“Talking In” through The Orator

2 weeks ago I watched The Orator (dir: Tusi Tamasese, 2011) the first feature film entirely in the Samoan language which for me personally as a Samoan felt culturally authentic. Despite the film being funded by the New Zealand film Commission and having English subtitles running along the bottom of the screen, The Orator felt far more personal to a Samoan audience. The film was made by and for Samoan people. The humor and the poetic beauty of the vernacular did not translate the same feeling across the English subtitles.

Therefore The Orator conveyed to me what Barry Barclay suggested as “talking in”. Barry Barclay further states that “The Te Manu Aute constitution proclaimed a right and responsibility for any culture to present itself to its own people in its own way- to “talk in” (75-77). Sitting in the cinema I had an overwhelming feeling that The Orator was “talking in” to a distinctly Samoan audience. The uncompromising nature of the film reflected the essence of Samoan culture in a way that other ethnic groups would not understand. It captured Samoan culture through a Samoan lens. It was one of the few rare occasions when a Samoan is able to represent Samoans onscreen.

Tusi Tamasese (director of The Orator) displayed Samoan issues and concerns that were not known in other ethnic groups. He communicated to a Samoan audience the difficulties of the Samoan way of life (fa’asamoa). The film does not compromise to convey to others outside of Samoan culture what the Samoan life is like therefore those reading the English subtitles may not find the jokes as hilarious as Samoans would. This is strongly felt when viewing the film. There is a great degree of insider jokes that only Samoans would understand and thus it provides a more intimate connection to Samoan communities. This is particularly what Barry Barclay aimed to distinguish as a stronger relationship of an ethnic group talking to their own people before talking out to a wider group.

Barclay, Barry (1990). Talking In. From Our Own Images. (pp. 74-80). Auckland: Longman Paul.