Rapa Nui Journal • Vol. 23, No. 1 • May 2009
EL ORGULLO DE SER RAPANUI -
DOCUMENTAL
(The Pride of Being Rapanui - Documentary)
Denise Ducaud
2008; 60 min.
16,000 Chilean pesos / $25
presently available only through
the Museum Store on Easter Island
Review by Shawn McLaughlin
As most Rapanuiphiles know, it’s notoriously difficult to find a decent documentary about
Easter Island. Oh, there’s no shortage of films, videos, and DVDs, although some of them
can be hard to find. It’s taken me years to accumulate the more than 50 documentaries in my
collection and yet only a few of them stand out as being both illuminating and accurate without
descending into lame drama about “mysteries” or provoking researchers into adolescent
squabbling over their pet theories — or, worse, summoning the specter of “ancient asronauts”. (Why do these productions feel it necessary to give equal time to theories that don’t even deserve to be discussed, let along be given screen time? Oh, well.) Nor has the passage of time meant the productions necessarily get any better. One of the most interesting is a
black-and-white film shot during the Franco-Belgian Expedition in 1935. The Cousteau Society’s Blind Prophets of Easter Island has its 1970s charm (and, among other things, the near-fatal but rather dramatic sequence involving an ultra-light caught in heavy winds over the island).
In some ways, one of the least sensational and comprehensive documentaries would have to be the dual BBC/Nova works released in 1988 and 1989, dated though they are. When documentaries focus on specific rather than general subjects, the result is often more apprehensible and insightful and even palatable: Laura Jean Boyd’s Caballo Loco on Easter Island (about the plight of horses and cows stricken by eating toxic plants), The Undersea World of Easter Island (by the ORCA Dive Shop — with stunning aquatic footage in the “blue hole” that is Easter Island’s ocean home), and the two Te Pito Productions films, Casino Free Rapa Nui and Being Rapanui come to mind (the latter, despite obvious political agendas,
nevertheless provide unique local perspectives). Still, even with documentaries shot as recently as 2007 (an atrocious Travel Channel film comes to mind), it’s tough to escape the
lunatic fringe (think David Childress or Erich von Däniken, for example).
It is thus with great pleasure that I can announce and recommend Denise Ducaud’s documentary, The Pride of Being Rapanui. In Spanish with English subtitles, this production covers themes like “Memories”, “The First Airplane”, “Life Today”, “Music”, and “Pride” and features a series of interviews by islanders representing a cross-section of the
population. Musician Manu Haoa talks about helping children to learn to dance and sing; herbalist Isabel Veri Veri discusses plants for medicinal and other uses; sculptor Bene Tuki relates how sometimes he doesn’t want to sell his carvings because he
becomes too attached to them (he also tells the story of how, as a child, he ran from an airplane, thinking it was a bird that was going to eat him!); craftswoman Merina Manutomatoma conveys a quaint tale about sneaking into the “cinema” hidden
under her mother’s large coat and recalls a neighbor with the only TV on the island (a 14" black & white model). Other interviewees include singer/songwriter Maria Teresa Ika;
craftswomen Mafra Muñoz Rapu and Patricia Riroroko; surfer and tour guide Nicolas Yancovic Pakarati; Explora guide Uri Avaka Teao; dive shop owner Mike Rapu; and student /
sportsman Aku Icka. All of these presentations are passionate and humanistic and create an accurate portrayal of the people and by extension the life of the Rapanui. One criticism I had in
the choice of material, however, is an interview with craftswoman Noemi Pakarati who displays and talks about her petroglyph rubbings — a practice strongly discouraged today.
And, while it’s good to see she’s not wearing shoes while walking on the petroglyphs, it’s bad that she’s walking on them in the first place.
The lighting and sound are crisp, vibrant, sophisticated, and professional, revealing the island in all its colorful glory, and the transitions between segments and musical and vocal
accompaniment is evocative and appropriate. Not that The Pride of Being Rapanui lacks defects. The first European visit is erroneously referred to as occurring in 1772 instead of 1722,
an early population figure of 9,000 is mentioned without a shred of qualification despite the lack of consensus or definitive knowledge about this, and cannibalism is described as
happening without any skepticism in light of the fact that no reliable archaeological evidence of this practice has been discovered on Easter Island to date. (Admittedly, later in the documentary, one of the interviewees describes the Rapanui as survivors who will do so by any means necessary, including eating others, so maybe this is a moot point; ahem.) And that
erroneous 111 population figure rears its ugly head again, as if to validate the notion that there’s no such thing as a flawless Easter Island anything. (At the same time, one must acknowledge the wise observation of the renowned Tucson psychiatrist John Racy who once said “Perfect is the enemy of the sane”.) But these are minor points. The only major issue to
which I take exception is the jingoistic last sequence in which islanders with a straight face assert that they are nicer, more cordial, and more welcoming than the “contis” (continentals;
Chileans) — statements that, even if accepted as the biased generalities they are barely escapes the realm of bigotry. I am not ignorant of, nor insensitive to, the issues involving
Chileans on Easter Island but such statements do a disservice to what I would like to believe are the less prejudiced inhabitants of the island who would be hard-pressed to agree with
one interviewee’s assertion that the Rapanui “don’t know how to hate”. Sorry, but no humans have a monopoly on this, however much one may wish it to be true. Rapanui are humans and
humans know how to hate.
But philosophical disagreements aside, The Pride of Being Rapanui is for the most part a clear, gentle voice set against the clouds, the sun, and the wind of the island. Whether one agrees with the assessments of those being interviewed or not, there is an undeniable importance to this documentary in that it embodies the faithful transmission of culture and language and therefore preserves these vital elements for all to see and know. Just as living on Easter Island is unique, just as Easter Island itself is unique, so is this documentary. Unlike far too
many other documentaries out there, if you get a chance to see
this one, you won’t regret it.
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