Cinematographic journey in Polynesia
As early as 1912, George Méliès' brother filmed Ballade des Mers du Sud in Papara. In 1927, Robert Flaherty directed White Shadowsin the South Seas. Shot on Bora-Bora in collaboration with F.W. Murnau, Tabou (or Tapu, in 1929) is a quality film that accurately portrays daily life at the time. In 1935, Richard Thorpe directed Taro the Pagan.
Three films were made on the theme of the Bounty Mutiny. In 1935, the first version - the most Hollywood-like - starred Clark Gable as Christian Fletcher, leader of the mutineers. This version, directed by Frank Lloyd, takes many liberties with reality. The best-known is Lewis Milestone's 1962 film, starring Marlon Brando, which was once an event in the territory. This Hollywood blockbuster was a godsend for the burgeoning economy of French Polynesia. Millions of dollars were poured into the mammoth shoot, hiring thousands of extras and bringing in fresh cash for the islanders. Marlon Brando, seduced by Polynesia, ends up identifying with his character and marries his partner. He even went so far as to lease the Tetiaroa atoll on a long-term basis, on which he built a hotel. The latest version of the film, starring Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins (1983), filmed in Moorea, is rather disappointing.
In 1957, Leo Mc Carey directed Elle et Lui, starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. In 1979, Hurricane, based on the novel by James Norman Hall and Charles Nordhoff, was produced in Bora Bora by Dino de Laurentis. The last big-budget French film shot in Polynesia was Le Prince du Pacifique, starring Thierry Lhermitte and Patrick Timsit, released in 2001, with many scenes filmed in Huahine. More recently, Vince Vaughn and Jean Reno starred in Thérapie de couple (Peter Billingsley, 2010), an American comedy shot on Bora-Bora. In 2011, Mathieu Kassovitz shot L'Ordre et la morale (Order and Morality) in Anaa, Tuamotu, which recalls the hostage-taking of 27 French gendarmes by Kanak independence fighters in 1988. Finally, we regret that no director has yet chosen to depict the conquest of Polynesia by the first Polynesians, which remains an extraordinary epic, or the discovery of the country by the first explorers, and the subsequent annihilation of traditional civilization, an excellent subject for a historical film.
In Tahiti
The largest island in French Polynesia has seen its soil trodden by several film shoots. In 1957, Bernard Broderie(Le Gorille vous salue bien) directed Tahiti ou la joie de vivre, a comedy starring Georges de Caunes as a journalist sent to the island to prove that paradise exists on earth. In 1962, Ted Kotcheff made his first island film, Tiara Tahiti(La Belle des Îles). In 1966, "Bebel" arrived in Tahiti to play the adventures of a gigolo in Jean Becker's Tendre Voyou. Jean-Paul Belmondo returned to Tahiti accompanied by Claude Lelouch in 1988 for the very good Itinéraire d'un enfant gâté. Belmondo won the César for Best Actor for his performance in the film. In 1994, Glenn Gordon Caron directed Rendez-vous avec le destin, starring Warren Beatty and Katharine Hepburn. This remake of the 1957 film Elle et Lui marked the great actress's last film appearance. The same year, Frédéric Blum adapted Romain Gary's novel La Tête coupable to make Les Faussaires. Gérard Jugnot plays a writer who has come to Tahiti to write a biography of Paul Gauguin. The French painter and his life on the island are once again featured in the film Gauguin - Voyage de Tahiti (2017), directed by Édouard Deluc, in which Gauguin is played by Vincent Cassel. The film provokes a certain amount of controversy in the press. The press condemned Deluc's cinematographic approach and, above all, his vision of the colonial context of the time, as well as the painter's sexuality. To date, this is the last feature film to be shot in and about Tahiti. Unfortunately, many American films about Tahiti are shot outside Polynesia, as Hollywood producers, with their preconceived ideas, have not found it necessary to film scenes that are close to reality. The best example is undoubtedly the film 6 Days, 7 Nights starring Harrison Ford and Anne Heche. As for events, the Maison de la Culture de Tahiti has been hosting the Festival International du Film Océanien (FIFO) for the past 10 years. This festival celebrates documentaries on Oceania, organizes meetings between professionals and, of course, presents awards.
On the small screen
On the TV front, French Polynesia seems to be the ideal location for American reality shows such as Surf Girls, Meet the bakers, Road Rules and Survivor. Created in 1992, this reality show is the American version of France's Koh-Lanta. For one month, Survivor contestants, stranded on a desert island, must prove their bravery by performing a series of nerve-racking, body-sapping challenges. The aim of the game is to be the last candidate left on the island, and thus win the title of "Survivor". Filmed all over the world, season 4 is based in Nuku Hiva, Polynesia. The very French Opération Séduction also chose French Polynesia as its setting. On the series front, French photographer and filmmaker Adolphe Sylvain arrived in 1967 to shoot the only season of Téva-Opération Gauguin. The painter is once again highlighted in this mini-series, the plot of which revolves around M. Pigeon and his quest in Tahiti to find a Gauguin painting that is part of his inheritance. Broadcast in the early 1970s, this program truly put Polynesia in the spotlight, and helped inaugurate color on screens in mainland France. In 1999, Gaumont launched production of the French series Les Perles du Pacifique. Set on a pearl farm in Manatéa, the series delights fans of love, betrayal and adventure. Closer to home, in 2019, Éric Delafosse arrives in Tahiti to direct the new French series Tahiti PK.0 with Édouard Montoute.
