT BOY (1937), LOUISIANA STORY (1948), and his abortive collaborative effort with F. W. Murnau TABU (1931). I had heard of and read about MOANA (pronounced MO-ahna) but never saw it until this new Kino Classics release.
Having now seen it, I was impressed by the visuals but had difficulty adjusting to daughter Monica Flaherty's 1980 sound version of the film which is the version now available. I have no objection to the addition of Samoan songs and dialogue (which should have had subtitles) but I found some of the background sounds distracting and the squeals of a captured wild boar wee actually unpleasant. A musical score would have made the film more engaging.
However in 1980, in order to get a silent documentary presented, it needed a soundtrack that made it as close to a traditional sound film as possible. Monica wanted not only to preserve her parents' work but also to get it shown for the first time in over 50 years. However silent film restoration has come a long way since 1980 and part of the appeal of silent movies is adding the sound ourselves. With appropriate music enhancing the viewing experience. That's the opinion of journalist Robert Gardner (who interviewed Frances Flaherty in the early 1950s) and it's my opinion as well.
Despite the sound effects and the dialogue, MOANA remains a wonderful documentary of life as it once was among the islanders of Samoa. In fact, despite having certain sequences re-staged, it seems much more like real life than other South Seas docudramas such as LEGONG or TABU. That's because of its leisurely pace and not having a conventional love story. These factors hindered the film's success back in the 1920s (even topless Native women didn't help) and they make MOANA slow going for a 21st century audience.
The running time of this version is also slowed down (from 85 to 98 minutes) by stretch printing which occasionally gives the film an almost hallucinatory look. The images though are stunning, looking as if they were shot yesterday. Anyone interested in the history of the documentary or wishing to glimpse Native culture from another time should see MOANA...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.
