Tikis in films

On 2013-12-17 21:36, bigbrotiki wrote:

WHERE were there Polynesians in South Pacific? And Bloody Mary was Tonkinese, correct me if I am wrong. There is no way nowadays to not offend SOME people. An American museum director was interested in my Tiki exhibition but asked "Can you guarantee me that no Pacific islanders will be offended?" I said there is no reason why they should be, but I cannot guarantee that there won't be one or the other who will. Comes with the territory.

Maybe you could run the tiki exhibit idea past the people at the Pacific Island Ethnic Art Museum in Long Beach and see what their opinion is? The people that work and volunteer there are from all over the Pacific.

Great report MaukaHale. Big Bro. is right, you can not please everyone. Disney, at these PC times, will do its best. I think they were overly politically correct with their new Aulani Resort in Hawaii. There are hardly any tie-ins to a great Disney connection to Hawaii and the South Seas. Yes a mouse dancing the hula or an alien surfing the Kaua'i waves seems awkward for some but they were well done. Proper homework and effort is all one can ask for. Like, as we know fluorescent painted tikis or mixing the limbo bar in a luau drives me, as a native scholar on the this subject, nuts, so does certain movies but not all. Again, for me, it's the effort and sensitivity. Some producer/director/writers don't give a rat's okole to the cultural material but are guided by the all mighty buck. And it shows in their finished products. This is how I rate South Seas movies. While's Michener's Hawaii is my favorite some of my fellow indigenous colleagues disagree with me. While I love Michener, considering he is writing from an Orientalist or "outsider" point of view, he had done his homework. Funny though, my biggest problem with one of his films (and as also mentioned in this thread)was the "Hollywood" mixed "Polynesian/Melanesian" natives of Bali Hai in "South Pacific". Yes, there are, sort of Polynesians in the movie, yet only as background. Thank you Big Bro for pointing out the fact that Bloody Mary and her daughter Liat are not even "Nesians" in the film, like everyone else thinks they are. The customs, costumes and culture of the fictitious isle of Bali Hai were very confusing. But I blame not Michener, the writer, but the Art Director (now Production Designer) and the Director who approved it. Maybe that is why you didn't recognize any Polynesians in the film Big Bro. :). Bottom line, I think Disney will make us all proud in "Moana", indigenous or not. The only hairly part is the portrayal of the Polynesian demi gods. Giving them the proper names and their correct backgrounds are a good start and it can be culturally edifying for all as well.

I think the working title of "Moana" was "Tiki" a couple of years ago when Disney put together a couple of writers for the project but like Cameron Crowe's just finished shooting, "Dark Tiki" the tile will change because of politically correctness. We all must remember that this is NOT a bad thing because "truly living Tiki" is buying "true to the culture" tiki items or watching and recognizing correct Oceanic representations on the big and small screen.

Made some corrections. Got to stop writing stuff at 2:00 in the morning. :)

Tiki Movies & Tiki TV @ southseascinema.org

[ Edited by: creativenative 2014-01-04 13:25 ]

[ Edited by: creativenative 2014-01-04 13:27 ]

Forgot these pics for tikilongbeach.
There are no better examples of mid-century coolness than the characters of "Ocean's Eleven" and Danny Ocean right hand man, Sam Harmon, lives where? Hawaii! Can't get more cool or tiki than that... well except for, maybe, living in Tahiti. Here are shots of him (played by Dean Martin) arriving in Vegas.

Reminds me of another cool actress of the time, here is her Hawaii flight bag:

Another mid-Century icon, Marilyn, who just arrives also from Hawaii after being missing for a couple years in the South Seas. Ironically her husband, now remarried, was also played by Dino Martin. Sadly, "Something's Got to Give" was Marilyn's last movie, before she died, that was never finished.

Just watched Anchorman 2. Really funny, and due to the vintage setting, has some surprises. Ron's office has a large Witco ship hanging on the wall, and one short cutaway has Fred Willard and Chris Parnell sitting in a tiki lounge. I dont know if it's an existing location or a set because it it's a very brief scene, but looked like Trader Vic's Mai Tai glassware.

It was briefly mentioned way back in this thread
in the movie "The Big Heat" (Fritz Lang 1953)

In the last quarter of the movie much of the action takes place in
"Vince Stone's" (Lee Marvin) apartment and a large Moai is very prominent
in the background near his bar.

Great movie also.....

Some stills from the 1972 movie Les Soleils de l'Ile de Pâques (The Suns of Easter Island)

Some wooden moais, kava kava and stone make make

at the National Museum of Chilean Art

at Easter Island with real moais

On 2014-01-07 20:26, Dr. Alderete wrote:
Some stills from the 1972 movie Les Soleils de l'Ile de Pâques (The Suns of Easter Island)

doing a search for this on home video i saw someone has it on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-3eOOywpz0

[ Edited by: martian-tiki 2014-01-07 23:15 ]

Ogú y Mampato en Rapa Nui (2002)
Director: Alejandro Rojas
Writers: Themo Lobos (comic book), Daniel Turkieltaub (screenplay)

Good stuff Erk, ATP & Doc. Had to go to the theater and watch "Anchorman 2", good catch on the tiki bar scene. Would of been funny if the kept cutting back to the bar throughout the movie, establishing that Willard and Parnell's never leave. Perhaps in our minds they never do.

Had to order "The Big Heat" on Netflix. See pic. below:

Cool, but bad guy, Marvin, not only had a Moai head in his penthouse apartment but also tropical anthuriums and monstra leaves which causes a great shadow effect in b&w Noirs.

Doc, nice screen shots. Watched "Ogú y Mampato en Rapa Nui" on YouTube. My Spanish is rusty but I enjoyed it. Please keep those Spanish language titles coming. It's about the images not the language.

Oh, I was going to ask if any body thought that Moai head in "The Big Heat" looked familiar, but I found this from the "Creature with the Atom Brain"

Both films were distributed by Columbia so probably came from their prop house. Anybody else seen this Moai head?

Thanks creativenative for that screen grab from "The Big Heat"

No. ATP thank you for bringing it to our attention, like many alert members of TC. One more image for my photo bank. I'ld like to thank also, Netflix and the U.S. postal service. --- I'm watching too many awards shows.

Blake & Mortimer: Le secret de l'île de Pâques (1997)
Characters created by E. P. Jacobs
Direction: Stephane Bernasconi / Yannick Barbau

Doc, nice screen shots. Watched "Ogú y Mampato en Rapa Nui" on YouTube. My Spanish is rusty but I enjoyed it. Please keep those Spanish language titles coming. It's about the images not the language.

Thanks!
Ogu and Mampato is from Chile, now another one France/Belgium...

Dr. Alderete
http://www.jorgealderete.com
http://www.vertigogaleria.com

[ Edited by: Dr. Alderete 2014-01-15 00:32 ]

Yes, Doc! That what I'm talking about. Great French/Belgium find! Keep them coming.

[ Edited by: creativenative 2014-01-16 00:45 ]

Rokunga, el último hombre pájaro, 2002 (Rokunga, The last bird man)
Direction: Erwin Gómez Viñales

https://vimeo.com/16241664

Is a short film (7 minutes) made in Chile, where the characters are moais kava kava and moais tangata manu from Easter Island...

On 2014-01-04 13:33, ErkNoLikeFire wrote:
Just watched Anchorman 2. Really funny, and due to the vintage setting, has some surprises. Ron's office has a large Witco ship hanging on the wall

And here's that scene:

Mythic Journeys used this moai towards the end of the film for about 4 seconds. Nothing Tiki about the film or content at all.

Godzilla vs Megalon 1973. This royal piece of crap is one of my favorite Godzilla films. The film pits Godzilla and Jet Jaguar against Megalon and Gigan. The bad guys are summoned to destroy the surface of the earth. The undersea world of Seatopia is seeking vengeance against the surface dwellers and their use of nuclear weapons. A giant silver Moai is the god of choice shown and prayed to. Easter Island is also shown. A great film to burn a few brain cells out while watching.

I just got home from a double feature of Mothra and King Kong vs Godzilla that my buddy put on today at the New Beverly in LA. I hadn't seen either since I was a kid. To say they don't hold up would be a mistatement since I'm pretty sure these were cheesy in the 70s/80s, but there were some almost surreal and very enjoyable moments in both films. What stood out for me the most though was the presence of Tiki elements in both films. King Kong vs Godzilla is mentioned earlier in this thread in a post by Creativenative, as is a Mothra sequel, but I didn't see any mention of the first Mothra.

Mothra is the superior of the 2 films both in production value and in Tiki. Many of the plot elements are the same in both films (Mothra was actually produced a year earlier than King Kong vs Godzilla) . In both films there is a visit to a mysterious island and in both films the islands are inhabited by natives who are played by Japanese actors in black face. It seems like they're supposed to be Polynesian natives, since the scientist is brought on because of his knowledge of Polynesian languages. On the island a pair of tiny singing sisters are discovered and ultimately stolen, but before this happens the hero scientist stumbles into a mysterious cave where he takes an imprint of some glyphs on the walls all in front of a silent stone Moai that looks a lot like the one on the Forbidden Island Album cover. I can't find a picture of this guy right now. Later on after the sisters are stolen and a bunch of the natives gunned down trying to stop their captors, the natives hold a ritual to bring Mothra to life. Mothras egg sits over a giant chamber that is inhabited by three large stone Moais.

In King Kong vs Godzilla - On the island they discover Kong on, there are carved wooden idols at the center of the village with Ape faces that are part of the ritual to summon Kong. They are Tiki-esque though I wouldn't call them Tikis. The natives (once again Japanese in black face) also have shields that are knock offs of PNG designs. The ritual itself could have been a floor show and the whole scene felt like an exotica inspired fever dream.

These were both produced by Toho studios, so 100% Japanese productions, which I thought was pretty cool.

[ Edited by: SoCal Savage 2014-05-11 20:53 ]

Ha, my gf is obsessed with seeing the new Godzilla movie!

Great recommendations, I'm DEFINITELY going to check these out!

For the non-King Kong movie, was it Godzilla vs. Mothra (1964), or just Mothra (1961)?

http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/549156?strkid=932481508_1_0&trkid=222336&movieid=549156

http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Mothra/70120056?strkid=932481508_0_0&strackid=4caf6d16534becbc_0_srl&trkid=222336

Pablo

My collection of bifwebe | My cruddy music

[ Edited by: PabTiki 2014-05-11 21:07 ]

The first one - Mothra 1961.

I think Godzilla vs Mothra may be mentioned earlier in this thread though.

Cool thanks!

Here's a cool lobby card for the 1961 "Mothra" emphasizing the faux Japanese Poly Pop kitsch...

And a close up of the Moai...

Good finds Uncle Trav and John-O. Learn something and see something new on TC all the time. Everyone thanks for your snooping and sharing. Keep up the good work.

Great find on that lobby card John O. I wish I could find a shot of the "mysterious cave" with the Moai in it, that the scientist character discovers the glyphs in.

On 2014-05-22 18:35, SoCal Savage wrote:
Great find on that lobby card John O. I wish I could find a shot of the "mysterious cave" with the Moai in it, that the scientist character discovers the glyphs in.

:)

And a couple of different angle screen caps of Mothra Island (aka Infant Island)...

Dude! You're a ninja!!!

Return to Mothra Island in the 1966 Godzilla pic "Ebirah, Horror of the Deep" (aka "Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster"), another Poly Pop monster movie that's been mentioned on TC before.

The production values are much lower than earlier Toho pics as seen in this scaled down Polynesian native dance number...

And instead of the three Moais from 1961's "Mothra" we get just this one boring stone thingy...

But John! that is the Stone of Imbibement, for all that is holy.

That is one sad looking stone thingy...

Did they play it as the same Island in the story?

The back opens up to a huge fold out bar cabinet.

Or something like this...

On 2014-05-23 20:53, SoCal Savage wrote:
Did they play it as the same Island in the story?

Yup, it's Mothra Island (aka Infant Island). The natives are dancing to wake up a sleeping Mothra...

And here's the twin fairies but I'm pretty sure they're different actresses than in "Mothra"...

BTW, I think this would be an awesome theme for Tiki Oasis !! :)

Mothra Island also makes an appearance in 1964's "Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster". Here's Mothra (in worm form) being worshipped again by the island natives...

But what happened to the Moais from the first movie ??

BTW, I think this would be an awesome theme for Tiki Oasis !! :)

Genius idea!

I forgot about the classic 1964 "Mothra vs. Godzilla" (aka "Godzilla vs the Thing") !!

In that one we see some Tiki stuff in the Mothra Island temple...

D.O.A. (1950)

Edmond O'Brian is poisoned with "luminous toxin" in a Nautical Beatnik Jive Tiki bar in San Francisco called "The Fisherman". No tropical cocktails, but lots of masks, tapa, fishnets, and bartenders wearing leis.

Includes bonus beatnik dialogue: "Oh don’t bother me, man. I’m being enlightened!"

[ Edited by: MrBaliHai 2014-07-13 13:44 ]

I just watched D.O.A. again (I have been on a Film Noir binge)
that is one of the best scenes in the movie also.

Later in the film Edmond O'Brien is on the run through downtown L.A.
and you get a shot of Clifton's then on to the Bradbury Building for the big showdown.

Later in the film Edmond O'Brien is on the run through downtown L.A.
and you get a shot of Clifton's then on to the Bradbury Building for the big showdown.

Huh, I missed the shot of Clifton's. Have to go back and rewatch that scene. My daughter and I stopped by the Bradbury Building last Summer. Pretty impressive.

The scene at The Fisherman's is supposedly the first depiction of Beatnik culture in film.

Underworld U.S.A. with Cliff Robertson. It's a 1961 American neo-noir film produced, written and directed by Samuel Fuller. It tells the story of a fourteen-year-old boy who goes to enormous lengths to get revenge against the mobsters who beat his father to death.

Fight in a gangster's apartment that is decorated with modern art and Polynesian and African carvings.

A bunch of gangster's sitting around a coffee table with a carved Tangaroa.

Those figures remind me of some of the carvings at the Mai-Kai. The stances of the figures are also very similar.

Lori! showing some "Samuel Fuller" love.

I watched Joe Swanberg's "Happy Christmas" recently and it featured a pretty amazing tiki lounge basement. Apparently, Mr. Swanberg filmed in his own Chicago-area home which had the lounge when he purchased the home. It's worth watching just for that but it's also just a fun, little film so check it out!

Plenty of tikis in my documentary "Mai-tais, Toques and Tikis"!!! :wink:

Check it out here: https://gumroad.com/mtt