‘Tanna’ from Australian filmmakers features nonprofessional actors of Yakel tribe of Vanuatu

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Made by Australian filmmakers using only nonprofessional actors from the Yakel tribe in the remote islands of Vanuatu, “Tanna” tells a Romeo-and-Juliet tale in one of the most beautiful locales on Earth as Wawa (Marie Wawa) falls for Dain (Mungau Dain). However, the chief has already promised Wawa to another man in a rival tribe in an arranged union, leading the two star-crossed lovers on an odyssey of discovery as an active volcano threatens both their love and, indeed, their entire way of life.

It’s a story perhaps as old as time — even by Shakespeare’s day — but directors Martin Butler and Bentley Dean breathe the tropes of forbidden love with new vitality in a culture that few Western eyes have ever seen. Mr. Dean’s cinematography gives the vibrant volcano its own personality — an almost-divine presence simmering semi-hostilely over the proceedings.

Even in one of the last places on Earth still largely untouched by Western influence, the mysteries and vagaries of love prove to be universal aspects to the human condition.

In Nauvhal with English subtitles.

Opens Friday at the Landmark E Street Cinema.