MOANA. A ROMANCE OF THE GOLDEN AGE [1926]

A sympathetic study of life in Western Samoa, examining aspects of culture and customs such as tattooing of boys for initiation to manhood; fishing; cooking; picking coconuts and making tapa cloth.

“Flaherty, along with his wife and family, travelled to the village of Safune on the Samoan island of Savai’i to record the traditional culture of a civilization which was rapidly changing and becoming westernized under British rule. The result was “MOANA: A Romance of the Golden Age”. Shot in black and white on panchromatic film, MOANA has an almost stereoscopic look—the figures seem solid and real and the colors of the island foliage appear as varying shades of silvery-gray. The film explores the lives of the lovely and gentle Samoans and culminates in a ritual tattooing. Although not on the same level as Nanook of the North or some of Flaherty’s later work, MOANA was received with critical acclaim and popularity on its release. In fact, John Grierson coined the term "documentary" to describe the film.” - Dennis Doros, "Robert Joseph Flaherty - An Appreciation", The Silent Film Bookshelf, August 1998.