REVIEW: AUCKLAND (Pacific Media Centre Online / Pacific Media Watch): Watching the world premiere in Auckland of Tongan Ark alongside about 700 Tongans was like being at sea in unruly, unpredictable but ultimately thrilling waters.
The first wave of laughing and yelling came as lecturer Dr Kik Velt appeared in the film, wearing a dress.
I was slightly horrified at the audience’s what I thought was, ill-timed laughter, worrying that Paul Janman, the film’s director, might take offence at people laughing at his work.
But the howling was as perfectly timed and as sophisticated as this film and shows that Tongan Ark director Janman got this film exactly right.
At one point, heavily pierced, dress-wearing Dr Velt said: “You can do and say what you like in Tonga, as long as it doesn’t mention God or the King.”
The audience erupted with laughter, perhaps laughing at themselves and the contradictions of living in a society where a Palagi wearing a dress in public will make people laugh, but will be accepted.
Yet to openly criticise the king or God is frowned upon.
Futa Helu, the philosopher and educator this film is about, spent his life establishing a high school and university in Tonga, which was based on questioning everything.
Tongan Ark tells a remarkable story, about a remarkable man, Futa Helu, and his one of a kind, bold, unconventional university, called ‘Atenisi, the Tongan word for Athens.
Ancient philosophy, opera and Tongan culture come together in this intimate portrait of a teacher, his school and his people as they navigate a sea of repression and doubt in a small but troubled Pacific island kingdom.
At one stage in the film, Futa Helu says: “There are two kinds of education: One for criticism! And one for submissiveness! There is no third kind.”
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 New Zealand Licence.
Karen Abplanalp
