Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Absolutely Brilliant!

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Tanna is a remote South Sea island where filmmakers Bentley Dean and Martin Butler along with Dr. John Collee wrote the first ever Australian-made film to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. It's considered "foreign language" since it's performed almost exclusively by the Yakel, an indigenous tribe who speak their own language. The film, released in 2016, is quite an accomplishment in the sense that these native performers have no previous experience as actors and are quite convincing presenting a part of their history dating back to 1987 when the tribe faced a supreme crisis of conscience leading to a great cultural upheaval. The story revolves around two young lovers, a young girl named Wawa (Marie Wawa) and the late chief's son, Dain (Mungau Dain). The tribe promised Wawa to a neighboring and rival tribe, the Imedin; such arrangements are designed to keep the peace between the two groups. Dain seeks revenge against the Imedin as they murdered both his parents but the grandfather preaches conciliation. Things get more complicated when the Imedin attack the Yakel's shaman who is severely injured. The drama, reminiscent of the old Romeo and Juliet saga, surges after Wawa runs away with Dain, refusing to have anything to do with the arranged marriage. This occurs after she's pressured by her parents along with the women in the tribe who follow the "kastom," the spiritual customs that insist on political expediency over affairs of the heart. A good part of the film is seen through the eyes of Wawa's younger sister, Selin, who goes looking for her in a forbidden area near a volcano. Wawa and Dain consider for a short time moving in with some local converted Christians but find their customs too unnatural for their tastes. The narrative ends tragically after the lovers realize they will eventually be caught by the Imedin who have been searching for them. They ingest poison mushrooms, committing suicide. One very good thing does come from the tragedy. The Yakel do away with the practice of arranged marriage and allow young lovers to choose their own mate. The bonus tracks on the DVD are as interesting as the film itself, showing some cast members leaving their home for the first time and attending an awards ceremony at the Venice Film Festival where they are feted by an adoring group of cinephiles. Even more fascinating is when the entire tribe sees the completed film for the first time on their home turf, with the film projected on a giant white sheet in their village ensconced within a jungle clearing. The Yakel come off as a healthy bunch where partial nudity is seen as completely natural. The film's scenarists' adoration for the tribe leads to a rather uncomplicated view of the principals but there are enough idiosyncrasies in each character to keep one's interest. The story features some suspense at film's end as we care to learn the fate of the doomed protagonists. Tanna may not have a complicated plot but the presentation of the material by non-actors is an impressive achievement.

I've been trying to expand my horizons outside of my usual genre so I chose Tanna as an experiment and I'm glad I did. Unusual in that the cast are not professional actors but the actual tribe members that live on the island. They did an excellent job, better than some professionals I have seen. Story is simple; several tribes that inhabit the island have a custom of arranged marriages between tribes in order to keep the peace between them. One young woman and man from the same tribe are in love yet she is chosen to be the bride offering that year to another, warlike tribe. The young couple run off together to try to make a life and we see the trials they go through as well as the effect this has on all the tribes. I can't say much more than that but found out at the end this was based on a true story. Well worth watching for the story, the beautiful scenery and witnessing the workings of a much simpler and freer culture than mine here in the United States.

In some respects this film reminded me of Murnau's "Tabu". It hails from Australia, (and is the Australian entry for this year's Best Foreign Film Oscar), but is actually set on the remote Pacific island of Tanna among the Yakel tribe and tells of the forbidden love between Wawa and Dain, the son of the chief. Gorgeously shot in the rain forests of Tanna, which is part of Vanuatu, and on an active volcano, it has the feel of a documentary, (the cast are non-professionals), but is constructed like a thriller with a touch of 'Romeo and Juliet' thrown in. It was co-directed by Martin Butler, (it marks his feature debut), and its cinematographer Bentley Dean and there is a harshness at play that belies the beauty of the locations though there is also a degree of humour too. The problem with the picture is that the material is old-hat, however exotic the setting. As a certain song says, this is a tale as old as time but it's redeemed, in this instance, by the treatment.

This movie is wonderfully shot, giving you a taste of life at Tanna. I wanted to watch this movie to better understand people on this island after I read autobiography of John Paton, a missionary to Tanna. I am a bit disheartened by portrayal of Christians in this movie as some kind of weirdoes. And when the chief said that they though off the colonial powers, money, Christians etc., he did not mention this cannibalistic tribe, robbed, ransacked, killed and ate missionaries who brought medicine, written language, hope and so much more to the people of Tanna. The Christian church was built on their blood and bones that are still there in the ground of Tanna. But that would, of course, take away from the main story of love, which is very beautiful and touching. I thought I would write about something that I felt was unjustly treated in the movie. Great movie. I wholeheartedly recommend.