From Ambassador (Watching Disney's "Moana 2" )
2025/1/6
There is only one movie theater in Apia. Right at the beginning of the new year, I went to see the Disney movie "Moana 2" at this movie theater, Apollo Cinema. (Moana 1 was released in 2016)
I am not a great fan of Disney movies, but I went to watch this one because I heard that the island where Moana was born and raised is right here in Samoa. The movie is in fact set on an imaginary island in the South Pacific, but the locals firmly believe it is a Samoan island.
Anyone who learns the culture of the country can easily point out a few cultural markers which are distinctly Samoan.
For example, at the beginning of the movie, the islanders sing a song in Samoan!
There's also a scene in the village hall where the chief and Moana share and drink in turn a strange looking drink. It's called “kava” here, a unique drinking ceremony still common in such occasions.
I could also spot basalt columns, which are unique to volcanic islands. And the scene of seawater erupting high into the sky like geysers strongly suggest it's modeled after Savai'i, one of the Samoan islands.
The voice of the heroine, Moana, is played by Hawaiian singer Auli'i Cravalho. The voice of Maoi, a giant demi-god who can freely change his shape, is played by Dwayne Johnson, a muscular Hollywood actor also known by his ring name "The Rock." He is American, but his mother is a Samoan. So he is particularly popular in Samoa.
I won't go into the details of the movie because it would be a spoiler, but the film is based on the historical fact (based on archaeology) that the Polynesian people of Samoa, a "sea people" who reached Samoan islands about 3,000 years ago, stopped sailing across the South Pacific for about 1,000 years from around 1000 BC. And the mythological worldview and the legends passed down in Samoa and other Polynesian islands are used to reinforce the storyline.
Even without knowing that, watching Moana and her friends' adventure is exhilarating. Many children were also excited, while watching the movie at the Cinema.
If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it.
I am not a great fan of Disney movies, but I went to watch this one because I heard that the island where Moana was born and raised is right here in Samoa. The movie is in fact set on an imaginary island in the South Pacific, but the locals firmly believe it is a Samoan island.
Anyone who learns the culture of the country can easily point out a few cultural markers which are distinctly Samoan.
For example, at the beginning of the movie, the islanders sing a song in Samoan!
There's also a scene in the village hall where the chief and Moana share and drink in turn a strange looking drink. It's called “kava” here, a unique drinking ceremony still common in such occasions.
I could also spot basalt columns, which are unique to volcanic islands. And the scene of seawater erupting high into the sky like geysers strongly suggest it's modeled after Savai'i, one of the Samoan islands.
The voice of the heroine, Moana, is played by Hawaiian singer Auli'i Cravalho. The voice of Maoi, a giant demi-god who can freely change his shape, is played by Dwayne Johnson, a muscular Hollywood actor also known by his ring name "The Rock." He is American, but his mother is a Samoan. So he is particularly popular in Samoa.
I won't go into the details of the movie because it would be a spoiler, but the film is based on the historical fact (based on archaeology) that the Polynesian people of Samoa, a "sea people" who reached Samoan islands about 3,000 years ago, stopped sailing across the South Pacific for about 1,000 years from around 1000 BC. And the mythological worldview and the legends passed down in Samoa and other Polynesian islands are used to reinforce the storyline.
Even without knowing that, watching Moana and her friends' adventure is exhilarating. Many children were also excited, while watching the movie at the Cinema.
If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it.