Thanks are due to TMC for reviving this antique for contemporary audiences. The film deserves rediscovery. With its exotic setting and simple morality tale, the fable achieves considerable power. Especially memorable is the very last scene with the artfully posed Tiki god emblematic of what has been lost. Also, note the briefness of that final revealing sequence showing how the native culture has been corrupted. Once the traders prevail, it's almost painful to see these innocents replaced with dangling cigarettes, laboring children, and commercialized dancing. Though kept brief, the stark contrast took nerve on the part of filmmakers who risked backlash from audiences unused to seeing Western impact in a negative light. For rarely do we see the effects of colonial expansion portrayed in such touching terms. Sure, some of the movie's romance scenes are overlong, while others are plain hokey. But the underlying theme of paradise lost remains as affecting now as it was then.
Not to excuse the ruthless tradersbut when the simple native economy is replaced by the Western commodity economy, an historical dilemma is posed. On one hand, we regret the loss of the simple, idyllic innocence so powerfully portrayed in the trusting people and natural abundance of the tropical isle. However, that idyllic existence is also a static existence, with no motive for science, knowledge, or development, at least as the Western world understands them. Whatever their greedy motives, the traders do represent the possibilities of dynamic Western culture. Put simply and starkly, the contrasting choice is between a culture of comfortable inertia or one of developmental challenge. The appeal of each is something to think about. Anyway, I'm not sure which I would choose, but after a long week's work, I think I'm with the doctor.
Not to excuse the ruthless tradersbut when the simple native economy is replaced by the Western commodity economy, an historical dilemma is posed. On one hand, we regret the loss of the simple, idyllic innocence so powerfully portrayed in the trusting people and natural abundance of the tropical isle. However, that idyllic existence is also a static existence, with no motive for science, knowledge, or development, at least as the Western world understands them. Whatever their greedy motives, the traders do represent the possibilities of dynamic Western culture. Put simply and starkly, the contrasting choice is between a culture of comfortable inertia or one of developmental challenge. The appeal of each is something to think about. Anyway, I'm not sure which I would choose, but after a long week's work, I think I'm with the doctor.